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What goes into a restaurant health inspection?

If any establishment serving food fails a health inspection, they will not be shut down overnight. It takes a few inspections for the health department to close it

Right now, the Steak 'n Shake locations on Monroe Street and Reynolds Road are closed because they did not pass their health inspections. But, what exactly goes into one of these inspections? 

Every restaurant is different because not all of them serve all types of food. For example, a small ice cream shop has a different evaluation process than a full-service restaurant. But, there are a few common things health inspectors look for, like employee education and prevention of contamination. 

Basic things like good hand hygiene and wearing gloves are often a big problem. Another big red flag is labeling

"Often times we will find restaurants will put something in a walk-in cooler and not necessarily label it or date it. But, that's really important to make sure you're in that time frame so that if you need to throw it out or maintain when or where it was refrigerated. That's a huge one," Samantha Eitniear of the Toledo Lucas County Health Department said.

If any establishment serving food fails a health inspection, they will not be closed down overnight. It takes a few inspections for the health department to take it to the next level.

 "We can't just walk in one day and say it looks bad — unless there are obviously really big red flags. We can't just walk in one day and say, 'OK, you're done," Eitnier said.

The health department said they will be back to inspect both locations on Monday. They will not open back up on Monday, but if they both pass or if one or the other passes, they could open up as early as Tuesday. 

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