No Rats And Roaches, Please!

Ever wondered what goes on in the kitchens of your favorite restaurants, including desi ones? Now you can take a health inspector with you to dinner! The New York health department has launched a new restaurant inspection website -http://www.nyc.gov/health/restaurants which provides information on the latest inspection of each of New York City’s more than

20,000 restaurants. You can find out if there are any health violations in the restaurant you’re planning to go to. Diners can conduct specific searches by restaurant name or zip code, and the information can also be sorted alphabetically and by borough, neighborhood, inspection score, and by those that have received a Golden Apple Award from the department, a sign of excellence in food safety. So whether it’s a four star establishment or a dhaba, you’ll know exactly what you’re eating! Other cities have also begun making these reports available online, including

Houston (http://houston.tx.gegov.com/media/search.cfm);
Los Angeles (http://www.lapublichealth.org/rating/);
Boston (http://www.ci.boston.ma.us/isd/newfrontend/search.asp?disclaim=yes);
Virginia (http://www.healthspace.ca/vdh/);
Oregon (http://oregon.gov/DHS/ph/foodsafety/county.shtml)