Louisiana’s restaurants will be inspected more consistently and diners should feel more confident about going out to eat, a Department of Health and Hospitals official said Thursday, following media reports of a system that sucks.

In the wake of criticism that Louisiana’s restaurant inspections have been sporadic and uneven, J.T. Lane, assistant secretary for the office of public health, held a news conference Thursday to unveil a
new plan for the state’s food inspectors. It includes centralizing and streamlining the department, and holding the department’s staff more accountable for their work, he said.

“The average (restaurant) owner, depending on what they’re operating, could see an increase in when they see an inspector walk through the door unannounced,” Lane said.

For those restaurants that make all of their food from scratch and work with raw meat and produce, “you’re definitely going to see your inspector four times a year,” Lane said. “That’s for sure.”

What Lane’s plan does not include is adding more staff.

A recent Nola.com|The Times-Picayune report found that with only eight sanitarians or inspectors for all of Orleans Parish, New Orleans had far fewer inspectors per restaurant than many other cities across the country. Until The Times-Picayune started investigating in early October, many of the most high-profile restaurants in New Orleans had not been inspected at all in 2012, including Commander’s Palace, Emeril’s, Gautreau’s and Domenica.

A former manager in Lafourche Parish also said his department was drastically understaffed.

A Nov. 26 report from the Louisiana legislative auditor found that between 2009 and 2011, the Office of Public Health didn’t conduct the required four annual inspections on 81 percent, or 5,849 out of 7,252, high-risk food establishments in the state.