Cleveland Health Dept. places inspection data online: Reports on restaurants, vendors available for free

By Kaye Spector

Plain Dealer Health and Medical Writer

Dining out in Cleveland can now include the kind of check that comes before a meal, not after.

That would be an examination of the restaurant’s food inspection report, now available online at clevelandhealth.org.

On Monday, the Cleveland Health Department posted its assessments of the city’s 3,000 restaurant and food vendors, all of which are inspected at least once a year. Anyone with a computer and Internet access can view the inspection reports, which date from mid-2009.

The reports always have been available to the public in paper form. But the health department only received about 100 requests from the general public to see the records each year, said Health Commissioner Willie Bess.

Health officials hope that the increased access to the reports will have two effects: decrease the number of foodborne illnesses by educating consumers about where they are buying prepared food; and increase food vendors’ motivation to comply with food safety laws.

“Most people don’t think about food safety until they get sick,” Bess said. “We hope people will experiment with it and see what they find.”

One important advantage the online database has over paper records is that it’s searchable.

You can look for reports by restaurant name. Or if you don’t know the full name, you can look by location. If, say, you’re worried about mice at your favorite fondue place, you can do a text search for “rodent.” Bothered by bugs you spotted at a place you ate on Superior Avenue? Search using the words “pests and superior.” The site has a feature to help users interpret the information.

Health officials caution that the inspection reports represent a “snapshot” of a food operation on a particular day. “It’s not a rating system,” said project director Pam Cross.

And there are different levels of violations. A citation for having broken ceiling tiles — which usually must be fixed within seven days — is not as serious as one for lacking a reliable source of power, water or sewer capability — which must be addressed immediately.

The online records contain the same information as the old paper records and include details of violations such as food handling, serving, preparation and storage. Violations can range from inadequate temperature control to improper labeling to cross-contamination of foods.

The reports also contain health inspectors’ comments about sanitation in the kitchens or stockrooms and follow-up data on whether a business addressed previous violations.

There are no plans now to upload older information, Health Director Matt Carroll said, but future inspection reports will be added as they are filed.

Carroll promised Monday to make the Web site easier to navigate after a few early visitors complained the database was hard to find on the health department Web site.

After clicking a link on the home page, viewers are taken to a page where they must click on another link. On the third page, which looks like it has nothing to do with inspection reports, viewers must click on the word “retrieve” at the upper left, under the CDPH logo.

Full-service restaurants in Cleveland are routinely inspected up to four times a year, Carroll said. Some businesses are inspected even more often if there are complaints, Carroll said.

“Our core role as a health department is food safety,” Carroll said. “Our prime goal is to keep food sold in the city safe.”