CITY HALL — Less than half of Chicago restaurants were inspected twice for food safety during 2015 as required by state law, according to an audit released Tuesday by Inspector General Joseph Ferguson.
With only 44 percent of Chicago's "high-risk" restaurants, hospital kitchens, day cares and schools inspected twice last year, the city Department of Health's "failure to complete the required inspections may have allowed establishments to expose the public to an increased risk of food-borne illness."
In addition, the infrequent inspections violate state law and could cost the city $2.5 million in state grants, according to the audit.
The city does not have enough food-safety inspectors for all of Chicago's restaurants, according to the audit.
The city needs to hire 56 new food safety inspectors to comply with state law. The city only has 38 food inspectors on staff, four fewer than in 2012, according to the audit.
In fact, the audit found that the city has not been in compliance with the state law for several years — if ever. Chicago is the only Illinois jurisdiction that does not comply with the food-safety regulations, according to the audit.
The failure to inspect retail food establishments as required by state law "undermines public trust in the city's capacity to fulfill this fundamental local government function," according to the audit.
Mayoral spokeswoman Lauren Huffman said the state does not give the city enough money to meet the inspection requirements.
"We are committed to keeping our restaurants clean and our residents safe from food-borne illnesses," Huffman said in a statement.
The city inspected 80 percent of "medium risk" eateries, including grocery stores, bakeries, delis and schools that serve food prepared elsewhere, once in 2015, as required by state law, the audit found.
However, only 25 percent of "low-risk" eateries, such as bars, gas stations and convenience stores were inspected at least once in the past two years, the audit found.
While the city completed 20,900 food-safety inspections in 2015, it should have completed 30,026, according to the audit.
While the city failed to complete the required routine inspections of eateries, the audit by the inspector general praised the Department of Health for responding to complaints within 21 days and within five days if the complaint raised the possibility of "significant food-borne illness," according to the complaint.
In all, the city collected $2.8 million in food-safety citation fees, according to the audit.
In its response to the inspector general's findings, a spokeswoman for the Chicago Department of Health acknowledged that more progress was needed in the city's inspection schedule.
Health department officials said they would work with state health officials to set a permanent food-safety inspection schedule to ensure Chicago does not lose the state grant, according to the audit.
Health department officials said they would consider the audit's recommendation to raise inspection fees to cover more of the city's costs and allow the department to hire more inspectors.
To read the full report, go to the inspector general's website.
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