Come Clean With Ratings

Which is it: A, B, C or off the charts?

That’s a guessing game we have to play each time we eat out in Ventura County, and there’s nothing amusing about it.

When it comes to basic hygiene, restaurants should be required not just to undergo inspections but also to post the results somewhere more prominent than the walk-in freezer.

We are glad to see that the Ventura County Grand Jury has taken up the cause of informed dining. In its final report, the panel suggested a system similar to the ABCs that are displayed in restaurant windows elsewhere.

Predictably, many restaurants oppose the idea. They see it as yet another example of panicky governmental over-regulation. Some owners contend that such ratings are misleading; technical violations that have nothing to do with food safety can cost a restaurant its reputation, they say.

Two years ago, Ventura County supervisors agreed, rejecting an ordinance that would have imposed a rating system. It’s enough, they said, that restaurants shut down for rodent infestations and the like are named on the environmental health department’s Web site, www.ventura.org/env_hlth/env.htm.

But that’s not enough for us, for Thousand Oaks City Councilman Dan del Campo, who is lobbying for restaurant ratings and now for the 1999-2000 grand jury.

In Ventura County, we enjoy looking south to Los Angeles with a sense of privilege: Our air is cleaner, our streets safer and our schools better, as we enjoy pointing out, repeatedly. But salmonella is salmonella the world around; to its credit, Los Angeles County forces restaurants to show their health ratings for all the world to see, and we should do the same.

Ventura County Supervisors would do well to act on the grand jury’s recommendation, especially because these jurors have distinguished themselves as a thoughtful and straight-thinking bunch. They have taken on the powerful law enforcement establishment, questioning the untouchability of the district attorney’s and sheriff’s budgets. They haven’t shied from conflict, urging supervisors to pursue their battle against private hospitals that would control the county’s $9-million tobacco-lawsuit settlement.

By law, grand juries are only advisory. Their recommendations are often given lip service or wholly ignored--and sometimes deservedly. The 1963 grand jury, for instance, sought to protect the public by ensuring that the library shelves were free of The Dictionary of American Slang. Other grand juries issue reports that are little more than love letters to eternally understaffed, overworked county managers.

Still, we think even toothless tigers deserve to eat in spots they know are safe. We hope that Ventura County residents can do so one day soon, just by looking to the window for an A, B or C.

Until then, bon appetit--and good luck.