Healthy Appetite for Perfection Stirs Inspector

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It's a measure of Raquel Doom's status that she never has to = call to =20 say she'll be visiting even the most exclusive Los Angeles = restaurants.=20 =20

Her approval coveted, her scorn feared, she turns down free = meals so =20 often you'd think she was a movie star. =20

If Doom sounds like a high-powered restaurant critic, that's = because =20 she is =97 in a sense. =20

She's one of 145 county inspectors who monitor cleanliness and = =20 compliance with health codes in the 36,000 restaurants, markets, = bakeries =20 and warehouses in Los Angeles County where food is sold. = =20

Instead of being buried in the pages of a restaurant guide, the = =20 judgments of inspectors like Doom appear as letter grades posted = in the =20 windows of restaurants across the county. The grades function = as both =20 carrot and stick, publicly rewarding compliers and punishing = scofflaws=20 with color-coded 5-inch-tall blue A's, green B's and red = C's. =20

Although county inspectors have long had the power to cite = restaurants =20 for code violations, the letter-grading system dates only to = 1997,=20 when it was adopted after an undercover KCBS-TV Channel 2=20 investigation showed unsanitary conditions and employees = mishandling=20 food in some restaurants. =20

Since then, grading restaurants has become one of the most = recognizable=20 and popular functions of a county government that operates = largely=20 out of the public eye, according to Terrence Powell, chief=20 environmental specialist for the Department of Public = Health. In a=20 2001 survey of 2,000 L.A. county residents, the grading = program had=20 an approval rating of 91%, and 89% of respondents thought = that an A=20 grade would help a food establishment's business, Powell = said. =20

The grading program is less popular with people like David = Houston, =20 owner of Q's Billiards in Brentwood that got an A in a recent=20 inspection. Houston complained that public confusion about = what the=20 grades actually signify puts undue pressure on restaurant = owners. =20 =20

"It's not like school, where a B or a B+ is good," Houston = said. =20 "Anything less than an A is seen as disastrous." =20

The tools of the trade are hardly intimidating, judging by the = food =20 thermometer, pocket flashlight and notebook full of state and = county =20 health regulations Doom packed as she started her rounds on a = recent day=20 with a stop at Noah's Bagels in Brentwood. =20

But within two minutes of introducing herself, she chided an = employee =20 about the pair of soiled work gloves he was wearing while = stacking=20 baking trays, then slid open the doors of a display case and = began=20 probing bagel dogs, tuna salad and chicken salad with = efficient jabs=20 of her food thermometer. =20

The employees were visibly nervous, but after about 20 minutes = Doom =20 noted just a few minor violations, and the shop retained its A. = =20

"I'm fair, and I always give people a chance to explain," Doom = said =20 afterward. "The reason I'm here is to help protect the public, = not to=20 post a grade in a window." =20

Every establishment inspected starts out with a score of 100, = with =20 points deducted for each violation. Conditions that pose high = risks for =20 food-borne illnesses are considered serious, so undercooked = food is a =20 six-point deduction while an employee without a hairnet costs = only=20 one point. A final score of 90 or more merits an A, 80 to 89 = a B,=20 and 70 to 79 a C. Although the county considers any grade = above 69=20 acceptable, such distinctions are lost on people like Ireal = Gant,=20 49, who stood waiting for his order recently outside a = Fatburger=20 restaurant on Western Avenue. =20

"I won't even sit down in a place that doesn't have an A," Gant = said. =20 "I definitely pay attention to the grades and if I see a B, = I'm like, =20 'What's up?' " =20

John Dunlap, president of the California Restaurant Assn., said = the =20 grades reflect "a snapshot in time" that may not accurately = reflect =20 conditions in a restaurant. Dunlap said his group would prefer a = coaching=20 approach, where inspectors explain violations and allow time = for=20 them to be corrected. =20

Owners who are unhappy with their grades can pay $193 for a = =20 reinspection, but the procedure remains the same. =20

"We come in unannounced," Powell said. "Our belief is that the = way we =20 find a facility is the way they operate." =20

He said that reports of food-borne illnesses have gone down = since =20 letter-grades were instituted, from a high of 2,050 cases in 1998 = to 1,466=20 cases in 2001, the last year for which information was = available. =20 =20

Occasionally, Doom finds a violation serious enough to require = closing =20 a restaurant, including lack of hot water or rodent = infestation. But=20 for the most part, she says, her job is routine, reminding = employees=20 to wash their hands, making sure food is stored properly, = enduring=20 nervous jokes about her name when she introduces herself to=20 restaurant owners. =20

"I hear them all the time," she said. "And I just tell them, = 'Be glad =20 I'm not your doctor.' "