A new report from the Fresno County Civil Grand Jury found a number of concerns regarding unsanitary conditions at local restaurants.
The report, which was released Wednesday, found issues with the number of health inspectors employed by the county, the county’s software system and inconsistent health enforcement, among others.
The backstory: The Grand Jury received a citizen complaint regarding unsanitary conditions at several local restaurants, leading to the formation of an investigative committee that reviewed inspection reports for the named restaurants, followed by a random sampling of other restaurants in the county.
Driving the news: The Fresno County Department of Public Health’s Environmental Health Division (EHD) is responsible for inspecting around 11,000 restaurants in the county.
- EHD also inspects swimming pools, water wells, landfills, hazardous materials handlers, underground storage tanks and above-ground storage tanks. EHD conducts over 18,000 inspections annually.
Not enough inspectors: While EHD has around 75 staff members, the department only employs 22 inspectors that are dedicated to food facilities.
- The number of inspectors that Fresno County employs has not increased since 1990, despite Fresno’s population increasing from around 670,000 people to over 1 million people in that time.
- EHD expects each food inspector to visit four to five facilities each day and inspect each food facility in the assigned area four times every year. The report found that inspectors would have to visit 6.2 facilities every work day of the year – including holidays and no time off or vacation – just to conduct the required four inspections annually.
- Food inspectors are also required to re-inspect facilities that have been cited for violations, which occur in about one-third of the inspections.
Inadequate software: The Grand Jury found that the software program used by EHD, which was purchased by the county in 2020, frustrates inspectors.
- It takes twice the time to complete an inspection form using the software system than it would to complete a handwritten report.
- The software also often does not load to the tablets supplied by EHD and only works on Wi-Fi.
- The software also does not provide a hard copy to restaurants, meaning the consumer is not able to view a copy unless the restaurant prints it out.
- “As discussed above, the current software system used by the EHD is a significant impediment to the important work EHD inspectors perform,” the report reads. “The fact that the system is only 3-4 years old adds to the concern, and the vendor contract doesn’t expire until December 2028. Whether the dysfunction is the responsibility of the vendor or lies elsewhere was beyond the scope of the Grand Jury’s investigation, but the challenges associated with the software platform will need to be addressed if improved accountability and performance are to be achieved.”
Inconsistent inspections: The Grand Jury found that the county has inconsistent enforcement for its restaurant inspections.
- One such example given was that one restaurant had a significant quantity of butter sitting out at a temperature of 75 degrees, and the restaurant was allowed to put the butter back into the refrigerator to use another time. But another restaurant had a significant quantity of butter at 68 degrees and was required to discard it. All potentially hazardous food is required to be maintained at a temperature of 41 degrees or lower.
Recommendations: The Grand Jury submitted 10 recommendations to the county, saying the county needs to develop a plan within 180 days to achieve a functional software system and commit to a staffing plan to realistically keep up with the number of required inspections.
- The Grand Jury recommended that the county conduct a salary study with comparable counties for food inspectors and reorganize the department so food inspectors only inspect food facilities.
Fresno County responds: Fresno County released its response to the report on Wednesday, saying it is already addressing a number of the concerns that were raised.
- The Fresno County Board of Supervisors has approved a 23 percent salary increase for health inspectors and approved free downtown parking and more affordable healthcare to help attract and retain staff.
- The county pushed back against criticisms over the software system, saying it has improved efficiencies in billing and workflows for inspections.
- Fresno County did not say if it is improving the software system, but said it will provide additional and more detailed comments in response to the report within 90 days.
