Restaurants across the city have begun displaying new placards that indicate how they stack up against Michigan’s Food Safety Code. This public notification system, which utilizes green, white, and red placards, was launched yesterday as part of the city's new 'Dining with Confidence' ordinance.
Transparency is the new special on the menu, and according to The Detroit News, Chief Public Health Officer Denise Fair Razo explained, "We want to make sure that if you are a Detroiter, if you are a visitor to any restaurant, you can feel confident going to any restaurant, and when you walk in, you know that the food is safe and it's prepared in a very healthy way." These placards, which greet patrons at the entrance, offer an at-a-glance status of a restaurant's food safety compliance.
Under the ordinance, a green placard signifies that the establishment is in compliance and safe to eat at, with no serious food safety violations, or all of them fixed during inspection. The white placard, conversely, signals that an inspection is not due yet or compliance has not been achieved. Establishments that earn the ominous red placard have been closed but are working to reopen, often due to serious health risks or licensing issues, Fair Razo informed at a media briefing cited by detroitmi.gov.
The move comes after Detroit's city council gave the new ordinance a thumbs-up back in June, spearheaded by Councilmember Scott Benson. In a measure to reassure Detroit locals and visitors alike, Benson said, "The placards should be displayed near the entrance to serve as a visible reminder to Detroiters that they can dine in confidence that the restaurant is licensed and has passed its most recent safety inspection, or else they should spend their hard-earned money elsewhere," according to the city's press release on detroitmi.gov.
This ordinance follows a pilot program that ran from October 2023 to April 2024 where around 250 restaurants voluntarily participated. As per The Detroit News, Omar Mitchell, executive chef at Table No. 2, emphasized the ordinance's importance, saying, "It's just important that the consumers know what's happening behind those four walls."
