In an effort to keep the community protected from food-borne illnesses and educate both food service operators and consumers about safe practices, the Monroe County Health Department Food Sanitation Program conducts routine inspections of all establishments that serve or sell food.

Inspections are unannounced, and the frequency they are conducted is based on level of risk, environmental health inspector Trisha Mueller of the Monroe County Health Department said.

“The risk is evaluated by their menu,” Mueller said. “A restaurant that prepares all of their food from scratch is going to be considered a high-risk establishment, because the establishment is working with potentially hazardous foods, like raw chicken, so there are stricter requirements.”

High-risk establishments, such as J.Fire’s Market Bistro and Gallagher’s in Waterloo as well as all school cafeterias and many other restaurants in the county, are inspected at least twice a year.

Medium-risk establishments are inspected at least once a year. Low-risk establishments, which include places where no food preparation is taking place, are inspected every other year.

Mueller explained that an inspector fills out a report with a scoring system starting at 100. There are two different categories of violations. Critical violations — spoiled food, incorrect food temperatures, or presence of vermin or insects — result in deductions of four to five points.

“If these violations cannot be corrected immediately, the inspector does a re-inspection to make sure the violation has been corrected,” Mueller said.

If a re-inspection is conducted, the restaurant does not receive a new score and is stuck with that original score until the next routine inspection is done.

A regular violation results one to two points deducted for anything from not marking the date a food was prepared to dirty floors or equipment.

“Typically, any score in the high 90s is considered a well-maintained establishment,” Mueller said.

The majority of county establishments scored in the high 90s, according to the full list of inspection scores posted online at www.monroecountyhealth.org/food-sanitation-inspection-scores.html.

Among the high-risk establishments, Asian Buffet in Waterloo scored an 85 out of 100 during its last inspection on Jan. 31.

Among the medium-risk establishments, Columbia Dairy Queen scored an 86 during its last inspection in December. Pizza Hut in Waterloo scored an 84 during its May 13 inspection. A re-inspection was conducted May 29.

“There is always an inherent risk when someone else is preparing your food,” Mueller stressed. “It is important to remember that the inspector only sees a fragment of the day at the food establishment and the establishment may be having a good day or they may be having a bad day.”

For more questions on the Food Sanitation Program, call the health department office at 939-3871.