#Ratings June 29

We may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this post.

Today for the 30-Day Sign Coach4aday Challenge my post is about RATING signs. Focus is on restaurant ratings that state and county health departments issue.

In North Carolina restaurants get inspected on average one to four times a year depending on what risk category they fall into.

Restaurants, including catering operations, are regulated by county health departments. So, in North Carolina that means 100 counties doing a lot of inspections. When they finish, the restaurant is issued a Sanitation RATING sign that must be displayed prominently where all customers can see it. That often means near the front door or cashier. That sign template is seen below.

FAQs on Sanitation Rating Scores

Some of the things that are evaluated by the environmental health specialist during an inspection are employee activities such as food preparation and handwashing, how and where food is stored or prepared, food temperatures, cleanliness of equipment including eating and drinking utensils, condition and cleanliness of the building and surrounding premises. In evaluating the establishment, the environmental health specialist must determine if there are violations present and if so, how serious is the violation.

Using a standardized inspection form, the specialist marks the violations and determines if the full point value or half of the point value will be deducted. Factors that influence a decision to deduct the full point value is the severity of the violation or if it has been deducted on previous inspections. If there is a potential for a violation or the violation is minor, the specialist may make a general comment, to remind the operator to keep the condition under control or take preventive steps to keep the condition from progressing to a violation.

To arrive at a numeric score and letter grade for the inspection, the total points assigned to the violations are deducted from 100 to give a percentage score. A two-point education credit may be added to the percentage score, if there is a full-time employee who has successfully completed an approved food safety training class. The letter grades are determined by the numeric score and are based on a 10-point scale. Facilities with an “A” have a score between 90.0 and 102.0, “B” grades have a score between 80.0 and 89.5 and “C” grades have a score between 70.0 and 79.5. If the score without the 2-point education credit is less than 70.0%, the permit is revoked, and the establishment is closed.