Local restaurants’ food safety compliance records are now available with a swipe of a finger with the launch of the County of Santa Clara Department of Environmental Health’s new SCCDineOutApp for Apple iOS devices.
“The SCCDineOut app makes it more convenient for consumers,” said Joe Simitian, County of Santa Clara Board of Supervisors. “Now if you are out and about, you’ll be able to check your iPhone quickly and easily to check on a restaurant’s compliance status and inspection results.”
An Android version of the app is in development and expected to be available early next year, according to the Sept. 8 press release.
Last October, the county implemented a food facility placarding and scoring program—which assigns a Green, Yellow, or Red colored placard for food facilities and posts the results of environmental health inspections online along with the compliance score—to alert diners whether or not a facility is in compliance with food safety laws.
Consumers will be able to view the most recent food inspection results for a restaurant they are considering, including any specific violations. They will also be able to view a list of restaurants that have been closed for food safety violations during the last six months.
The Sept. 8 app launch coincides with Food Safety Awareness Month and follows the successful launch of the new placarding program which resulted in the color-coded placards being posted in plain view at all food facilities that perform food preparation, according to county staff.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report an estimated 76 million U.S. cases of foodborne illnesses annually, including 325,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths, according to Simitian.
The colored placards are issued as Environmental Health Specialists conduct inspections throughout the year. Inspection schedules vary and depend on the historical compliance of food facilities. The inspections are more frequent for facilities that have had violations, county staff said.
“The SCCDineOut app is another example of the county providing the public with the tools they need to more easily find information to make informed decisions when they are choosing an eating establishment,” said Jim Blamey, Director of the county’s Department of Environmental Health.
Features of the new SCCDineOut app include:
—Inspection results for thousands of food facilities within Santa Clara County;
—Search by food facility name or those near your current location;
—Sort inspection results by compliance score;
—View contact information for food facilities;
—Easily view closure information for food facilities that are immediately closed due to a major violation;
—More information about the placard color and compliance score;
—Submit feedback to the Department.
—Inspection results for thousands of food facilities within Santa Clara County
—Search by food facility name or those near your current location
—Sort inspection results by compliance score
—View contact information for food facilities
—Easily view closure information for food facilities that are immediately closed due to a major violation
—More information about the placard color and compliance score
—Submit feedback to the Department
