Inspection scores rise for local restaurants

Follow-up health inspections for four Shelbyville restaurants shows improvement, according to the man who does the checking.

Last week, the Times-Gazette published health inspection scores for Bedford County eatries, some of which had been graded only days ago.

According to Jeremy Williams, Environmental Health Specialist for the Bedford County Health Department, most of the restaurants listed in the T-G article "had initial lower scores but were adjusted after the critical items had been corrected."

"The four restaurants that you had in the article had not received their follow up score yet, so it made them look worse than all of the other facilities listed," Williams said. After the follow up inspection, their scores are as listed:

* Whitt's BBQ - 85

* Midway Diner - 88

* El Mexico - 88

* The Dinner Table - 84

"Once a restaurant inspection has been completed and critical items have been found, that facility has 10 days to correct the critical items and points will be added back to the original score," Williams explained.

The Department of Health states that an individual restaurant inspection score is a "snapshot" of the condition of the business at the time of inspection and that a single score "is not necessarily indicative of the inspection history of the facility."

"The scores are used as a tool by the State and industry to place a value on compliance to the regulations, educate the operators, and thereby encourage corrective action," the department's Web site says.

In addition to routine inspections, unannounced inspections are also conducted in response to individual complaints.

The state uses a 44-item inspection sheet with a maximum of 100 points; 13 of the items are considered critical. Those critical items must be corrected within 10 days and follow-up inspections are conducted to determine compliance.

If a business fails to correct the violations or has an imminent health hazard, it could result in the closure of the establishment until corrections are made. Also, serious or repeated violations may result in revocation of the business's permit.

Inspection scores, plus details of violations, can be seen at http://tn.state.gegov.com/tennessee/ .