Health Codes 101
Obviously, the enforcement of health codes raises serious and complex issues. However, we invite comment from restaurateurs who must live with these regulations and are presumably most informed on the
Zagat Discussion boards.
Rats have been hogging the spotlight when it comes to restaurant health-code violations lately – dozens of the rodents were caught on video carousing after-hours in a Greenwich Village KFC/Taco Bell recently (just a day after the fast-fooder passed a health inspection), prompting NYC officials to launch a crackdown that led to more than 80 eateries being shut down for a variety of health-code violations – but they may not pose as big a threat to diners' health as employees who fail to wash their hands.
According to the health department, "While rats are not generally associated with health issues, their presence in restaurants suggests unacceptable unsanitary conditions. By comparison, food kept at an improper temperature and poor personal hygiene, such as not washing hands, puts customers at much greater risk of foodborne illness." Meanwhile, at least a couple of the shuttered NYC restaurants, including Union Square's popular Coffee Shop and the famed John's Pizzeria on Bleecker Street, have since reopened.