Friday will mark the one-year anniversary of the new Wisconsin Food Code's implementation, issued in early 2001 by the Department of Health and Family Services.
In the past year, restaurants have had to make several major changes in order to increase safety of the foods they prepare.
\[The codes] went from 30 to 160 pages, giving operators as well as inspectors a lot to learn,"" said Susan Quan, senior director of Wisconsin Restaurant Association Education Foundation.
Eight sanitarians are in charge of inspecting more than 1,000 Madison restaurants at least once a year, with about 75 percent of the restaurants inspected twice a year, according to Doug Voegeli, environmental health services supervisor of the Madison Department of Public Health.
One key change restaurants had to make concerned how they chill their foods for storage. Potentially hazardous foods like chocolate mousse, which uses eggs, must be cooled in a two-step process, which has affected food preparation techniques.
Restaurants such as Wasabi Japanese Restaurant and Sushi Bar, 449 State St., have also had to provide consumer information when serving seafood and particularly sushi.
The new food code is also improving how sanitarians, county employees who inspect restaurants for food safety violations, rate the eateries.
Now inspectors must look at an overall picture of food preparation, from where it originates in a food processing plant to the point it reaches a consumer's table, Quan said.
In the past, however, inspectors placed a heavier weight on exterior restaurant conditions such as floor cleanliness and cracked walls.
Tutto Pasta Trattoria, 305 State St., has had to shape up its food preparation as a result of a number of inspections that at one point gave it the lowest health inspection score on State Street.
In September 2000, a food inspector found dozens of violations at Tutto Pasta. Food was not stored at proper temperatures, roaches were in the basement and the meat slicer, flies in the kitchen and the upstairs kitchen floor and ceiling were soiled, according to Health Department reports.
After seven reinspections, two city of Madison attorney referrals and a compliance meeting, the restaurant has made a lot of changes, according to Voegeli.
Many of Tutto Pasta's problems resulted from a lack of space and its location in an old building, Voegeli said. It has only small storage areas and two small kitchens in which to prepare food.
""We are over capacity, but we are improving and trying to be more consistent,"" Tutto Pasta owner Enzo Amodeo said.
He has ordered additional freezers, rearranged storage areas, replaced shelves in the kitchen, sealed the basement from pests and hired a weekly pest control service and a daily cleaning company to comply with the new codes.
Gino's Restaurant, 540 State St., had the second-lowest health inspection score on State Street in 2001, receiving seven critical violations, including improper food storage and temperature violations.
Since most of the violations were corrected on the spot and there was no history of problems, it only needed one reinspection.
If a restaurant has a history of problems, however, like Tutto Pasta, the MDPH will refer it to the city attorney. After two city attorney referrals, the department will order a compliance conference.
The conference helps operators establish a plan for correcting their problems.
If recommendations established from the meeting are not met, then the restaurant could lose its license, forcing it to shut down.
""Management has everything to do with food safety,"" Voegeli said. ""But both Gino's and Tutto Pasta took their inspections and made improvements.\
