From the Nov/Dec 2006 issue of
Wisconsin Restaurateur Magazine

Negative focus: the media’s use and misuse of restaurant health inspection reports

by Sonya Bice

Early this month, WEAU of Eau Claire began a series identifying restaurants whose October health inspections included critical violations. For the past several months, WTMJ of Milwaukee has been doing the same thing. Another Milwaukee station, WISN, also ran a series in September 2005. Such “investigations” are fairly common: they can be found on the web sites of stations in Texas, Florida, Arizona, Ohio, Hawaii, and Tennessee. In the series, many of which use the same title as the Eau Claire and Milwaukee reports—“Dirty Dining”—the reporter gets inspection reports from the health department and then shows up, cameras rolling, at the restaurant. (WEAU took a softer approach—the reporter called owners to ask if violations had been corrected.) The reports often zero in on the “gag factor” of the violations (cockroaches and flies get heavy play). The station identifies restaurants with “critical violations” and posts their names on its web site.

As WRA President and CEO Ed Lump noted in a recent column, “It is the strong consumer interest in dining out that drives media outlets in Milwaukee and across the state to do this kind of reporting, so this will continue to occur from time to time in all media markets in Wisconsin and nationally.”

Responsible operators probably ultimately benefit from media attention to truly unsafe operations. As one WRA member says, “Quite frankly, I don’t have a big problem with the series because some of the places they have hit have been downright disgusting.”

WTMJ’s series is among a few that also gives positive coverage to restaurants whose reports indicate very clean operations, though it has devoted over a dozen segments to “dirty dining” and only a couple so far to “blue ribbon awards.”

The reports do present some concerns for restaurants, though, because they sometimes make misleading statements about complicated Food Code regulations. For example, some reports have claimed that “bare-hand contact” with food is always a violation of the state Food Code. In fact, operators who have in place a written plan that incorporates specific steps outlined by the Food Code, including instituting specific policies and training, are permitted to allow bare-hand contact with ready-to-eat food in their restaurants. (A template for such a plan is available on WRA’s web site as a link from the ServSafe page.)

Tracy Kosbau, WRA’s director of marketing and public relations, says the problem with these stories is how they are reported. “We are frustrated that false information is being portrayed as news potentially confusing the public and alarming viewers unnecessarily,” she said.

The reporting can sometimes irresponsibly misrepresent a health department report, for example, by overstating minor violations. In any case, the restaurants singled out in the investigations have a p.r. crisis on their hands when the camera crew arrives. The extent of the damage depends largely on the approach a restaurant takes in responding to the crisis.

Preparation is key
WRA routinely alerts its members in an area when it learns that a station is preparing to run a series. The alerts let members know what to expect and help them plan a response and instruct staff how to handle the situation if a camera crew arrives at the door. When they received this advance notice, some operators told WRA, they reminded managers what the restaurant’s policy is about handling unannounced media visits.

The different experiences of two Milwaukee-area operators who were contacted by TV reporters illustrate how different the outcomes can be.

“No comment”
The manager of a restaurant that was identified as having multiple critical temperature and cross-contamination violations opted not to allow the reporter and camera crew into the restaurant and declined to comment. The only statement the manager made on camera was, “No I really don’t, I don’t want the camera there, thank you.” The reporter listed the violations and closed the segment emphasizing that the restaurant refused to allow the camera inside its kitchen, though she added that the manager said the problems had been fixed.

The restaurant manager’s uncooperativeness is understandable but counterproductive. There may be good reasons not to allow the cameras into the kitchen—you cannot control how the footage is edited or used—but without a spokesperson willing to speak positively about the steps taken to resolve the violations, the report leaves a strongly negative impression of the restaurant.
The manager, however, may not have been trained to respond to a media visit.

“I will be happy to talk to you”
Another restaurant had a markedly different experience. When the camera crew showed up at the restaurant unannounced, the bartender on duty told the reporter that the manager and owner were not present, and that they would have to leave. When the owner learned of the visit, he promptly contacted the reporter and invited the camera crew back any time that either he or the manager was on the premises. “I told her I would be proud to show her anything she wanted to see,” he said.

For whatever reasons, the reporter lost interest once the owner expressed his willingness to give a complete tour and explain in detail how the restaurant was complying with the code.

The owner, an industry veteran with several restaurants, said that afterward he combed through health department reports to see what might have caught the eye of the reporter and found one possible explanation: one report mentioned a dead cockroach in an area of the basement not used for food or beverage storage.

His conclusion: “It just seems that they are unwilling to ever be proven wrong for sensationalizing a story that just isn’t there.”

The best defense
As Kosbau points out, the best defense is a good offense: making sure your restaurant complies with all food code requirements. It also helps to have the support and resources of WRA.

“Members often call the WRA hotline with food safety questions for our resident food code experts, and we have many resources available to members as well,” Kosbau said.

WRA of course makes sanitation training available in its ServSafe courses, and members have access on its web site (www.wirestaurant.org) to information on the state food code and on crisis communications.

- WR -

This article is reprinted with permission from Wisconsin Restaurateur magazine. Wisconsin Restaurateur is a bimonthly publication of the Wisconsin Restaurant Association and is sent to all WRA Members as a member benefit. The magazine keeps members up to date on the latest industry trends.

For information on becoming a WRA member, call 800.589.3211