Detroit restaurants next year may have to post signs showing whether they meet the city's food safety code.
(Photo: DepositPhotos)
Councilman Scott Benson pushes a traffic light-like approach, rather than letter grades used elsewhere. His draft ordinance, according to Axios Detroit newsletter, suggests green to show health standards compliance, white for spots awaiting follow-up inspections, yellow for unfixed problems and red for serious violators ordered to shut temporarily.
Benson's ordinance is written and expected to be introduced to City Council in June after talking with residents and restaurant owners, he tells Axios. If approved, the grading system would start Jan. 1, according to city budget documents. ...
"This is a direct result of restaurants failing inspections in the past," Benson says. "I said enough is enough. We need to have a system where people can be educated on what's going on as far as their health."
Justin Winslow, head of the Michigan Restaurant and Lodging Association, tells the week-old news site that members generally prefer colors to letter grades.
But there's a challenge that comes with trying to enforce rules like this, he adds. Inspection results can be a "somewhat subjective decision from health department to health department."
