Louisiana’s regulators of food safety fail to ensure restaurants and other retail food establishments are complying with health standards and allow violators of safety requirements to continue operations, according to a new audit released Nov. 26.
The Office of Public Health issued permits to restaurants that didn’t correct past violations, rarely assesses penalties to violators of safety regulations and doesn’t meet its own inspection standards, the review by Legislative Auditor Daryl Purpera’s office says.
Of nearly 450,000 violations over three years reviewed by auditors, the Office of Public Health levied penalties on two establishments and didn’t collect any of the $1,300 in penalties assessed.
The agency also doesn’t have standardized criteria for determining when fines should be issued and hasn’t routinely hit repeat violators with penalties or other consequences, according to the audit.
View the Original article
