Burlingame, Hillsborough Restaurants Will Soon Have Color-Coded Food Safety Placards

The following is a news release from the San Mateo County Health System:

The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors Tuesday approved a new restaurant placarding program that will make it easier for the public to understand how a restaurant has scored on its food safety inspection. The program will launch January 2016.

The new placarding program uses the same familiar traffic light colors—green, yellow, and red—which are already on display at food facilities across other Bay Area counties.

At a glance, customers will be able to spot a green placard for “go,” which means a restaurant passed a food safety inspection, yellow for “caution,” a conditional pass, which means that the facility will be inspected again in one to three days, or red for “stop,” indicating that the facility will be closed until unsafe conditions are corrected.

“I’m proud of the Board of Supervisors for supporting this important public health issue,” said Adrienne Tissier, San Mateo County District 5 Supervisor. “Our residents should always have quick, easy access to all the information they need to make a smart choice about where to eat.”

Placards will be required at approximately 3,000 permanent food facilities that prepare food throughout the county, including restaurants, mobile food trucks, bakeries, schools, licensed health care facilities, and some convenience stores.

Taking a regional approach to grading and placarding provides consistency for food operators with restaurants in multiple counties, and benefits the public by presenting an easy and consistent way to make an informed decision when eating out.

“Foodborne illness is 100% preventable, and yet every year, one in six Americans gets sick from foodborne illnesses, and 3,000 people die from them,” said Heather Forshey, Director for San Mateo County Environmental Health Services. “This program will help consumers quickly understand a restaurant’s food safety status and give restaurant operators a chance to show off their successful commitment to food safety.”

Detailed training for operators on how to earn a green placard is scheduled to begin June 2015.

To learn more about the new placarding program or to attend a training session, please visit smchealth.org/placarding.