Customers will soon be able to find out if their favorite restaurant makes the grade or has a dirty secret. The state’s food safety rating system is almost ready. Health inspectors are dishing out new rules to all food establishments, from fine dining restaurants to convenience stores.

Pancakes & Waffles in Kalihi attracts customers with its homestyle cooking. Restaurant owner Jason Sung welcomes the changes to keep people from getting sick.

“I am pleased that they’re placing some kind of grading system in Hawaii,” said Sung.

Health department inspectors are visiting more than 10,000 food establishments statewide to educate owners about the color-coded grading system. Green (“Pass”) means one major violation or less that is corrected during the inspection. Yellow (“Conditional Pass”) indicates two or more major violations and requires a follow-up visit. Red (“Closed”) signals an imminent health hazard.

“If we looked at our data currently, probably 60% to 70% of our routine inspections of high-risk facilities would result in a yellow placard,” said Peter Oshiro, manager for the Department of Health’s Environmental Health Program. “So this is something where the numbers are way too high and they need to come down.”

At Duke’s Waikiki, the 330 employees are gearing up for the new regulations.

“It’s a challenge and I don’t think it’s going to be easy, but it is definitely something that we can all do. We just gotta put the effort into it,” said general manager Dylan Ching.