By Commissioner Virginia Betteridge, liaison to the Camden County Health Department
As a mother, grandmother and Camden County resident I want to know that the places I am taking my family to eat are clean. Since 2013, the Board of Commissioners and the Health Department have made it so that all parents and residents of Camden County have access to this pertinent information to make informed choices.
The Commissioner Board provides accessible digital Health Department inspections of food serving facilities on our website to strengthen our commitment to protecting the health and welfare of our community. Since the program’s inception, thousands of Camden County residents have visited www.camdencounty.com to check on their favorite restaurant or their child’s school cafeteria.
Camden County’s Health Department inspectors utilize a digital process to record the information they gather. This has increased the efficiency and effectiveness of the food inspection process by using standardized language and methods to report food protection results. Previously, restaurant inspections were conducted using a paper form process.
The system also reports the standards that the establishment has successfully met as well as any violations noted at the time of inspection. This makes the inspection report clearer for both operators and consumers. By putting our inspection reports online, the process has been streamlined, compliance among restaurants has increased, and most importantly, it is more transparent and easily accessible for residents.
Using a Tablet to complete the state mandated inspection checklist, inspectors report the compliance status of the retail food establishment observed at the time of the inspection in a more efficient and effective manner. The database information of approximately 3,500 venues also lists ownership (local and corporate), mailing addresses, e-mail addresses, food handler information, risk type information and more.
In addition to the restaurant inspections, reports are also posted for all of our school cafeterias and other food-handling enterprises in Camden County. I can truly appreciate this service because we need to know that when we go out to restaurants or send our kids off to school in the morning, we are providing an environment that is safe in every way. Whether or not our children’s school cafeteria is safe and sanitary is not something a parent should have to worry about. This is a tool that can either help eliminate that fear or be used as an instrument of change if it looks like improvements need to be made.
To access the service, visit www.camdencounty.com and click on Restaurant Inspection Reports under the Health Tab. You can then search by the establishment’s name or by municipality. You can also register to receive e-mail alerts when new reports are posted for your favorite restaurants or when the Camden County Health Department issues food-related alerts.
For more information on the Health Department or Camden County services call me at (856) 225-5575 or email me at Virginia.Betteridge@camdencounty.com. You can also follow us on Twitter at @camdencountynj or like us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/camdencountynj.