Food Math.

There are 1,300 food establishments according to the T&G's Sunday story on food inspection in the City of Worcester.  They should be inspected twice a year, which equals 2,600 visits.  2,600 visits divided by three inspectors equals 866.67 visits per inspector per year.  866.67 visits divided by 52 weeks equals 16.67 visits per week.  16.67 visits per week divided by five work days equals 3.34 visits per day.

Are we supposed to believe that our food inspectors can't visit 4 restaurants a day over the course of a year?  Are they flooded by so much paperwork or other responsibilities that we can't have adequate bi-annual inspections?  Perhaps Part 2 of this story should involve Thomas Caywood and Andrew Veeder doing a ride along for a day with a Health Inspector.  The follow up certainly shouldn't be this fluff piece.

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In a related story, This Week's Dumbest Comment on the T&G Website ended in a tie:

 "These health inspectors are just another example of the government interfering in a business owner's rights to do business as they see fit.  -Posted by T.E.A.partier"

"I like the idea of the restaurants having to post this stuff. And they can provide info showing how they cleaned it up. If it was small stuff that wouldn't prevent me from eating there, as long as I knew they took actions to prevent it in the future. What if the restaurant had a bad employee? I don't think they should be put out of business because they did something unsanitary. Back in colonial times, I don't think they had health inspectors going around checking for sanitary conditions did they?  -Posted by Common Sense"

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Suggested summer reading for 'T.E.A. partier' and 'Common Sense' is Upton Sinclair's The Jungle and just for fun, Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential.  Perhaps reading might change their viewpoint on 'big government' and laissez-faire policies.