In Silicon Valley, a New App to Empower Diners With Health Compliance Info

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Dave Nyczepir By Dave Nyczepir,
News Editor
 

Connecting state and local government leaders

By Dave Nyczepir

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With new data tools, citizens can make more informed decisions about where they’re eating.

Another major local jurisdiction has taken a big step to transform the utility of restaurant information, including health code inspection data, by putting it within easy access of diners who are planning on eating out.

On Tuesday in Northern California, the Santa Clara County Department of Environmental Health launched its latest searchable iOS mobile app, SCCDineOut, which connects users with food safety compliance records of thousands of nearby dining options.

Santa Clara County, home to San Jose and much of Silicon Valley, implemented a new food facility scoring program last October, using visible, colored placards—green, yellow or red—to alert diners to a business’ level of compliance with food safety regulations.

“The SCCDineOut app is another example of the county providing the public with the tools they need to more easily find information to make informed decisions when they are choosing an eating establishment,” Jim Blamey, Department of Environmental Health director, said in an announcement from the county.

Environmental health inspection results are also included down to specific violations, and the app has a running lists of restaurants closed for violations in the last six months.

The data can also be found online and is used to prioritize restaurants for inspection, with historically bad establishments inspected more. That’s a similar approach being used by the Chicago city government, which, as Route Fifty featured this summer, has been a trailblazer for its use predictive analytics for health code compliance.

Harris County, Texas, home to Houston, released a similar app to Santa Clara County’s in late August. A popular feature of both platforms is the ability to report potential health violations to the local government’s health agency.

Santa Clara County hopes to have an Android version of its app developed by early 2016.

PREVIOUSLY on Route Fifty: “Using Predictive Analytics, Chicago Is a Trailblazer for Health Code Inspections”

Dave Nyczepir is a News Editor for Government Executive's Route Fifty.

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