Ohio farmer/state rep wants to get rid of ‘gotcha’ moments in food inspections

OHio House Representative Brian Hill, R-Zanesville,is serving his second term and chairs the Agriculture and Rural Development committee. He is the last active farmer in the House.  One focus of his is House Bill 551, along with the latest water quality laws. House Bill 551 is geared toward those who conduct inspections of retail food establishments and food service operations.It is very unusual because both the restaurant association and those inspectors (normally at odds with each other) both came to us,” Hill said. “Those inspectors said, ‘We have a problem.’ The inspection process is not based on critical violations, it’s based on ‘gotchas,’” He explained that the goal of the inspection is to focus on risk-based matters. Right now, Hill said the inspections are focused on non-critical violations such as a light bulb out or a crack in a ceiling tile. He contends the inspections should be more focused on the critical violations such as continuing problems with water temperatures not being up to standards.“It’s all boring until you get sick. The focus needs to be on those critical situations, not going in and seeing a broken tile and saying, ‘Gotcha!’”