A new state restaurant inspection form may take longer to fill out, but health officials say the benefit will be more emphasis on specific health concerns.

Jill Jordan, public information officer for Albemarle Regional Health Services, said health inspectors began using the new two-page form at area restaurants on July 1. Because the form is more detailed, it may take more time initially for inspectors to go over it with restaurant personnel, she said.

Brett A. Clark/Daily Advance (ENLARGE)

Employee Dorinda French prepares food at the City Wine Sellar in downtown Elizabeth City, Wednesday.

"It may be too early to tell what the impact on the restaurants will be in the public health region," Jordan said in an e-mail. "Some of the counties in North Carolina actually piloted the form and the (health) scores actually increased slightly when the new forms were used."

Debbie Malenfant, owner of The City Wine Sellar, thinks the new form will be more helpful to her and her employees because it is more specific.

"I can see specifically what (inspectors are) looking for rather than a general category," she said.

The previous inspection form, which had 34 checklist items, contained generic categories for inspection such as holding temperature and general cleanliness.

The new form, which features 49 checklist items, contains more specific categories such as proper hot holding temperatures and proper cold holding temperatures.

Malenfant said she doesn't expect to stress out over the form.

"It's the same information," she said. "It's just broken down in a more detailed manner."

Kristina Nixon, field supervisor with the Food Protection branch of the N.C. Department of the Environment and Natural Resources, said the new form divides the inspection into two categories.

"The new form is two pages, and it divides up the form into risk factors and good retail practices," said Nixon, adding officials used potential health risks as a guide for developing the new form. "We slowly have been implementing a risk-based inspection approach."

Violations of risk factors, such as employees not washing hands, not ensuring food was obtained from an approved source, or inadequate cooking times, require immediate corrective action, she said. The second section — good retail practices — covers food storage, water supply, a clean facility in good repair and the absence of insects and rodents.

Nixon said another change the state has implemented is the time allowed for restaurants to correct violations.

Restaurants found not in compliance with critical violations must now correct the violations on the spot or within 10 days of the inspection. Before, restaurants had up until the time of their next regular inspection to correct the violations. Nixon said while the new inspection form became effective July 1, the time allowed to correct violations actually went into effect in August 2007.

Malenfant said one difference she noticed between the old and new inspection form is that the new form requires employees to be certified through the food safety program ServSafe, or points will be deducted from a restaurant's overall score. Previously, restaurants were able to get scores above 100 because points were added if employees were certified.

Andy Montero, owner of Montero's Restaurant, said he found few differences between the old and new form. One difference he noticed, though, is that the new form deducts points in smaller increments because the points have been spread over more inspection items. The highest point deduction on the form is four points for any one item.

Rachel's Place manager John Burgess said the last inspection at his restaurant took about 25 minutes. He said typically an inspection takes place about every four months and involves a manager or the owner completing the inspection process with an inspector. While Burgess said Tuesday that he was not aware of the new inspection form, he said he didn't believe it was a cause for concern.

"If you keep the place clean, you don't have to worry about it," Burgess said.