Mark Arsenault of the Rhode Island Providence-Journal is the latest to validate what I’ve long suspected:  that the dining public apparently has a huge appetite for information about food safety.

Arsenault says that tens of thousands of people have viewed health inspection reports for Rhode Island restaurants, delis, convenience stores and other places food is served since the reports first became available online last Tuesday.

Ernest M. Julian, chief of the Office of Food Protection at the Rhode Island Department of Health, said,

“We had one person call us who said they searched for 100 places online. People are checking all the places they eat. … It’s obvious the public wants this information, based on the number of views."

The Health Department has posted a database of some 4,000 food service inspection reports, covering about half the food establishments in the state, dating back to January. The reports list health violations with short explanations. The inspection reports are available at www.health.ri.gov/environment/food/inspections.php.

After being publicized by local media, the site attracted so much Web traffic on Thursday that an Internet traffic jam developed that temporarily slowed the site.

Restaurant inspection disclosure on its own does little, but does contribute to developing a culture that values microbiologically safe food.