Working in a restaurant is enough to put you in a constant state of fight or flight, especially in a place as busy as New York City. Now imagine being deep in the throes of the dinner rush and boom: the Health Department walks in. That would be enough to send us into orbit. So restaurateurs will be delighted to know that the NYC Health Department is going to stop making their unexpected drop-ins so, well, unexpected.
Unfortunately for restaurateurs and their staff, the Health Department did not announce when they’d by stopping by for a health inspection–they’d simply just show up. That’s a tough pill to swallow for staff considering, contrary to popular belief, a restaurant’s letter grade is about way more than just how clean they are.
As the system currently stands, the Health Department’s letter grade system is as follows:
- N = Not Yet Graded
- A = Grade A (0 to 13 points for sanitary violations)
- B = Grade B (14 to 27 points for sanitary violations)
- C =Grade C (28 or more points for sanitary violations)
- Z = Grade Pending
- P = Grade Pending issued on re-opening following an initial inspection that resulted in a closure
Unannounced inspections of restaurants are conducted by the Health Department at least once a year so inspectors can check that restaurants are complying with food safety rules. Violations of food safety rules carry point values, and each restaurant’s score corresponds to their letter grade–the lower the score, the better the grade.
Not only do restaurants have to display their letter grade in their window, but anyone can find health inspection results for NYC’s ~27,000 restaurants right online. Hence a restaurant’s letter grade has a huge impact on their success and can essentially make or break them. The issue here lies in the fact that a restaurant can receive a low grade for something other than how “dirty” they are.
Sure, restaurants are graded on things like how food is prepared, served, and stored, whether restaurant workers are practicing good hygiene, and pest control measures. But logistical things play into a restaurant’s letter grade as well, and can include things like failing to display the Health Department-issued permit, not posting the restaurant’s letter grade, and even having a sink or sign placed in the wrong spot.
And if a restaurant does receive a bad letter grade, it can take months before a re-inspection is conducted, which means months of passersby seeing a “B” or “C” sign in a restaurant’s window.
This past May, however, Mayor Eric Adams’ administration announced that restaurants will now receive two email alerts before inspections–the first one will be sent one to five months prior and the second one will be sent three to six weeks in advance of the inspection. The notifications will include information and resources for restaurants to make improvements as well as a list of everything a health inspector will look for so that restaurants can “self-inspect.”
DOHMH Acting Commissioner Dr. Michelle Morse stated:
As part of the Health Department’s expanding support for New York City restaurants, we are pleased to announce the enactment of a two email inspection notification systems designed to give restaurants more time to review their practices and more resources to make improvements to protect the health of New Yorkers. We want every New York City restaurant to practice ‘A-grade’ food safety and meet the highest food safety and health standards.
While the exact date of the inspection will still be unknown, meaning there still will be some air of mystery surrounding a restaurant’s health inspection, it’s certainly a step in the right direction for restauranteurs.