Evanston Day Care Facilities Checked Quarterly: Official

All day care kitchens in the city of Evanston are inspected by health officials quarterly, according to Carl Caneva, the city’s deputy health and human services director.

That information was shared by City Manager Wally Bobkiewicz one day after a Chicago Tribune report showed health inspectors in the city of Chicago failed to visit about 300 daycares in 2014, 40 percent of the number operating in the city with some having gone at least two years without an inspection.

While Chicago officials have cited a “human error” for the oversight, Caneva contends that lack of staff is another major issue.

“(Having) less than 30 inspectors for all of the City means there is no realistic way to achieve the state’s minimum standards,” he said. “It also means most of their inspection practices must be focused more on the state of the facility rather than on the food safety behaviors of their staff.

In Evanston, the quarterly inspections are performed “due to the vulnerable population” of young children being served. The city’s 50 or so home day cares are also subject to an annual inspection, which includes looking at the food.