County Health Inspections

Many of us read with dread the horror stories from the restaurant health inspections, hoping our favorite spots didn't break our hearts... or guts. The News-Gazette has an article based on a CU-Citizenaccess.org article here. Not recommended for the squeamish. A related article caught my eye, however, and I wanted to highlight it here. Here are some handy and informative excerpts from an example that explains how the food inspection system is structured in Champaign County and local government:

As health inspections change, departments debate enforcement
...
With 1,284 food establishments within Champaign County, the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District conducts between 1,600 and 2,000 inspections every year. But later this year, those inspections will change.

Illinois has adopted the Food and Drug Administration’s most recent update to its Food Code, which was published in 2013, and has required all health departments to adopt the new code...

Initially, health departments were given until July to implement the code, although the state has extended that deadline until January 1, 2019. Champaign is still shooting for the original deadline, Roberts said...

Roberts said the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District and the Champaign County health board will hold a joint study session in late April to discuss how to implement the code.

The Champaign-Urbana Public Health District covers both the Champaign and Cunningham townships, essentially the borders of Champaign-Urbana. The county covers the rest...

Currently, the health district conducts all inspections in the county through an intergovernmental agreement; however, only food establishments within Champaign-Urbana are required to post a color-coded placard denoting the results of a health inspection...

The placard system started in 2014. Food establishments outside of Champaign-Urbana are not required to post the placards, as the Champaign County Board voted down a resolution to do so over worries it would harm business owners.

For a fuller picture of the example and the details, check out the full article here. I narrowed it down to color coded placards for the purposes of seeing how all of the government entities interact, from federal guidance and state regulations down to local intergovernmental interactions.