How to Recognize Food Poisoning Illness | Prevent Food Poisoning Hazards

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Are Ethnic Restaurants and Markets More Hazardous Than the Standard American Food Establishment?

Do They Pose a Higher Risk of Food Borne Illness

 

Many large cities across the U.S. and other western countries are home to diverse ethnic groups (i.e. non-native people).  Los Angeles County, where I live for example, and especially southern California, is literally home to every ethnic group of people in the world.  There are pockets or neighborhoods of different groups of people throughout.   Most of these neighborhoods are filled with restaurants and markets selling their foods and dishes as they were prepared in their homeland.

These business have provided a challenge to the local government food inspection agencies.  These agencies are responsible for ensuring the food, the storage and preparation processes and the facility itself meet the standards for proper food safety, sanitation and prevention needed to minimize the chance of food poisoning or food borne illness.

Ethnic restaurants and markets in the U.S. run the gamut of food safety and sanitation.  I have seen and inspected each extreme and everything in between.  The only real conclusion I can make about these types of facilities is that the restaurants and markets inside the pockets tend to have lower scores or greater numbers of high risk violations.  These owners and operators are more likely to be first generation or recent immigrants.  They may therefore be unfamiliar with U.S. and western standards for food safety and sanitation, and unfortunately more set in their ways.   Also, there is the sense or feeling that they need to maintain a level of authenticity in order to keep their business or customers.

A very good example of this occurs in the city of Monterey Park in Los Angeles County.  This city has a very high concentration of Chinese residents and Chinese food facilities and there is a lot of competition amongst the businesses.  Los Angeles County has a grading system which requires the retail food facilities to post a grade for the public.  The business owners and operators tend to look at a lower grade such as a “B” as a badge of honor and an indication of their food being more genuine or authentic.

Here are statistics on the grade breakdown comparison for the city of Monterey Park versus all Los Angeles County for restaurants for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2009:

 

All of LA County

Monterey Park

"A" Grade:

83.6%

53.5%

"B" Grade:

14.6%

37.7%

"C" Grade:

1.6%

7.9%

<70 Score*:

.2%

.9%

*A number score is issued and posted in place of a grade for anything less than a “C” or 70 score.

What stands out is the lower percentage of "A's" and higher percentage of “B’s” and “C’s” compared to the County as a whole.  As I mentioned, this is not uncommon in heavily homogenous ethnic neighborhoods.  I would guess this is probably common throughout the U.S. and other countries with large concentrations of immigrants coming from countries with lower standards for food safety and sanitation.

I am certainly not advocating that you never patronize these areas or restaurants and markets, but only that you be extra vigilant and use your senses in avoiding those potentially more dangerous establishments and situations.  (To learn more start at food poisoning prevention home page)

Lastly, from my experience, and I have no numbers to prove this, ethnic restaurants and markets outside of the pockets tend to follow the pattern for grade distribution for the county as a whole.

About the Author

Michael Doom worked as a Registered Environmental Health Specialist (REHS) for Los Angeles County for more than 21 years.  For most of these years he worked as a field inspector and Supervising Senior REHS in the retail food inspection programs. His experience within Los Angeles County has taken him to some of the smallest “mom and pop” restaurants and markets in the poorest areas of south Los Angeles, as well as to the largest facilities and affluent areas on the west side. He has literally conducted thousands of inspections of numerous types of restaurants, food markets, warehouses, events, and more; educated hundreds, if not more than a thousand, food facility owners, managers and employees on food sanitation and food safety , and how to prevent food poisoning hazards; has supervised more than 50 field inspectors that were responsible for an inventory of food facilities larger than many U.S. states.

Mr. Doom has a B.S. in Biology from Loyola Marymount University, an REHS with the state of California, holds a Project Management Professional (PMP®) credential from the Project Management Institute, and a Master's Certificate in Project Management from George Washington University.  Mr. Doom continuously works to expand his knowledge and experience in the subject of food safety, sanitation and food poisoning prevention.

He can be reached at Mike@foodpoisoningprevention.com