The new online database is part of the governor's efforts to increase food safety in Pennsylvania.
"Food safety is one of the highest priorities in Pennsylvania," Rendell said. "Providing access to restaurant inspections will help consumers make better decisions about where they eat and the information will better help them understand the factors that affect their safety."
At Rendell's direction, the state Department of Agriculture invested in technology to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of restaurant inspections. In 2006, the department began using the Garrison Enterprises Digital Health System, which gave inspectors tablet computers to do their jobs and immediately relay their results to the state's database.
"By using the Garrison System, our inspectors are able to do their jobs more efficiently and accurately," said Agriculture Secretary Dennis Wolff. "With the addition of complete inspection reports online, the public now has tremendous access to timely and complete information."
In addition to technological advances, the department has changed internal processes including risk-based inspections, employee health monitoring and other modern food safety advancements. The department has proposed amendments to the 60-year old Public Eating and Drinking Places Law, Act 369, to better reflect current business practices, modern science and the Pennsylvania Food Code.
Rendell is encouraging the General Assembly to pass legislation that will help prevent food-borne illness by improving Agriculture's ability to enforce food safety regulations. The governor also supports standardizing the inspection and reporting process so that all eating establishments are inspected using the same criteria and the public receives the results in a common format.
