Dallas City Council Proposes Risk-Based Approach To Restaurant Inspections 

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Changes to how Dallas does restaurant inspections could be coming. Dallas City Council will soon serve up an agenda item that would change how often they're looked at.

Right now, every food establishment in Dallas faces inspection twice a year. This week city council will present a proposal that they believe will allow restaurant inspectors to better utilize their time.

They want to sort restaurants, convenience stores and gas stations into categories according to levels of risk.

Restaurants that handle and cook raw foods would be considered high-risk and would still be inspected twice a year. For places like 7-Eleven and Race Track that have a limited menu selection, serving only commercially processed time and temperature controlled foods, inspections would happen once a year. CVS, Dollar General and other stores that don't have kitchens would be inspected once every two years.

The City of Dallas reports since 2015, about 500 new restaurants have opened each year and some believe because of this food inspectors now have a lot on their plates.

"They're coming in and they have 25-35 stops," C & W Holdings Restaurant Developer Tony Winkler said. "So you have an inspector coming to my job saying I have 35 stops to do. Still very nice, very accommodating, but that's impossible. If you're working with the inspectors, they're coming in and helping you and teaching you. I think they are a little overworked."

"I feel like they have a lot on their plate," Al Biernat's Director of Operations Brad Fuller said. "They're spread thin."

The city's proposal is on the consent agenda for this Wednesday's city council meeting.