When an unhappy customer calls the local health department on your restaurant, what’s the best response? It is not going on about the absence of cats in the kitchen, when there are bigger issues – like 36 food code violations – to deal with.

China Pearl, a Chinese-cuisine restaurant in Blakeslee, PA was inspected after a member of the public contacted inspectors claiming there were cats in the restaurant, reports Pocono Record.

William Wong, owner of the restaurant, didn’t address the violations found during inspection, but rather said it was likely an angry customer who complained, and there’ve never been cats in his restaurant, and,

"I want him [the inspector] to come every month to protect my customers and my business. Then customers feel better about the restaurant."

Health inspectors aren’t babysitters, and it isn’t their job to improve consumer confidence in your establishment. Sure, that may be an outcome of good inspection results, but primarily inspection exists to prevent foodborne illnesses associated with restaurants. It’s the operator’s job to protect customers by enforcing safe food handling practices.

As a consumer, I want to hear what was found during the inspection, and what the business is doing to not only correct these violations, but prevent similar ones in the future. In Pennsylvania restaurant inspection results are available on the Department of Agriculture website, with details of China Pearl’s most recent inspection, here.