To better understand how Philadelphia enforces food regulations, The Inquirer and Philly.com created a database of nearly 70,000 inspection reports. The public can query www.philly.com/cleanplates for restaurants, school lunchrooms, nursing homes, even prisons (they are particularly clean), back to mid-2009.

Some inspectors’ comments are not for the squeamish.

When one visited Jack’s Firehouse, the Fairmount eatery with historic cachet, on July 23, she found foods “not covered throughout the establishment” and cheese and bacon held warm enough to breed bacteria.

Mouse droppings were seen in 20 different locations – “on prep table next to small dough mixer,” “on shelves in the walk-in cooler,” and even “on deli slicer.”

The 33 separate violations were a record for Jack’s, but many were not new. The restaurant had been described as “not satisfactory” in nine of its 10 previous inspections over four years.

At inspection No. 11, inspector Tiana Montgomery-Noel wrote in her July report that the place should “cease and desist” all operations until it met two conditions: “zero mouse droppings” and having a certified food-safety worker present at all times. Owner Mick Houston closed voluntarily and met both requirements in four days; he has vowed to do better.

There is no evidence that violations there or elsewhere led to foodborne illness.

In the consumer-friendliness arena, Philadelphia is far from alone in not summarizing findings for diners. Bucks and Montgomery Counties don’t do this either. Many food-safety experts say oversimplification can lead to misunderstandings. But summaries are “easier for the public to understand,” said Lydia Johnson, food-safety director for the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, which conducts most inspections around the state outside Southeastern Pennsylvania.

Johnson said her staff would handle ongoing serious violations with “a progressive response” – a warning letter followed by citations, administrative hearings, and, if necessary, fines.

With all that can go wrong in a full-service establishment, it’s hard to get a perfect report.