Restaurant rating system shelved

A controversial restaurant rating system, under consideration by the Allegheny County Health Department for more than a year, is on hold because the Board of Health voted earlier this month to adopt the state's new food-safety regulations in place of the county's food code.

The state regulations have no restaurant rating system.

The state food-safety regulations need the approval of Allegheny County Council as does any restaurant rating system.

The work done so far on the rating system was based on the county's food code. If the Board of Health decides to adopt the system, regulations would have to be rewritten to comply with the new state code, said Guillermo Cole, a spokesman for the Health Department.

"If the Board of Health decides to implement the ratings system, it will take more time," he said.

The measures would be sent together to County Council for approval.

The state Legislature last year updated the state food-safety law, basing it on Food and Drug Administration standards, which are more up-to-date and detailed than Allegheny County's food code. Among the differences, the state code requires refrigeration of cut vegetables and requires food workers in contact with ready-to-eat food to wear gloves.

The proposed restaurant rating system would give eateries a letter grade, a numerical score or both. Ratings would be displayed in a restaurant window until the next inspection -- typically a year or more later.

A restaurant rating system would need the approval of the Board of Health and Allegheny County Council.

If used, the restaurant rating system would be the first in Pennsylvania, state and local officials said. It is strongly opposed by most restaurant owners and their professional associations. Restaurant owners say the proposed ratings are arbitrary and unfair.

"We have always championed food safety throughout the commonwealth," said John Doulgeris, vice president of the Pennsylvania Restaurant Association, which represents 7,000 restaurants in the state and routinely sponsors food-safety training and educational events.

Restaurateurs such as Jeff Cohen, owner of the Smallman Street Deli restaurants in the Strip District and Squirrel Hill, say current inspections are adequate and that the best way for the Health Department to improve food safety at restaurants is to hire more inspectors.

"There is no reason for these regulations. It should be the same across the state. Why would you want to have different rules across the state• They already have a good inspection program: the Health Department," he said.

"Safety is your integrity. It's more important than anything else you do in a restaurant. And everyone knows that," he said.

Proponents of the ratings system say it would help consumers know at least something about how an individual restaurant fared in an inspection.

The ratings have some appeal with the public.

"I would rather see a letter grade than a pass/fail. It would make me more comfortable. I really don't think much about food inspections when I go out to eat, though," said Kate Charney, who lives in Mars and works on the North Shore.

A similar rating system has been in effect in Los Angeles County for a decade and was recently implemented in New York City and North Carolina.