Kane County Health Department to put restaurant inspection reports online

Kane County residents soon will be able to find out if they are eating more than just food when they dine out. Health inspection reports for local restaurants are coming to the Kane County Public Health Department's website in 2019.

The announcement comes in the wake of multiple outbreaks of food-borne illness in the county in recent years. Health officials believe putting the inspection information on public display will encourage local food handlers to follow health protocols all the time, not just when an inspection team is present.

“This is a way to make sure consumer expectations are met,” said Julie Wiegel, the health department's assistant director for environmental health. “This will help our residents to use the results of our inspections to make personal decisions. And this will help restaurants make better food safety practices, because they know the information will be accessible by the public. This move helps us provide transparency.”

The county has more than 600 food establishments in the “high risk” category for food-borne illness. Establishments fall into the category if the business involves a lot of direct handling and heating, cooling and storage of food. Such establishments receive two to three inspections each year. There is a second tier of establishments, which operate more along the lines of a McDonald's, that are defined as having medium risk. They receive one to two inspections per year. Low-risk establishments, like grocery stores, deal in mostly prepackaged food and receive a single annual inspection.

The inspection reports coming to the health department's website won't have a grade attached. Instead, they will provide specific information about any violations and actions taken to correct the violations. Any critical violation triggers an automatic follow-up inspection. Most serious violations can be corrected the same day they are discovered, Wiegel said.

There is not a specific launch date for when the department will start posting inspection reports to its website, kanehealth.com. Wiegel said the reports will go up once staff feels there is a large enough number of inspections performed to give residents a good view of how local establishments are meeting safety food standards.