What Happens During a Restaurant Inspection?

Not only are restaurant inspections in Georgia a requirement, it is important for the customers to know that you are keeping your restaurant in tip-top shape. Most people don’t know how often a restaurant is required to have an inspection to ensure that everything is how it needs to be. How would you feel if you knew that a restaurant you just visited wasn’t up to the health code? It is vital that restaurants have their location inspected frequently.

But what happens during a restaurant inspection? Some people are curious to know what kind of standards a restaurant is required to meet.

After the inspector enters the building, introduces him or herself to the personnel, puts on the white lab coat and gathers the equipment, he or she begins to inspect the layout and work flow of the kitchen. He then moves onto the receiving area and dry food storage. It is important to always look in these areas for signs of rodent activity. This can be prevented by placing dry goods on shelves to avoid any contamination.

The next item of business is the refrigerator. The inspector will check to make sure there isn’t any raw meat placed above any produce or ready to eat foods. The inspector also takes the temperature of various food items and the overall temperature of the refrigerator. The refrigerator is followed by the freezer inspection.

The inspector then checks the food preparation area and makes sure there is no cross-contamination happening. Watching for proper and frequent hand washing and glove use is also observed. The cooking area is inspecting by taking temperatures of cooking foods and will observe the workflow of the area, being sure to watch for no bare-hand contact on the ready to eat foods. Moving onto the dishwashing area, the inspector will run it through one cycle testing the water to see if it is working properly.

The last areas to inspect are the restrooms and the garbage area. Each restroom needs to have hot water, cold water, soap and paper towels. The garbage should not be leaking and have a tight fitting lid. The area surrounding the garbage should be clean and have no excessive amounts of food or other garbage on the ground.

Having the requirement for restaurant inspections in Georgia is critical to running a healthy and safe dining experience for the customers. Make sure your restaurant of choice is maintaining as it should.