List date(s) this work was published or aired.
7/31/2011-8/01/11
Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.
Restaurants in Muskegon County racked up thousands of food code violations between 2007 to 2010, some of which could make the public sick. And Muskegon County’s enforcement system allowed many of the most frequent violators to continue to operate for years without facing serious consequences.
Explain types of documents, data or Internet resources used. Were FOI or public records act requests required? How did this affect the work?
I used inspection data and a variety of documents to shed light on the number and type of violations restaurant’s received and the health department’s enforcement practices. The health inspection data contained about 24,000 records, detailing the type of violation, the restaurant receiving the violation, the date the violation occurred on, whether the violation was critical, the violation’s code number, and a brief description of why the inspector decided the violation was warranted. Open records requests were used to obtain fooborne illness outbreak reports between 2007 and 2010, which showed large-scale incidents of food poisoning investigated by the Muskegon County health department. Other records used include •Letters from Muskegon County Health Department to restaurants. •Health Department inspection reports •Corrective action plans submitted to the health department by restaurants
Explain types of human sources used.
I interviewed a variety of sources, including employees of the health department, restaurant owners and managers, restaurant patrons who had become ill after eating at restaurants, academic experts and food safety advocates, and health department official from Sacramento County, California and the state of North Carolina.
Results:
The two-day series, consisting of seven stories, received a strong reaction from readers. Many had never known how many food code violations their favorite eatery had received.
Follow-up (if any). Have you run a correction or clarification on the report or has anyone come forward to challenge its accuracy? If so, please explain.
No follow up stories were published. There were no factual errors and no one challenged the story.
Advice to other journalists planning a similar story or project.
Getting health inspection data going back at least three years will allow you to spot trends and find repeat offenders. Take time to learn about the food code, how health inspectors approach their job, and focus on what the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers the most serious type of violations.