This website has been developed for you to learn more about the food service establishments in Pasadena from the perspective of safe food handling. Food establishments that sell or serve food to the public must get an annual permit and be inspected by the Pasadena Public Health Department/Environmental Health Division. These food establishments include restaurants, fast food establishments, food and espresso carts, bakeries, coffee bars, delis, the fresh food sections in grocery stores, bars/pubs, retail food markets, liquor stores and more. There are nearly 1,000 permitted food service establishments in Pasadena. The majority of these food establishments are inspected throughout the year. The purpose of the inspections is to assure that the food is being handled properly from preparation through serving. Health Inspectors observe kitchen workers' food handling practices, assure equipment is working properly, take food temperatures, inspect refrigerators and storage areas, assure water temperatures, and correct level and use of sanitizers. Any problem found is written up, and the manager is taught the correct procedure or method immediately. At this website you can view the date of the most recent health inspection of an establishment, the results of that inspection, and the score assigned to the establishment based on the inspection results. The scoring system is based upon 100 weighted points distributed over 80 different violations that summarize all the health and sanitation regulations, from food protection to conditions of walls and floors. Critical violations (a provision that, if violated, is more likely than other violations to contribute to food contamination, illness and/or injury) are assigned a higher weighted point value than non-critical violations. Critical violations are listed on the inspection report. The score is obtained by subtracting the sum of the weighted points assigned to each category where a violation has been found from the total of 100 points.
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For more information, please call the Environmental Health Division at (626) 744-6004.
"The health of a people is measured by more than death rates....It comes as well from an improved quality of life. Health is thus best measured by citizens’ sense of well-being." -Healthy People 2000, U. S. Department of Health and Human Services What does the Pasadena/Altadena Quality of Life Index mean to residents, social service and health professionals, business owners and managers, city officials, volunteers and others in the community? The Quality of Life Index is a locally and internationally recognized community planning resource and guide for priority-setting and decision-making. Through narrative text, vignettes and available statistics, the Index describes how well the Pasadena/Altadena community is meeting broad goals such as community health improvement, effective transportation, housing affordability and quality childcare. Pasadena published its flagship Quality of Life Index in 1992 as a charter city for the California Healthy Cities Project and has continued since that time to use the Index in the development of city departments’ performance measures and budget priorities. An update was published in 1998; the 2002 document was expanded and redesigned; and this summer the Pasadena Public Health Department has published an updated Pasadena/Altadena Quality of Life Index.