Mercer County Health Department
Board of Health Regulation
Food Service Inspection Results Placard
Definitions:
As used in this regulation, unless the context requires otherwise:
- “Board of Health” means the Mercer County Board of Health.
- “Critical violation” means any four or five point violation as reported on the Inspection Report.
- “Director of Health” means the Director of Health of the Mercer County Health Department, or his/her designee(s).
- Fail/Pass history – A record that indicates a facility routinely fails the regular inspection and passes a scheduled follow-up inspection. Due regard for public health is not paramount within the facility. Therefore, the facility does not maintain stringent health and sanitation standards. Posting an A placard within the facility, based on attaining an A level score on the follow-up inspection, would not accurately reflect the public health risk. This facility must pass two successive regular inspections with 93% or higher before receiving an A placard.
- “Food service establishment” means those establishments that hold a permit as a food service establishment or a combination food services establishment/retail food store, issued by the Commonwealth of Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services (or its successor), in accordance with the provisions of the Kentucky Food Service Code.
- History – A record of the food service facility’s inspection scores. A facility history will be designated as the two (2) most recent regular inspection scores.
- “Inspection Report” means the results of an inspection of a food service establishment performed in accordance with the provisions of the Kentucky Food Service Codes.
- “Kentucky Food Service Code” means the provisions of the Kentucky Food Establishment Act (KRS 217.015, et seq.) and the Kentucky Retail Food Code (902 KAR 45:005).
- “Placard” means a document issued by the Health Department pursuant to this regulation that provides to the public information concerning the Inspection Report and Rating Score of the particular food service establishment for which it is issued.
- “Rating Score” means the results of an inspection of a food service establishment as reported on the Inspection Report.
Issuance of Placard:
¨ The Health Department shall issue, or cause to be issued, an inspection results placard at the time of each inspection of a food service establishment within its jurisdiction. The placard shall show the name and address of the food services establishment for which it is issued, shall be approximately 8 ½ inches by 11 inches in size, and shall contain the results of the most recent Inspection Report and the Rating Score recorded therein, including a description of critical violations found, for the particular food service establishment.
Posting of Placard:
¨ Each food service establishment shall post inside the establishment, in a location conspicuous to the public, the inspection results placard issued by the Health Department. The Health Department Director shall have the authority and responsibility for establishing the location of the placard, and for issuing the placard at the time of each inspection of a food service establishment where an Inspection Report is completed.
¨ The placard shall remain the property of the Mercer County Health Department. No person shall move, remove, alter, deface, or conceal from the public view the placard posted pursuant to this regulation.
ABC Placards:
¨ A = 93 – 100% (No critical violations)
¨ B = 85 – 92% (To include ALL scores with corrected critical violations)
¨ C = 84% or below (To include ALL scores with uncorrected critical violations)
¨ I – A placard: Green (Good) acknowledges safe food handling practices and designates a facility as meeting requirements of the Kentucky State Food Code without critical violations. The A placard shall remain posted until the next regular inspection.
¨ II – B placard: Blue (Acceptable) acknowledges that a food service facility meets the minimum requirements of the Kentucky State Food Code. The facility may have a critical violation is corrected during the inspection. Any facility which attains an A level score, but has a fail/pass history, will not earn an A placard until two successive A level scores are attained. The B placard shall remain posted until the next regular inspection.
¨ III – C placard: Red (Marginal) indicates that a food service facility has failed to meet minimum requirements of the Kentucky State Food Code. This will include a score with any critical violation that is not immediately correctable. The C placard shall remain posted for a minimum of seven (7) days not to exceed ten (10) days. A follow-up inspection will be conducted between the seventh day and tenth day, at which time the follow-up inspection results placard subject to above shall be posted.
Schedule of Inspections:
¨ Each food service establishment shall be subject to routine inspection, and necessary re-inspection, in accordance with the provisions of the Kentucky Food Service Code. In the event of any conflict between the inspection provisions of the Kentucky Food Service Code and this regulation, the terms of the Kentucky Food Service Code shall prevail.
¨ A food service establishment, which meets or exceeds minimum standard by receiving a Rating Score of 85 or greater on the Inspection Report, with no critical violations, shall post the inspection report placard until the next routine inspection.
¨ If, upon any re-inspection, the Rating Score of the establishment is reported at 85 or greater, with no critical violations, a new inspection results placard shall be posted for the establishment provided such posting is not in conflict with the paragraphs.
¨ A facility, which fails a follow-up inspection, will be subject to an administrative conference pursuant to 902 KAR 45:005 and will be required to display a B placard after passing the next follow-up inspection. The B placard will be posted regardless of the passing numeric score. The B placard must be displayed until the next regular inspection.
Penalties:
¨ Any violation of the provisions of this regulation shall be punished by a fine of not less than five dollars ($5) or more than one hundred dollars ($100) per day for each day of violation, in accordance with KRS 212.990(3).
Effective Date:
This regulation shall become effective __ / __ / ____
Adopted by the Mercer County Board of Health at its regular meeting __ / __ / _____
_____________________________________________
Chairman
ATTEST:
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Health Director