Contra Costa’s new color-coded food inspection grading placards

WALNUT CREEK — Eun Pyo doesn’t think that green “pass” placard will bring much new business to her Cafe Dolce restaurant. But it’s gotten a lot of attention since Contra Costa Environmental Health Department inspectors awarded it to her last week.

“Everybody was talking about it when they walked in; ‘You passed!’ ” said Pyo, who has operated the Pacific Plaza office building cafe for 13 years. “We’ve always passed, but now people know, and that’s a good thing.”

Starting with the 20 on-site inspections completed Friday, the county’s Environmental Health Department is now giving the 4,000-some restaurants, grocery stores, delis, convenience marts and gas station heat-lamp operations in Contra Costa physical placards showing whether that establishment fully passes (green) or is on “conditional” status (yellow).

If major problems like vermin infestations, lack of hot water or improper storage temperatures result in an order to close, such establishments can be assigned a red placard until the problems are solved.

For Contra Costa Environmental Health Department Director Marilyn Underwood, it’s largely a matter of consistency. Alameda County, with the exception of the city of Berkeley, has since July 2012 used a color-coded placard system much like the one Contra Costa has adopted with green (pass), yellow (conditional pass) and red (closed) given to the county’s 6,000 restaurants, grocery stores and other places food is sold.

In 2014, Santa Clara County adopted a similar system showing inspection results for its 8,000 vendors. The only Bay Area county that doesn’t do this or something similar, Underwood said, is San Francisco, which issues inspection reports the vendors must post.

“People here live in one area and commute to other areas, and we wanted a consistent look to what people see,” she said.

Also, having a vendor’s rating posted publicly should encourage them to clean up their acts, literally, and may result in more clients reporting problems they see.

“We hope this results in increased food safety in the kitchens,” said Underwood, adding that studies done in Los Angeles after that county adopted a similar placard system in 1998 showed that reported incidents of food poisoning dropped notably in the first few years after the placards went up. “Because this is something visible, we hope the placards are more motivation to comply with the regulations.”

Food-selling establishments are inspected by Underwood’s staff anywhere from one to four times a year, with high-volume kitchens preparing fresh dishes generally getting the most frequent visits. “Cottage” food operations — limited production of certain foods in private homes — are not part of the placard program, nor are temporary food events, certified farmers’ markets or farm stands.

Diane Bissig said that with the recent highly publicized food poisoning scares at some national chains, solid evidence of a “PASS” rating should provide some comfort. “It seems like people are getting sick from this or that, and are more aware of health and cleanliness,” the San Ramon resident said while ordering inside Cafe Dolce on Monday. The Pacific Plaza worker has been a fan for 12 years.

Bissig said the green sign doesn’t change anything for her. “If I wasn’t sold on the food, I wouldn’t be here treating myself,” she said.

Contact Sam Richards at 925-943-8241. Follow him at Twitter.com/samrichardsWC