County May Rate Eateries

Restaurant owners are gearing up to oppose a proposal by San Bernardino County health officials to adopt a restaurant rating system similar to those used in Riverside, San Diego and Los Angeles counties.

The officials hope to make the proposal to the Board of Supervisors in the next few weeks. Since grading systems vary by county, health officials said they would ask the board to decide which, if any, to adopt, and make no recommendation.

In counties with a rating system, health inspectors post letter grades at restaurant entrances that indicate the result of their most recent health inspection. Restaurant owners have strongly opposed such a grading system, saying a letter grade would not necessarily indicate the safety or quality of the food.

“It’s not an accurate reflection of what is going on at a restaurant,” said Becky Warren, the director of local government affairs for the California Restaurant Assn.

San Bernardino County, with 8,000 restaurants, is the latest jurisdiction to consider such a plan. In San Francisco, a proposal to adopt a letter-grade system will be considered next week by the Board of Supervisors, amid strong opposition from restaurant owners. The Ventura County Board of Supervisors rejected a similar system in 2000, opting instead to let restaurant owners voluntarily display details about their inspection reports.

In San Bernardino County, the idea of adopting a grading system came from residents and local officials who had repeatedly asked why the county didn’t have one.

Because of the industry’s objections, health officials have studied the grading systems of the other counties in hopes of coming up with a system that addressed industry concerns.

One way to modify the grading system would be to provide patrons with more information about the inspection than just the A, B, C, D or F grade, said James Felton, the county’s public health programs administrator.

Felton said his agency had met with supervisors’ representatives and had heard the restaurant association’s objections. If a system is adopted by the board, it will apply only to restaurants in unincorporated areas. Each city would have to adopt the system to be part of the program.

Restaurant owners argue that existing state inspections adequately protect patrons against unsafe eating conditions or other health code violations. Owners point out that the state already requires restaurants to provide patrons copies of recent inspection reports on request. They also argue that letter grades do not reflect a restaurant’s record over time, or the quality of the food and service.

“We are opposed to the letter grade in general because it reflects a snapshot in time,” Warren said.

Don Wittman, the co-owner of the Big Bear Mountain Brewery, said he thinks the current inspection system already weeds out restaurants with low scores. When he dines in Los Angeles, he said he doesn’t pay much attention to letter grades because they don’t always reflect whether the food is safe or good.

“I don’t see a need for it,” he said.

Liz Quaranta, chief environmental health specialist for San Diego County’s Department of Environmental Health, said San Diego County has had a grading system since 1947.

Quaranta said one of the benefits of the letter grade was that it encourages restaurant owners to remain in compliance with health codes. She also said that if a restaurant repeatedly gets low grades, county officials begin a compliance procedure to require owners to make improvements.

Steve Van Stockum, who oversees restaurant inspections for Riverside County, said the grading system has worked well since the 1950s and has received few complaints from restaurant owners. One reason there are few objections, he said, is that restaurants that get low grades can request a new inspection within a week at no cost, allowing quick grade improvement.

Stockum said the Riverside County system also rewards restaurants that get good grades for two consecutive inspections with a certificate for “Outstanding Food Establishment Performance.” The list of restaurants that win the certificate are posted regularly on the county’s Web page.