Today’s Maine Sunday Telegram includes a feature article about restaurant inspections in Maine.
The Maine Legislature may step up oversight of restaurant safety by allowing cities and towns to do their own kitchen inspections, but the effort faces strong opposition from an industry group.
The bill comes after the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram exposed weaknesses in state and local inspection programs, including less frequent inspections and less public access to inspection results than all but two other states. The paper found that lawmakers reduced the mandated frequency of inspections even as complaints about sanitation or food-borne illnesses were on the rise.