Food inspection in Kent

On-campus inspections versus off-campus inspections

Restaurants, vending machines and other eateries located on and off Kent State’s campus are inspected on a regular basis and are required to stay within strict guidelines.

Kent Health Department is equipped with three sanitarians who inspect about 150 eateries within city limits on a regular basis. Depending on the license classification that corresponds with the eatery, certain sites may be inspected up to four times a year.

Kent Health Department’s Health Commissioner Jeff Neistadt says different locations might require more inspections than others.  For instance, coffee shops are usually classified with a class one or class two license due to limited menu items. However, sanitarians classify eateries that rely on bulk reheating and bulk cooling with a class four license. Class four licenses require four inspections in one year. The class number corresponds with how many times a site needs to be inspected.

“I think with the addition of the restaurants uptown, it’s added a little more to our schedule,” Neistadt said. “We usually don’t have to spend too long at an establishment unless it’s a bad day. In that case, we might be there for several hours. As long as we keep up with the schedule, we’re on top of it.”

Kent Health Department inspects eateries on campus as well. Inspectors check on-campus restaurants the same way they would off-campus locations.

Chief Sanitarian at the Kent Health Department Justin Smith says on-campus eateries often perform stricter inspections than what the State of Ohio requires. Campus employees conduct their own inspections and have tighter restrictions on how long they keep edibles.

“They’re all about having fresh products,” Smith said. “Depending on the product, they get rid of their food within 48 hours to three days. They try to use everything as soon as possible. Our standards are within seven days. Different corporations have different standards.”

Director of Kent State’s Dining Services Richard Roldan inspects campus eateries on a monthly basis while restaurant employees inspect weekly on a basis. Twenty-two locations on campus require inspection.

“Not only are we inspected by the local health department here in Kent, we also get inspected twice a year by the NSF, the National Safety Foundation, as a third party auditor that comes in and assures that we’re following the highest standards possible,” Roldan said.

Neistadt says on-campus restaurant employees are often times better trained in food service and safety than off-campus employees because they have more opportunity for education. On-campus employees are trained annually.

All the on-campus managers and cooks are certified through ServSafe to assure they are properly handling food. ServSafe is a food and beverage safety certificate program administered by the National Restaurant Association.

“We’ve got a great relationship with the health department because we keep things pretty tight here,” Roldan said. “We have a lot of students here. We serve between 20 and 25 thousand meals a day here. You have to keep within standards or it gets scary. It’s my job and number one priority that no one gets sick on campus, we take our job very seriously here.”

Campus restaurants receive products from an approved vendor that has been inspected and has passed certain audits. However, off-campus locations may get their products elsewhere.

Many off-campus restaurants such as Pizza Hut purchase ingredients from food distribution companies.

“There are certain rules and obligations,” Carol Magazzeni, Director of Marketing & Public Relations at Pizza Hut, said. “Customers want that same taste at every Pizza Hut location.”

[rpavideo caption=”Kyle Heintzelman reports on the city and on campus food inspections.”]RPA_Heintzelman_FoodPrep[/rpavideo]

Magazzeni says Pizza Hut’s parent company, Hallrich Incorporated, formally inspects each restaurant once a year. District managers do a complete, full day inspection at each location four times a year.

Kent Health Department conducts surprise and scheduled inspections. There are consequences if a location does not meet food safety standards. Smith says critical violations normally result in scheduling another inspection.

“Consequences can result in the restaurant getting its license suspended,” Smith said. “We try to avoid this because we like to give businesses a chance.”

If a business ignores standards after so many re-inspections, the health commissioner inspects the eatery. At that point, the eatery is judged at an administrative hearing to decide if the location will be shut down until they meet standards or not.

Related Links:

http://www.kentohio.org/dep/health.asp

http://www.kentstatedining.com