From runny eggs here in New Jersey to bad hamburger meat in the Pacific Northwest, outbreaks of food poisoning often cause an outbreak of panic. But behind the media storm, county officials charged with enforcing the state's sanitary code say they have made great strides in preventing outbreaks. Through a new inspection technique that focuses on the roots of food-borne illnesses, inspectors and restaurant owners agree, food is probably safer than ever.
That news might not do much to calm public fears. But inspectors say heightened public concern actually is one of their best weapons.
"Managers worry about a loss of business more than they worry about dealing with us," said Barbara Waterson, Hunter's Camden County counterpart, of the minimum once-a-year inspections. "Consumers have become more aware and more vocal, and that certainly helps our position."
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Imagine someone wandering into your kitchen without warning and poking through every drawer, shining a flashlight into and under every cabinet, examining behind every appliance, and sticking a long-stemmed thermometer in your food, both hot and cold.
Inspectors will check every sink to make sure the water's hot; they'll test the dish-washing solution for the proper chlorine level; they'll even check to make sure the trash is clean.
One Burlington County restaurateur with an otherwise spotless kitchen was written up recently because all the handles in his plastic-cutlery dispenser didn't face the same way.
It's enough to make even the calmest of cooks feel the heat.
But not all violations are created equal, sanitary inspectors are quick to point out. In recent years, they have adopted an inspection system called Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point to get to the root cause of most illnesses - bad temperature control.
