Restaurant Closure Highlights Health Department Changes

[Updated Sept. 13, 2013]  After just two months on the job, Pasadena’s new Environmental Health Division Manager Liza Frias has made her presence known by ordering the temporary closure of a popular South Lake Avenue restaurant which has been in operation for 43 years.

On Aug. 28, Frias’s inspectors cited Burger Continental for 26 different types of violations – everything from improper cooking times and temperatures to not keeping food surfaces clean or providing adequate hand-washing facilities.

The restaurant remained closed until Sept. 11, when it was allowed to reopen under the terms of a conditional permit. [Click here for related story]

“It was shut down because it really did have some imminent health risks,” Pasadena Public Health Director Dr. Eric Walsh said. “By imminent, we mean someone will get sick.”

How does a restaurant go from no violations during its last inspection to getting shut down?

“We brought in a person with a new set of eyes, and things are rising to the surface,” Walsh said.

He credits Liza Frias with transforming the division in charge of restaurant inspections.

Frias spent 13 years with LA County Environmental Health and nine years as the director of food safety for Albertsons.

“I can guarantee you within a year the city will see a difference. Consumers will see a difference,” Frias said. “There will be some changes, and they’re going to be positive changes.”

Pasadena’s City Manager Michael Beck believes that Frias’s planned changes and initiatives will “strengthen the City’s food inspection program and will ensure the public’s safety and confidence in our inspections.”

Beck said some of the planned changes in the health department include implementing a new software system for tracking compliance and data management; using a tablet-based inspection process; reviewing current permit fees; and developing an awards program that recognizes outstanding restaurants complying with food safety and sanitation practices.

Walsh does not deny there have been issues within the Health Department. He said the department was “a million dollars in the hole” when he took the position three years ago.

“I’ve had to make massive changes to that department,” he said.

The Public Health Dept. It is the only department in the city which does not receive local general fund money, Walsh said, so it relies on fees to fund many operations.

The city attracts restaurants because of low fees, but that also means less money for inspections, Walsh said.

After layoffs a few years ago and the former division director’s cancer battle which caused him to miss months of works before his recent death, the city fell behind on inspections. Prior to last week, Burger Continental had not been inspected since May of 2012.

“There’s no defending that things weren’t right while I’ve been here these three years,” he said.

The Health Department has four inspectors when they should have six or seven, according to Walsh. In addition to checking more than 1,000 food service establishments in Pasadena, those inspectors also handle events like parades and UCLA football games.

“A big challenge the health department in Pasadena has is we have a ton of special events,” he said. “You don’t have enough people, and you quickly back up.”

Although the department is still looking to hire a couple more inspectors, Walsh said they will be caught up on inspections within the next month.

Do not expect the Health Department to start shutting down many restaurants though.

Walsh said most establishments in the city are “stellar.” Walsh and Frias both agree customers should not worry about the safety of their food while dining in Pasadena.

“I have confidence that my staff has been able to do effective inspections,” Frias said. “I think the frequency that I would like to see perhaps has not been there, but all restaurants have been inspected in the last year.”

She plans to use a risk-based approach where facilities with higher potential risk for contamination will be inspected more frequently. She plans to meet with people in the restaurant industry and get feedback.

“I truly believe in a collaborative approach,” she said.