Restaurant checks spotty
Six city food establishments have not been inspected for two years
Shane Magee
Northern News Services
Monday, May 18, 2015
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
At least six city food establishments have not been checked for compliance with health regulations for two years because the inspector responsible says he trusts the operators.
News/North examined records the Department of Health and Social Services posts online for the past five years of inspections at more than 140 locations. The posting of records allows the public to know whether the locations they dine at are safe.
"From my point of view, I know the place, I know the operators so I wouldn't have a whole lot of concern about going two years," said Jeremy Roberts, one of the environmental health officers responsible for inspecting restaurants when asked why locations might not be checked for so long. "If I've gone two years, it's because I'm comfortable going two years with that particular operation."
That's in contravention of Health and Social Services policy which states inspections have to be carried out at least once per year and in the case of restaurants, three times per year. Roberts confirmed there are others that have not been inspected for an extended period but said he would only confirm them once News/North found them.
"Inspections are delayed to focus on other priorities only if I am comfortable that there is no public health concern," he wrote in an e-mail.
"The decision is based on ... several factors such as type of food served and the history of the place."
Beyond the six restaurants, several seasonal locations, or establishments with odd hours, also haven't been checked in two years or more, the review found. That includes one not inspected since 2012 and one not inspected since 2011.
Yellowknife Centre MLA Robert Hawkins was surprised by what News/North's review found.
"I'm actually quite disturbed by hearing that," he said.
He sees it as a matter of fairness for restaurateurs, saying that even the cleanest restaurant deserves to be inspected as required.
"If they're clean there's nothing to worry about," he said.
Locations where food is manufactured, processed, prepared, packaged, stored, handled, displayed, transported, distributed, served, offered for sale or sold are subject to inspections to ensure regulatory compliance. Regulations that set out the standards food establishments have to follow are approved by the legislative assembly but do not set out how often establishments have to be checked. That's set by department policy.
Roberts said there are two or three complaints about establishments per month in the city, which prompts an immediate inspection.
The reports show what rule violations have to be corrected by the establishment. Inspectors have the ability to close a restaurant found to be seriously violating the rules.
In the past four years, he can't recall having to close an establishment.
"I can say that for the Yellowknife area we're fortunate that people do tend to have a good standard in their kitchens," Roberts said.
Most establishments in the city are checked roughly once per year, the review of the records shows.
A little more than half of the 143 establishments listed as "open" on the website appear to have been checked in 2014. The list of 143 listed locations includes establishments that have closed before that year or have opened since that year.
Three environmental health officers carry out unannounced checks of locations looking for anything that doesn't meet regulations and could put the public's health at risk. Prior to last month, establishments were placed in three categories based on potential risk.
Low risk establishments such as convenience stores were to be checked once per year, medium risk twice per year and high risk - such as full-scale restaurants - three times. That policy was changed last month because there weren't enough resources to carry out the required number of inspections.
"We found it difficult to keep up with that schedule," Roberts said.
The medium risk group was eliminated and locations were re-categorized to either high or low risk.
An inspection of a low risk establishment could take as little as 15 minutes while high risk locations like grocery stores and restaurants could take an hour or two, Roberts said. The reports inspectors fill out are supposed to be posted soon after an establishment is checked. News/North's review found that's not always the case. For instance, the Quiznos in the Yellowknife airport terminal is shown as last being checked April 9, 2013.
Manager Donna Panela said the two Quiznos locations are checked usually once every six months. She provided documents showing an inspection was carried out on April 27 of this year. The report was posted after News/North began reporting on this issue.
Inspection reports are posted to the Department of Health and Social Services' website.
Regulations dictating how often establishments should be checked vary across the country.
A Toronto Star investigation published in 2000 of restaurant inspections prompted a wave of changes in that city and other jurisdictions, including moves to post inspection reports online, Roberts said.
Toronto's DineSafe inspection system, put in place after that story, requires some locations to be inspected at least three times per year with others required to be inspected once per year.
The GNWT website is limited in comparison to how reports are presented in other jurisdictions.
New Brunswick uses a colour-coded rating to indicate the severity of any issues found during inspections. It allows patrons using the site to get a quick sense of the severity issues uncovered. The reports can be searched by community. In Toronto, the colour-coded results have to be posted in a visible location near the establishment entrance. Hawkins said he saw that system and he proposed using it here about eight years ago.
"They showed great resistance and a lack of interest," he said about the health department's response to the idea at the time.
The Government of Yukon is working on adding food inspection reports to its website.
Nunavut does not post inspection reports online.
