Restaurants in most of King County, including in Seattle, are now required to post their “smiley face” health department food safety rating.
Public Health Seattle and King County began rolling out the system in January. The final phase will be completed in October, when Auburn is included.
Initial evidence shows the ratings may be having an impact.
Public health officials say they don’t yet have enough data to see if there’s been a decline in foodborne illnesses. But they do see some indication that people are changing their behavior.
Becky Elias, who manages the food and facilities section for the health department, says food safety inspectors are reporting that restaurant owners seem more engaged than in the past. Businesses are asking what they can do to improve their rating and improve food safety.
Under the food rating system, restaurants are given one of four grades: Excellent, good, okay or “needs to improve.” Each is displayed on a highly visible green and white sign with a different smiley face emoji, from a broad smile for excellent to a neutral face for “needs to improve.”
In a completely unscientific poll by KNKX of restaurant goers on the streets of Seattle, I found people were noticing the signs.
Stewart Tirand said he does pay attention to them.
“I look for the good or excellent and that’s about it,” he said. Tirand says he won’t eat at a restaurant with an okay or needs to improve rating.
Lillian Lee has a similar strategy.
“I’m kind of cautious with the okay ones,” Lee said.
Elias, the health official, points out that even a restaurant with the lowest rating still meets minimum standards. She says if people are looking at the signs it means the system is working.
“Our goal is not to stop people from going to restaurants. Our goal is to give them information to decide where they want to dine,” Elias said.
Some food safety activists say there’s still room for improvement with the restaurant rating system.
Sarah Schacht, who as a child and again as an adult contracted E. coli from restaurant food, said the system is “better than nothing” or than having to check a restaurant’s rating on the King County website.
But she is disappointed that restaurants are judged according to other places in their neighborhood rather than citywide.
Still, she says she’s proud of the work thousands of activists did in signing petitions to get the county to go forward with the rating placard system.
“I hope they feel a lot of pride every time they see a smiley face staring back at them. If anything, it should inspire others to get civically engaged because you can make a change,” Schacht said.
She says the test of any system is if it can improve food safety.
The CDC estimates 3,000 people die each year in the United States from foodborne illnesses.
