Revision of the state of Tennessee foodservice establishment health inspection form

The purpose of this research was to provide an assessment of foodservice safety practices currently conducted in Knox County, Tennessee, and to formulate a new approach to restaurant operation evaluation. In order to achieve this goal, the researcher first examined the current foodservice establishment inspection process by shadowing a Knox County Health Inspector during site visits. References such as HACCP textbooks, food sanitation texts, and the FDA Food Code were used to evaluate current inspection criteria, and to formulate the revised inspection form. Once the form was developed, a supplemental explanation guide was designed to detail the inspection criteria by indicating the specific requirements of each point. The form was evalfiated in a sample of four foodservice operations by the researcher. Foodservice personnel who accompanied the researcher during evaluations were asked their opinions of the revised form and supplemental guide. Six State of Tennessee health inspectors were contacted and surveyed for input on the revised form; three inspectors returned usable surveys. The revisions to the health inspection form contributed by the researcher apply HACCP-oriented procedures, and target critical areas within foodservice operations. The revised form shifts the emphasis toward a more preventative approach to health inspections rather than continuing to focus on the conditions of the actual facility. Restaurateurs indicated that the revised form, in their opinions, focused more specifically on food-related issues, and that better documentation of critical areas during food production would benefit establishments in the long run. The form introduced the possibility of not evaluating operations with numerical scores, rather it highlighted points in production that would need "Immediate" correction, correction within "7-10 Days," "By the next inspection," or whether individual criterion were "To Standard." Though the concept of not attaching numerical scores to inspections seemed desirable to some, others expressed concern over whether the industry, as well as the consumer population, were ready for this type of change. The researcher feels that in order to enforce food safety practices for long term, current methods and procedures for inspection must be updated. The initial step of this process may require the development of more usable inspection tools that will target those critical areas during food production at which contamination may occur. Based upon the research conducted, the researcher feels that in order to ensure that food served in public dining establishments is safe from contamination, the state and local health departments must devise a more applicable method of inspection procedures.