A couple of weeks before dozens of people fell ill with salmonella, the staff of Rhode Island’s Office of Food Protection held a meeting to discuss a familiar dilemma –– how to make the most of the paltry resources at hand.
A food inspector had retired at the end of February. That meant there were only seven left.
Seven people would now be responsible for 8,000 food establishments –– restaurants, bars, grocery stores, bakeries, cafeterias, farm stands, seafood stores and more.
According to federal recommendations, food establishments should be inspected one to four times a year, depending on the risk of contamination. To thoroughly inspect, just once a year, each of the 8,000 places that make or serve food, Rhode Island would need about 26 inspectors doing 300 inspections a year.
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