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Food Service
The Environmental Health team of Scotland Health Department is responsible for protecting the health of the public by setting local food safety standards, conducting inspections, ensuring that standards are met, and maintaining a strong enforcement program to deal with those who are in violation of current local food ordinances and codes.
Food Inspections and Violations
Restaurants in Scotland County are inspected according to their degree of risk – the higher the risk, the more frequent the inspections. Food inspection violations found during an inspection are categorized into the critical or noncritical violations. Critical violations can have a direct impact on the safety of the food. Noncritical violations are usually sanitation or maintenance issues and are the violations most often observed by the public while dining.
Critical Violations
Critical items can have a direct impact on the safety of the food. A repeat critical violation directly affecting the safety of the food could result in a minimum 24-hour suspension of the food establishment’s permit. Examples of critical violations include:
- Cross contamination between raw and ready-to-eat food
- Touching ready-to-eat foods without gloves
- Food from an unapproved source
- Improper food temperature
- Improper sewage disposal
- Lack of food safety knowledge by the person in charge
- Presence of pest or animals
- Poor personal hygiene and employee health
Noncritical Violations
Noncritical items play an important role in the overall performance of the facility but alone do not directly affect food safety. Examples of noncritical violations include:
- Dirty floors
- Dirty non-food contact equipment
- Grease on the floor
- Outside trash cans not covered
- Repair issues
- Sticky tabletops
- Workers not wearing hair restraints, like hair nets or caps
If you have seen or experienced possible unsafe food-handling practices or unhealthy conditions, please contact the health department at (660) 465-7275. Your identity and other personal information will remain strictly confidential.