Not only was July 1 the end of foie gras in California (at least for now), but as of yesterday, all restaurants in Alameda County feature color-coded health inspection grades. The idea is that, similar to the letter grading systems in Los Angeles and New York, the color grades will improve transparency with diners. They’ll certainly be more visible — not to mention easier to understand — than the often-camouflaged number grades they replace.
There are three levels: Green, Yellow and Red, essentially making choosing a restaurant like a game of “Red Light, Green Light.” Initially, restaurants will receive placards after a routine inspection is conducted.
ABC explains what the colors mean:
In the new color-coded grading system a green placard means there is a history of good inspections, yellow means two or more major food safety violations and red indicates a place has been closed because of violations like unsafe food storage and unsanitary conditions.
More specifically, according to the Alameda health department, the score breakdown are as follows:
- Green: Score of 80-100 points with no more than one MAJOR CDC risk factor violation which is CORRECTED during inspection.
- Yellow: Score of 75-79 points and/or two or more MAJOR CDC risk factor violations which are CORRECTED during inspection
- Red: A score of less than 75 points and/or one or more MAJOR CDC risk factor violation which is NOT CORRECTED during inspection or any Imminent Health Hazard
What do you think of the new system? Yay or nay?
Here’s more, via the video report from ABC: