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by NIKKI ROBERTI
Lifestyles Reporter
Sophomore psychology major, Rebekah L. Gladson never noticed sanitation scores at restaurants –until Cook Out, that is.
Its sanitation score is 100.5.
“I thought it was dirty, but I guess not,” Gladson said.
Health Director of the Appalachian District, A. Daniel Staley said the most common sanitation score is a 90 or better, resulting in the majority of restaurants labeled as a Grade A establishment.
“It’s just an
education tool for the public,” Staley said. “It’s a way of informing
the public of what standards [the restaurants holds] or [at] what level
of performance that an institution has performed.”
Health inspections are announced two to four times a year.
Restaurants with more “high risk or potentially hazardous food” are inspected more frequently.
Appalachian State University is inspected four times a year.
Associate
Director of Food Services at Appalachian State University Pat K. Weaver
said sanitation is taken very seriously when it comes to on campus food
preparation.
“We are
very proud of the ratings we have always gotten,” Weaver said. “A lot
of the units we have range anywhere from 93 to 100.”
McAlister’s Deli and Cascades Café have been scored 100 in the past, but are currently rated at 98.
Welborn
Cafeteria is rated at 93 which Weaver said is due to the wide range of
food preparation required for the facility as opposed to McAlister’s
whose only product actually cooked on site is their baked potatoes.
Despite
Cook Out’s score of 100.5 in comparison to Welborn Cafeteria’s score of
93, Gladson said she still considers Welborn to be cleaner.
Staley explained Cook Out’s over 100 score as attributed to the ServSafe training class.
If restaurants complete the training, they are awarded two extra points to their overall score.
Weaver said Appalachian also attends the training sessions through managers, supervisors and sometimes cooks.
She considers the university “required” to go since the Health Department “highly recommends” the campus’ attendance.
Senior
chemistry major Ryan Sturtibant has worked at Ye Old Country Kitchen
for four years and has a low opinion of the extra credit points system.
“Almost any restaurant that has a 93 or lower, I consider to be a B rating because of the extra credit points,” he said.
“That [system] is currently being reviewed and [may] change to require
restaurants to take the training, resulting in no extra points,” Staley
said.
That
means the days of 100.5s would be over; but that also means restaurants
resting on a low 90 can no longer mask their true grade B score.
However,
Staley said the sanitation scores aren’t necessarily everything as
consumers should be observant and make judgment calls themselves rather
than solely basing their opinions on sanitation scores.
“Those are mere snap shots. That’s just what we saw that day,” Staley said. “It’s not the only thing to look at.”
Weaver is very proud of the initiative Appalachian Food Service staff takes in regards to ensuring proper sanitation on campus.
“I think if you would go to other restaurants in town and compare us to that, you would be very proud you eat here,” she said.
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