Some Food Safety Reports Are Long On Hype And Low On Danger

A while back a local t.v. station began airing the health reports of local kitchens and we all tuned in with amazement and sometimes disgust when we got a peek behind the scenes of our favorite restaurants.

Backing up here, you may or may not know that I ran a small pizza and wings kitchen out of the back of a bar. In order to do this, I had to become a licensed food safety manager. I was able to develop a lot of great habits from this experience but also learned that sometimes the reasons kitchens get cited are a little, "whatever".

I will tell you right now as someone who ran a kitchen and as someone who will probably never run one again, that the professionals who inspect these kitchens are actually awesome to work with. The problem lies in people not looking past the media hype into what's a violation and what is really dangerous.

By all means, watch those inspection reports, but take the time to read what is really going on. I don't want drippy raw chicken over my food, but I'm not going to avoid a business because an employee had a drink nearby.  Most kitchens, even with critical errors, are so much cleaner than your own. Also, keep in mind that the BEST time to visit a restaurant is after an inspection because they have to fix all the problems right there on the spot.