Usually a newspaper feature on restaurant inspections focuses on yuck factors (bugs, rodents and false finger nails) and misses the mark on more important public health risks like cross-contamination and handwashing. Not so in Rapid City, SD — residents were treated to a series of articles (here, here and here) detailing the SD inspection regime including what inspectors look for, how restaurants respond and and the limitations of not having a disclosure system. Barbara Soderlin and Emilie Rusch of the Rapid City Journal pulled together a few gems while they tackled inspection.

Keith Fox owns the Rodeway Inn, which got a failing score of 79 when it was visited by an inspector Sept. 12.
Rodeway lost points for critical violations of cross-contamination of raw and cooked meats and for unmarked chemical products, and for non-critical issues including unlabeled bulk sugar bins, uncovered chips on the bar, a meat slicer not cleaned routinely, dirty shelves and racks in the kitchen, buildup on grease filters, having paper goods containers set directly on the floor, weeds around the outdoor trash bin, no cover on the employee bathroom toilet, and dirty floors in the kitchen.
Fox blamed a lack of reliable staff.

"This was quite unusual for us to get this" score, he said. "We have had a lot of turnover in help. We were not catching up. I’ve fired more people in this last year than I have since 1969 when I started. There’s no work ethic at all."

Clark Hepper with the South Dakota Department of Health comments on violations like those found at Fox’s Rodeway Inn:

"It has a lot to do with how the facility handles their employee training. Bare hand contact is something you have to constantly think about and be educated about, Cross contamination is more of an educational problem, and hot and cold is an operational thing they’re not paying attention to as far as using proper procedures."

Hiring good staff is the first step – but providing an environment where everyone knows what the risks are and have the tools to reduce risks comes next. Blaming staff (whether past or current) isn’t the greatest approach when trying to develop shared food safety values. Evaluating   training (which doesn’t appear to be all that effective) and strengthening the staff’s participation in a good food safety culture should be Fox’s priority.