Before the Celebration, Check the Inspection

Valentine's Day is right around the corner. If you are thinking of taking your loved one to a local restaurant to celebrate, the Lake County Health Department/Community Health Center encourages you to first check the restaurant's inspection history.

Inspection reports and enforcement histories for food service facilities are available online through the Health Department's web site at: http://health.lakecountyil.gov/Population/EnvironmentalServices/Pages/Food-Safety-and-Inspections-Overview.aspx. You can view inspection and enforcement information dating back to July 1, 2009.

The Health Department's inspection process follows a pass/fail scoring method. Specifically, a food service facility fails when the potential for a foodborne illness exists due to specific problems, such as:

• Repeated violations for food temperature control (an example is cold food not being held at or below 41 degrees)

• Cross contamination (an example is raw meat stored above or dripping onto cooked

foods)

• Lack of good hygiene (such as proper hand washing)

The Health Department's Food Protection Program is responsible for permitting, regulating and inspecting more than 3,000 food service facilities operating in Lake County. The ultimate goal of the program is to reduce the occurrence of foodborne illness and to promote safe food handling practices within the county.