Canada's Restaurant Secrets Follow-Up: Comparison to California's Eating Ordinance?

If I have watched CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) television show called "Marketplace" on a segment called "Canada's Restaurant Secrets," viewers in Canada have their hands full of what what was really inside Canada's restaurants and fast food chains. Tom Harrington and Erica Johnson compiled thousands of inspection reports to show viewers the results. 

After I viewed the video, the problem on eating out is that Canadian restaurant chains have no such requirement for restaurants in Canada to post inspection results outside their windows. Out of all the restaurants in Canada that post inspection results outside the windows, only Toronto has this kind of distinction. In comparison, in Santa Clara and Alameda (pronounced AL-LA-ME-DA) Counties in California, restaurants are required to post inspection results outside their windows. Most of Canada like Vancouver, Calgary, Regina, Montreal, and Edmonton currently have no such desire to post their health scorecard outside their restaurants. Many restaurants in Santa Clara and Alameda counties have restaurant inspection cards labeled in three colors: green for "Pass," yellow for "Conditional Pass," and red for "Fail." San Francisco, however, opts for a numerical score card. 

When I compared reports out of "Marketplace" to reports in the Bay Area, many local leaders were taking action. For instance, Santa Clara county supervisors led by Dave Cortese (pronounced CORE-TEH-ZEE) passed an ordinance requiring restaurants to post inspection cards outside their windows at restaurant entrances. On the sad side, Tom Harrington and Erica Johnson could have compared the use of color-coded signs in Toronto to signs posted throughout Santa Clara and Alameda counties. 

Would Johnson and Harrington ever fly out to the San Francisco Bay Area from Canada to see the inspection signs for themselves? Or would Johnson and Harrington ask Santa Clara and Alameda County health officials to fly up to Toronto and convince Canadian health officials to have color cards? Let's hear from anyone... 

Original Work: Kyle Chak

E-mail: chak595301@gmail.com

Twitter: @KyleSChak