Would Your Kitchen Pass a Restaurant Health Inspection?

Restaurant inspection reports make for popular reading on Martha's Vineyard Patch, where we publish a selection every first Friday of the month.

What if our own home kitchens also had to pass inspection before we could serve the food we cook there? 

Here's a partial list of the things the Edgartown restaurant inspector checks when he visits commercial kitchens:

• Entry uncluttered
• Proper attire, hats (on food preparers)
• Counters clean, grease free
• Under counters clean
• Vent hood area clean
• Floor clean of food debris
• Condiment refrigerators:
  • clean
  • tops down or covered
  • food covered
  • no spoiled food
• Handwashing sink, kitchen:
  • disposable towels, soap
  • easily accessed
• Cooks using safe habits:
  • clean, healthy staff
  • no smoking in kitchen
• Walk-in refrigerator:
  • proper temperature
  • clean, neat, organized
  • all food covered
  • no spoiled food
• Food freezer <0 degrees Fahrenheit:
  • all food protected
• Dry storage:
  • organized
  • all articles off floor
  • no outdated products
• Warewashing:
  • proper temperatures
  • air dried, adequate storage
• Toilet rooms:
  • clean and odor free
  • one-time towel and soap
• Thawing foods correctly
• Toxic storage appropriate
• Unessentials removed

Source: Edgartown Board of Health

Would your kitchen pass a health inspection? Tell us in the comments. For recent inspection reports from Island restaurants, please see:

• 3 Oak Bluffs Restaurant Inspection Reports
• 11 Edgartown Restaurants Inspected

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