The Reorganization Study, conducted by the Secretary to the Governor and his staff, has ascertained that sanitation inspections of restaurants and other food service establishments are now being conducted by three State departments—Health, Agriculture and Markets, and Labor.

The Department of Health has general authority for restaurant sanitation to protect the public from conditions that might spread disease through food preparation and service. Inspections to assure restaurant sanitation are usually conducted by employees of local health agencies, with the State Department of Health paying part of the costs and providing technical supervision.

The State Department of Agriculture and Markets conducts restaurant sanitation inspections to protect the public against adulterated or substitute food products.

The Department of Labor inspects restaurants to assure that adequate and reasonable protection is provided for the lives, health and safety of employees and the public.

Each of these three departments has a reasonable and proper interest in the management and operation of restaurants. The fact remains, however, that their sanitation inspections of restaurants routinely duplicate one another. Clearly a situation in which three separate governmental agencies perform the same routine function in the same business establishment is neither economically nor managerially justifiable.

Therefore, in continuance of my intention to eliminate duplication in State procedures and activities, it is directed that the following rearrangement of activities be instituted:

To assure that sanitation inspections of restaurants are governed by a uniform set of standards, it is further directed that the rules and regulations of the Departments of Health, Agriculture and Markets, and Labor, as they apply to restaurant sanitation and the conduct of sanitation inspections, shall be brought into conformity with one another and embodied in the State Sanitary Code. For the purpose of achieving uniformity, the applicable provisions of the Sanitary Code shall then be adopted by the Department of Agriculture and Markets and the Department of Labor.

In order to protect the best interests of the public, of restaurant proprietors, and of employees, alike, and to assure that required functions are performed most efficiently, it is desirable that, along with the rearrangement of activities, there be developed cooperative interdepartmental working relationships. I have, therefore, instructed the heads of the Departments of Health, Agriculture and Markets, and Labor to establish mutually acceptable procedures for the exchange of information obtained by personnel under their direction in the course of routine restaurant inspection.

Specifically, this would mean that:

This system would eliminate unnecessary duplication and overlap in restaurant sanitation inspections and provide for a free exchange of information. As a result, the inspectional staffs would concentrate on matters in which they have a primary and appropriate interest and they would achieve better coverage of their areas of inspection. It will also help eliminate confusion and misunderstanding on the part of restaurant proprietors and employees.