Question: What guidelines are issued to food businesses regarding customer complaints about food poisoning?
Answer: It varies, from what would happen with a mom-and-pop operation, to what would happen with a fast-food establishment, to a white-tablecloth restaurant. And if it’s a national chain, they’re going to have established procedures employees would follow. Even at that level, it varies. It would not necessarily be the same from one large national chain to another.
One interesting thing to me is that the state is changing the health laws for the state of Hawaii. They’re adding dramatically to the number of inspectors, and once in place, inspections will happen more frequently. They’re going to issue placards — green, red and yellow — to grade the restaurants. The feeling of HRA is that it’s just wonderful and we fully support it. We worked with the Department of Health. They’ve asked for input. Our members are health-conscious and do the right thing. With the Department of Health, there is going to be more precise monitoring and grading, and I think that’s a good idea.
Q: How responsive should the restaurant be to the consumer, meaning, should they immediately offer a refund when a customer calls to complain, or wait for the customer to request one?
A: Again, that would be a restaurant policy, they would set that, and that would come more under guidelines for good customer service, as opposed to health. People want to get refunds for food that’s overcooked (and the like). I feel it’s a customer service issue. Personally, if I were running a restaurant and somebody wasn’t happy with their meal, I would give them a refund and ask them back, or better yet, apologize for the problem and say, ‘The next time you visit, we will not charge you for your meal.’
Q: If the case is severe enough that the customer winds up in the emergency room, can the customer expect the eatery that caused it to pay for the hospital treatment?
A: You’re just going to have your doctor or lawyer send a report. You’re going to talk with your lawyer. Things like that happen, though I’m not aware of one happening in Hawaii, but I don’t hear everything.
The best recourse for a diner is, as quickly as possible, report it to a doctor if you’re very sick. It would be in the best interests of the restaurant to let them know what’s going on, on the odd chance that the restaurant … is making other people sick. I know restaurateurs don’t want people to get sick. They want customers to be healthy and enjoy their meals. If there are any issues, with any restaurant small or big … we want to act upon them quickly, for obvious reasons.
Q: Are restaurants required to have insurance to cover these sorts of claims? How about food trucks, or other food vendors that sell ready-to-eat foods at, say, farmers markets?
A: (Restaurants) have liability insurance. For restaurants serving alcohol, they pay a higher rate than ones that don’t. My guess is that whatever liability insurance a restaurant would have that would cover slip-and-fall cases also would cover food poisoning issues.
As for food trucks, what an interesting question! Earlier I said the Hawaii Restaurant Association strongly supports the DOH initiative for the placard system. One thing we think is going to be good for the industry is that food trucks that are not properly licensed will be off the road. That’s probably a good thing. Food has to be prepared in a commercial kitchen, versus doing it in a home. That’s not professional and it happens a lot. Under the placard system the food trucks (that have been inspected) are going to have a placard.
Q: Is it recommended that consumers always keep receipts from restaurants where they eat, at least for a day, to make sure they have documentation in case of a food poisoning incident?
A: If a person winds up in that (food poisoning) situation, (a receipt) could prove they were there. Credit card records also would offer evidence.
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Interviewed by Erika Engle
