Be careful where you eat!

Today's Daily Review has an article about, let's say "food preparation issues" at a downtown area restaurant, the China AA Buffet at 24100 Mission. For example, rinsing chow mein noodles in a mop sink; cold food not cold enough; hot food not hot enough; grease, garbage & food debris outside back; "vermin harborage". OK, scratch this restaurant off of my list.

The Alameda County Department of Environmental Health has a very useful "Restaurant Inspection" website that allows users to zoom in on a neighborhood map of interest, then select the restaurants within the neighborhood, then open a summary report. The site is here:
http://ehgis.acgov.org/

It's a very clever use of GIS (geographic information systems) for the public interest, though you really should use Internet Explorer because of some limitations in the web design.

Violations on the Restaurant Inspection web site are color-coded:

• green (no violations found);
• blue (violations related to the maintenance and cleanliness of the establishment); and
• red (Critical Violations. "These are violations with the highest risk of causing food borne disease. One red critical violation equals an unsatisfactory inspection. Environmental Health Specialists work with operators to make sure that red critical violations are corrected before they leave the establishment.")

Though this is a useful public service, this Alameda County web site can be discouraging - - checking out your favorite restaurants and noticing the types of violations. It could be that the restaurant was having a bad day; or it could mean that infractions were found, then corrected, so now it's okay to eat at. Multiple red violations on multiple inspection dates is a red flag, and probably a clue that there are problems. My recommendation: your own personal experience with the restaurant is your best guide. Food poisoning and evidence of critters is good enough for me to scratch a restaurant off my list.