Super Buffet, an Asian-themed, buffet-style eatery in Lacey off Galaxy Drive Northeast, suffered a poor inspection in October, racking up more than 100 red points, which triggered an “imminent health hazard.” The facility was closed for 48 hours. Did a lack of communication or understanding play a role in that inspection? At the time, the inspector wrote: “Person in charge unable to answer food safety questions.”
Running a restaurant can be a rewarding experience, but it also can be a lot of hard work. The hours are long, the profit margins are thin and employee turnover is high.
Running a restaurant also means that you will be subject to unannounced county health inspections, a process made more complex and confusing if English isn’t your first language.
Sammy Berg, a senior environmental health specialist for Thurston County, acknowledged that if there was one thing he could change, it would be to find a way to bridge the language barrier his inspectors sometimes encounter.
He said they don’t run into a “brick wall” when communicating with some ethnic restaurant owners, but he did call it a “lattice wall.”
“We do recognize that language barriers exist, and it’s frustrating when we both want to communicate,” he said.
Berg oversees a staff of eight, including six inspectors. None of them speak a second language. The county previously employed an inspector who spoke Vietnamese, but that inspector has since retired.
The Inspection Process
Thurston County is home to some 1,000 food establishments, including grocery stores, espresso stands, fast-food places and dine-in restaurants. Grocery stores and espresso stands, which are considered low-risk by the county, are inspected once a year. Fast-food and other restaurants are inspected twice a year because they have a greater risk of producing food-borne illnesses. A restaurant that has a poor inspection is inspected more frequently, Berg said.
Super Buffet, an Asian-themed, buffet-style eatery in Lacey off Galaxy Drive Northeast, suffered a poor inspection in October, racking up more than 100 red points, which triggered an “imminent health hazard.” The facility was closed for 48 hours.
After the 48-hour closure, the business reopened and inspectors observed how the business operated for about an hour. They also came back a week later and will inspect it again in about six months, Berg said.
Did a lack of communication or understanding play a role in the initial poor inspection? At the time, the inspector wrote: “Person in charge unable to answer food safety questions.”
The Olympian reached out to the owners of Super Buffet with the county’s help and also visited the business directly. A female employee told The Olympian the owners didn’t want to comment. During the reporter’s visit, the business was busy.
Berg said not only do his inspectors encounter language barriers, sometimes the restaurant owner is adjusting to new cultural norms and expectations. How food is handled in their native country might be different from what’s required here, he said. And for all restaurant owners, certain simple operating mistakes can rack up red points quickly, but also are easily fixed, Berg said.
He gave the example of a sushi restaurant in west Olympia. One employee changed gloves, but didn’t wash their hands in between that change, followed by an employee touching food without wearing the gloves. Both resulted in 50 red points for the restaurant, he said.
“Hand washing is king,” Berg said.
The Language of Food Safety
When language is a barrier, Berg’s department can turn to materials printed in the appropriate language and providing pictures or illustrations, or refer people to other sources, such as the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department, which has restaurant-related information in eight languages, he said.
They also turn to contract translators on occasion, or sometimes rely on family members or employees who speak English. The problem with these approaches is that there are really two languages at work, including the language of food science.
The interpreter might be able to translate instructions into another language, but do they really understand the science behind handling food? That is sometimes an unknown, he said.
Berg said his department would like to have a part-time Spanish speaker.
Equal Latin Restaurant & Bar owner Maria Guzman would welcome that. She opened her Mexican restaurant 10 months ago in downtown Olympia and it has been inspected by the county.
She has information printed in Spanish for her employees, but she also knows that if an inspector showed up and she wasn’t there, or if one of her English-speaking employees wasn’t there, there would be “little to no communication” with the back of the house staff, such as the cooks.
The day The Olympian visited the restaurant, neither cook spoke English, she said.
“They won’t understand what is needed of them in order for the inspection to go the way it needs to go,” said bar manager Cynthia Wagoner.
