Food safety inspections find fewer violations thanks to ‘social pressure’

Since 2017, six Big Island food establishments have received red food safety placards from the state Department of Health, issued to businesses when imminent public health hazards are observed.

A stoplight placard system, adopted in 2014, aims to alert consumers before entering an establishment whether it has met state food safety standards.

The most recent red placard on Hawaii Island was issued to Genki Sushi in Kailua-Kona last month, which came after an inspection prompted by multiple complaints of roaches.

Peter Oshiro, who oversees Hawaii’s food safety program as environmental health program manager for the DOH’s Sanitation Branch, said Friday that the West Hawaii restaurant remains closed, and no date has been set for re-inspection.

“If a food facility is closed down by DOH, the time frame for them to open is completely on them,” he said. “We do not care about rapid compliance if the food facility is no longer serving food to the public. Public health is protected by the facility being closed.”

A Genki Sushi representative did not immediately respond to an email from the Tribune-Herald.

However, Mary Hansen, vice president and chief administrative officer, Genki Sushi USA Inc., said in a statement to West Hawaii Today earlier this month that the Kailua-Kona eatery is working to take necessary actions to ensure it is in compliance with all state Department of Health food safety requirements, “while also meeting the high standards for cleanliness and sanitation that we set for all of our restaurant locations.”

“We regret the continued delay, but we want to make sure our customers are assured of a clean restaurant when we reopen,” she said at that time.

Genki is just one of more than 10,000 food establishments across Hawaii routinely inspected by the DOH as part of its food safety program. According to Oshiro, there are about 6,000 on Oahu, 1,800 each on the Big Island and Maui, and 700 on Kauai.

Establishments are ranked into three risk categories based on food operations and what they serve.

High risks are inspected three times a year, medium risks, like fast food restaurants, undergo routine inspections twice a year, and low risks, like ice cream and snack shops, are inspected once a year, he explained.

And violations are sorted into two categories.

Critical food illness risk factors, which look at factors like hygienic practices and hand-washing, food temperatures, disinfection and cross-contamination, affect the placarding.

“All these things people cannot see,” Oshiro said. “They see the front of the house — floor, walls and ceiling — which does not affect public health. It’s what we observe in the back of the house that protects public health.”

Good retail practices, which Oshiro said are more aesthetic, do not affect the type of placard issued at the end of the inspection.

Inspections are unannounced, and according to Oshiro, if there is one critical violation that cannot be corrected at the time of the inspection, or two or more that can be immediately corrected, restaurants are issued a yellow placard.

If restaurants can correct the problems right away “and call us up and have it inspected, we’ll take down the yellow (placard),” he said. “Our object is to rapidly correct the violation — not punish the establishment.”

Red placards are issued if yellow placard violations are not corrected in a timely manner or if there’s an imminent health hazard and the establishment needs to be closed on the spot, said Oshiro.

Imminent health hazards could be the lack of water (meaning no one can wash hands or dishes), lack of power, rodent or insect infestation, or sewage in the restaurant.

Oshiro said the “social pressure” caused by the placard system and posting inspection reports online for public consumption has been the “focus point (of) why we get such good voluntary compliance. The whole theory was using government transparency to influence industry behavior.”

Oshiro said inspectors tend to find the same problems, regardless of geographic region. “From Oahu to Hilo to Kansas City (it’s) the same,” he said.

Issues with staff hand washing, whether doing it at all or frequently enough, is a problem nationwide, he said.

Making sure foods are hot or cold enough and cooked to the proper temperature is another common problem.

But Hawaii’s placard system has seen success.

When the program started, Oshiro said the yellow placard issuance rate was 30-35% during routine inspections.

Today, “we actually cut that number in half,” he said. Now, only 15-17% of routine inspections lead to a yellow placard.

“I think it’s been very, very effective.”

Current health inspection reports can be found online at hi.healthinspections.us/hawaii/.

Those who feel they got sick from a food establishment can call 586-4586 to report food borne illness.

Email Stephanie Salmons at ssalmons@hawaiitribune-herald.com.