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Health Inspections Hard to Find

dcogcadmin | August 26, 2009

The Washington Post editorial board has taken note of the less-than-appetizing problem the public faces when trying to access health inspections of the District’s eating establishments (the editorial can be read here).  The health inspections have not been posted online since 2003, according to the Post, and so are not readily available to the public.  Unless a restaurant has actually been closed by the D.C. Department of Health, the only way to review health inspections is to specially request them, and wait for a response.  Two D.C. Council members (Muriel Bowser and Mary M.

The Washington Post editorial board has taken note of the less-than-appetizing problem the public faces when trying to access health inspections of the District’s eating establishments (the editorial can be read here).  The health inspections have not been posted online since 2003, according to the Post, and so are not readily available to the public.  Unless a restaurant has actually been closed by the D.C. Department of Health, the only way to review health inspections is to specially request them, and wait for a response.  Two D.C. Council members (Muriel Bowser and Mary M. Cheh) have introduced legislation that would require city eateries to post a letter grade received during their inspection in the front window, allowing passersby to easily see the restaurant’s score.  As the editorial points out, this practice is followed in other cities, though may be hard to effectively implement here due to the fact that it would increase demands on inspection staff.