Branford, E. Haven, No. Branford “Failed” Restaurants Not Listed

For years those who frequent the hundreds of eating establishments in Branford, East Haven and North Branford have been able to keep tabs on the cleanliness of such places by monitoring their health scores compiled by the East Shore Health District and often reported by the local media.

That will no longer be the case.

Patch, among other news outlets, have regularly posted which restaurants have passed and which have failed food inspection tests.

Patch has done so by monitoring the East Shore Health District’s website for the regularly posted scores.

But on its website, the health district recently posted the following:

“The health district inspects and licenses over 400 food establishments, many of which are inspected multiple times per year. The main purpose of our inspection program is to ensure food safety and to prevent the occurrence of food borne illness in our communities. Special attention is given to safe food practices, prevention of food contamination and food temperature control.

“As we move forward our web-site will no longer have pass/ fail for restaurant inspection scores. We consider this designation lacking any clarity for properly educating the public on possible health risks. Please note that inspections are conducted daily, and posted monthly. The results displayed may not reflect the most recent inspection score.”

When asked for the reason why food scores would no longer be listed, Health District Director Michael Pascucilla issued the following statement:

“As a matter of background, on July 1, 2018, ESDHD begin to transition to the US FDA Food Code, which the State of Connecticut adopted in 2017. Note, the FDA Food Code will become law in Connecticut on January 1, 2019. The FDA Food Code is presently being reviewed by the Connecticut Department of Public Health Food Protection Program, and all local health departments are working diligently so as to properly administer the proposed regulation changes.

“As a local health department, we need to reclassify all food service establishments, reprogram our restaurant databases, create new inspection and application forms/update our website, recertify all our health inspectors, and have been holding training semesters for our eateries throughout our health district member towns.

“Given the amount of work that is necessary to properly implement this significant change in Connecticut’s restaurant laws for inspections, coupled with the intensive administrative related tasks/duties, ESDHD, like many other local health departments had to refocus our limited resources. Therefore, as we move forward with adopting the new state food laws, our website will no longer have pass/fail postings for restaurant inspection scores.

“While we believe the US FDA Food Code is a better option for Connecticut, both for food service establishments and local health departments, it should be noted that this change is an unfunded mandate to Connecticut municipalities, and all local health departments received a 10%~ reduction in our State per capita funding this fiscal year.

“That said, the FDA Food Code is a unified code that combines regulations for food service establishments, food stores, mobile (itinerant) vendors, caterers, and food delivery operations into a single code. It is a more scientific approach to conducting a better (more educated) inspection and better addresses the true root causes of injury and morbidity caused by food poisoning.

“Like other local health departments that post restaurant ratings, once we implement the new FDA Food Code, we will explore other options to post restaurant ratings. In the meantime, if anyone has a questions regarding restaurant scores they can contact our office and we will provide them with the latest inspection rating information.”

Photo by Jack Kramer