It has been two weeks since Public Health – Seattle & King County launched its food safety rating system.

Have you seen the new restaurant window signs? If you haven’t, you will soon. The new system is rolling out across King County in four phases throughout 2017, according to a Public Health Insider blog.

The agency divided King County into four geographic areas. When a new phase of the roll out starts (in January, April, July and October), restaurants in that new area will start getting window signs as they are routinely inspected.

Kent restaurants will receive window signs starting in July.

Why a phased roll out?

It is important that the rating system is meaningful and meets King County residents’ needs. The phased roll out helps Public Health conduct an evaluation of the system as it goes to make sure it’s working. The evaluation is ongoing and will look at impacts on public health such as changes in food safety practices and food borne illness.

How were the geographic areas chosen?

The geographic areas in each phase of the roll out were chosen to allow the agency to effectively evaluate the rating system for its impact on food borne illness and then to balance factors including how many people are in each area and how many restaurants are in each area.

Some areas of King County have more restaurants than other areas. Because of these criteria, the four geographic areas in the phased roll out are not the same size and they do not include the same number of zip codes.

Remember, restaurants won’t necessarily receive their window sign as soon as their phase starts. The start of a new phase of the roll out just means the restaurants in that area will receive their window sign as soon as they have their next routine inspection.

Because King County has more than 12,000 restaurants and only 45 food inspectors, some restaurants won’t receive their sign until later in the year.

Are all food establishments included in the rating system?

As of now, food establishments with what are called a general food service permit are included in the rating system. This includes restaurants large and small, coffee shops, bars and even the delis inside large grocery stores.

Eventually, other permitted food businesses will be included, too. Once the rating system is well underway, Public Health will include food trucks, caterers and the like. That timeline has not yet been established.