Good news for foodies - more exposure for restaurant closures
Tacoma-Pierce County officials this week made a welcome announcement to local dining consumers that could be summed up in the form of a toast: Here’s to your health.
After years trailing neighboring King and Thurston counties in the depth and transparency of restaurant closure information, the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department will start sending out subscriber email alerts when it shuts down a dining establishment for any reason.
There also will be an expanded menu of restaurant inspection data posted to the department website, for foodies who really like to dig into their pre-meal research.
Of course, some people enjoy eating out but get most of their information the old-fashioned way. For their benefit, health officials will henceforth start posting closure signs on the front door or window of a restaurant.
As we said in a previous editorial, the public would be well served if officials would adopt an accessible restaurant food-safety rating system, similar to what’s found in places such as Seattle-King County and New York. In the fast-moving dining scene, full of fly-by-night establishments and a growing fleet of neighborhood food trucks, people should have confidence that what they’re putting in their stomachs won’t make them sick.
But for now, we raise our glass and toast the local health department: Here’s to your responsiveness.
This story was originally published June 23, 2017 at 8:47 AM with the headline "Good news for foodies - more exposure for restaurant closures."