Legal loophole allows zoo restaurants to skip health inspections
PORTLAND, Ore. – Restaurants at the Oregon Zoo went six years without outside health inspections, but a recent norovirus outbreak could change that going forward.
One hundred thirty-five people came down with diarrhea and nausea, and state health investigators say lab tests confirmed five cases were norovirus and it is the suspected cause in the rest.
KATU's news partner Willamette Week was first to report that the zoo repeatedly turned away Multnomah County food safety inspectors. A zoo spokesperson said it has no record of saying no to outside food inspectors. But the zoo hasn't been inspected by Multnomah County since 2006. That;s when a 2006 state legal opinion found restaurants owned by a government entity don;t need a license. The zoo is run by metro-regional government and in recent years the zoo had been inspecting its own kitchens.
But then there was the norovirus outbreak earlier this month that hit the 135 people attending one of three privately-catered events over three days at the Oregon Zoo, including dozens of employees from Women’s Health Care Associates based in Beaverton.
Fruit salad is the suspected food source for the outbreak but the ultimate source of the norovirus is human feces.
In response, the zoo closed four kitchen areas for deep cleaning, including the AfriCafe, The Cascade Grill and the zoo's catering kitchen. Multnomah County food inspectors said they spent three hours at the zoo and found no food preparation policies or procedures that needed to be changed.
Twice in 2006 and 2008, Multnomah County's health department said it offered to contract with the zoo for voluntary food inspections, but the two sides did not agree and the outside inspections did not take place.
On Wednesday, a county spokesperson said employees were hopeful the zoo would contract for future inspections. The zoo’s marketing manager said she couldn't comment on what would happen in the future.
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This is on the zoo's website:
  "We work closely with the media everyday at the zoo. While most of the time we feel they accurately report our information, at times, it seems that information we provide is omitted or used out of context in the interest of sensationalizing a story." http://www.oregonzoo.org/news/2012/12/food-safety-oregon-zoo
 It's not a "Loophole" that the zoo used to get out of inspections. The County informed the zoo that they would no longer be conducting inspections, and offered consultative services FOR A FEE. The zoo conducts food safety inspections 3x a day, and County inspections would not have prevented a sick person from sneezing on a buffet in the banquet center. This has nothing to do with the restaurants at the zoo. You can catch norovirus just like you can a cold or flu â by touching something that an infected person has touched, like a handrail or pen or maybe even a copy of your "news partner" Willamette Week.
 Stop sensationalizing everything to scare people.
 We expect this from Willamette Week but not from KATU.Â
 How about instead, you inform people of how they can try to prevent the spread of viruses such as norovirus and flu? Like washing your hands, not touching your face, etc?
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>restaurants owned by a government entity don't need a license.
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This proves no license is needed, doesn't it?
Licenses are for the little people.
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A victim rightfully sues and the gov't claims sovereign immunity.
Maybe, just maybe the government shouldn't run businesses.
I'm not entirely shocked by this.. If you've ever purchased anything from that Africafe or whatever it's called.... that stuff is atrocious! Â It makes the old cafeteria food from school look like fine dining.
 @MooseKnuckle Although they're grossly overpriced, it's nonetheless important to eat there at least annually, in order to keep your immune system up to speed. Sort of like a vaccination for the digestive tract.
I find it ironic that quite a few employees from Womenâs Health Care Associates were the ones to suffer from this blunder.
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Hopefully the elephant ears were never contaminated.
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I wonder if the food vendors for the zoo concerts are also exempt from inspections.
 @Dirtman The food carts are staffed by Metro Oregon Zoo, as are the "Bearwalk Cafe" and the one located in the Africa Rainforest area. None of these are mentioned as having been deep cleaned, though in this case, a staff member seems more likely the source than the facilities.
Gross!Â
Another good reason not to eat at the zoo cafes.   Yuck.Â
 @Justanother1 What's the problem? It's not like they charge you extra for admission into their exciting "World of Microbes" exhibits!
Well of course! A government entity should NEVER have to play by the same rules as the general population! (sarc off)
"the ultimate source of the norovirus is human feces."
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That's just plain disgusting. I worked in restaurants in a former life and yes, knowing how to cook is great but also nice is knowing good practices in food handling. I wash my hands a TON every day, more so when cooking so I don't cross contaminate, but seriously, after taking a dump someone can't wash their hands? I get disgusted when I see people not wash their hands in my office building.
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It's good to see that they didn't find any violations when they inspected it but why turn inspectors away when they offered to inspect? Doesn't make any sense but at least this forces change.....too bad a bunch of people had to get sick first.
 @deejm2112 Biggest problem is often times not that they didn't wash, but that they didn't wash properly. Many people don't wash for the proper length of time, under the fingernails, etc. You can see it all the time when you're in a public restroom. Sadly, there are a lot of people who leave those bathrooms without ever washing their hands. It's why I hate places that don't have paper towels, as then you have to touch those dirty door handles and such.
I agree with the last comment. I couldn't tell you the last time I touched a bathroom door handle w/my bare hands. Always with a towel or my shirt tail, at the very least.
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I've seen too many men walk out of bathrooms w/o washing and just get totally grossed out by it.
135 sick people create more jobs than four restaurant inspections per year.  Besides if there had been security guards there with automatic weapons this could not have happened.
 @kwk  kwk AKA HarryJuku
Ever wonder how the deceased animals are disposed of ?, Im just saying,,,,,,
 @ghost rider  Special of the day
Yuck! Â I won't be eating at the zoo...this story turned my stomach thinking of what 6 years of no inspections would be like. Â
It's not that there aren't any inspections, there just aren't any County inspections. @Stephanie S.Â
A conservative would say that Inspections are just needless bureaucratic regulations making it more difficult for small businesses to survive and hire employees. The government obviously knows that since they don't inspect their own restaurants. Businesses should be able to regulate themselves.
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Or...would some conservatives argue that government regulations on businesses are in fact needed for the protection of the general public and the environment?
Glad we always took our snacks with us and NEVER got anything there :)
I can't afford to GO to the zoo, much less eat there!
So, you could never be sure that was chicken you just ate? (Urrrrpp!)
Oh really? Well, a legal loophole allows me to not eat at the zoo.
"But the zoo hasn't been inspected by Multnomah County since 2006. That;s when a 2006 state legal opinion found restaurants owned by a government entity don;t need a license. The zoo is run by metro-regional government and in recent years the zoo had been inspecting its own kitchens."
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Only idiot government would exempt themselves from protecting the public.
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Time to sue the government for all those folks who got sick.
@RalphCramden yet inspections are simply government intrusion into business operations, and businesses should self regulate and inspect themselves. This is the conservative mantra. You've spouted this nonsense for as long as I've read your comments, yet now you're claiming that govt inspections (regulation) is a good thing?
 @Ramsesthegreat Â
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And as long as you have been reading my comments you have made false assumptions about my posts.
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Point out where I said businesses should not have food inspections? I merely stated, and I quote "Only idiot government would exempt themselves from protecting the public.".
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Now show me where I said food inspections is not a good thing.
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I look forward to your response.
 @Sundowner  @RamsesthegreatÂ
They have gone overboard. They interfere in business where they are not needed and create regulations that get in the way of doing business.
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My original comment identified that government owned restaurants don't need inspections but private ones do.
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If you don't see the dichotomy in that statement then you don't get it.
@Sundowner I couldn't have said it better myself.
 @RalphCramden  @Ramsesthegreat If I can just poke my nose in here uninvited:  Ralph, do you not hear yourself speaking out of both sides of your mouth?  You're whining because they've determined this government-owned restaurant doesn't require food inspections, then you say "government has gone way overboard on most safety issues".  Again, you want government when it benefits you ONLY, then less government when it benefits someone else.  And you don't see that as hypocrisy.  Hard to see clearly when one's head is firmly implanted.....
 @RalphCramden Ralph I thought you were always on the side of less government involvement in regulating small business?  Shouldn't Businesses should be left to regulate themselves?
I would suggest that for most less government involvment means in places the government has no business sticking its nose into. Safety is certainly a government function. Making their own entities immune to the very rules they subject the rest of us to is hardly a less government argument. Its part of the mentality that the king can do no wrong.
 @jpdx00Â
We don't need government for safety. There was a time when that was true but insurance carriers insist on safety or they will cancel the policy. Also civil lawsuits are always a big consideration when running a business.
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Government has gone way overboard on most safety issues and now they inhibit business.
 @KennyboyÂ
I was pointing out the irony of the government requiring private enterprises to have a license but not the government, as if the government is somehow immune to food born diseases.
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 @Dr. RawdogÂ
I look at it as getting my tax dollars back plus more.
 @RalphCramden
There's that hypocrite label popping up again. See, others recognize too how it fits your posts perfectly.
 @Sundowner  @Dr. RawdogÂ
There is no hypocrisy.
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I paid into the system which promised me that they would pay me back. A simple contract. It is not an entitlement program. Now welfare is an entitlement program. Few have paid into it but they leach off the system for decades. Some have legitimate disabilities but most don't. They are just lazy and don't want to work like the rest of us.
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According to your definition any government retirement program is an entitlement. And a company pension is an entitlement. And a 401k is an entitlement.
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Call it what you want. I get several checks from the government every month. Every check comes from a plan that I put money into for decades. I see it as my money. If the government decides that they don't want to pay me anymore then there will be consequences.
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The government will collapse. And the checks will stop coming eventually. I have already planned for that and have my own savings that will get me through. Plus the cool part is that it is mine and the government can't take it. I can give it to my kids and grandkids if I want to.
 @RalphCramden  @Dr. Rawdog All I'm pointing out is your hypocrisy at whining about others being on the government dole while accepting, DEMANDING, that you get yours too.  An entitlement program is an entitlement program, Ralph.  Just accept that you're no better or worse than anyone else and maybe tone down your attacks at those who need help from time to time.  I just don't understand why you haven't refused Social Security or Medicare if you hate the government so much and hate all entitlement programs (except the ones you benefit from, right?).  I'm sure you could live off your wise investment choices via your 401K.....unless like me you lost 50% of it under GeeDub.  Thanks to President Obama, I've recouped my losses and actually doubled my investment.  Good times.
 @Sundowner  @Dr. RawdogÂ
Oh, I am not deluded about Medicare. It is designed for failure because it costs way more than is coming in.
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Yet they gladly took my money by force and PROMISED me end of life care. I do intend to hold them to their promise.
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Another government promise they will not be able to keep over the long run.
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As for SS I put in way more than I will ever receive. At the 8% interest I could have made on it I would have had millions but no, the government took my money way back in the 50's and promised that I would get all that back at retirement and they would take care of me till I die.
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Most folks who work all their lives will put more into SS than they ever get out adjusted for inflation and if interest is considered.
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Another government promise they won't be able to keep in the long run.
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Government is a total loser when it comes to managing money.
 @RalphCramden  @Dr. Rawdog If you're receiving any form of Medicare, you're deluding yourself that you paid even one-tenth the actual cost.  And yes, you paid into Social Security, but you're getting FAR more out of it than you put in.  So yes, you're chowing down at the government trough.  No judgment, it's just a fact.  How telling that you say "Now I want it all back"....gonna stop taking it once you've received the exact dollar amount you put in?  Didn't think so. Â
 @Sundowner  @Dr. RawdogÂ
I deserve SS. I paid into it for almost 50 years. It was promised to me and I was forced to pay every two weeks out of my check.
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I also was forced to pay for Medicare.
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Now I want it all back.
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No leaching here.
 @RalphCramden  @Dr. Rawdog Wait a minute, Ralph.  You were bragging a while back that unlike the rest of us, you don't pay taxes EXCEPT property taxes (we ALL pay property taxes in one form or another).  You're one of those 47%ers, sucking off the government teat (Social Security, Medicare).  OK, gotcha.
It shouldn't matter whether the government owned restaurant needs a license or not, the should still be subject to inspection as they ARE serving food in Oregon! In fact, because they are not licensed, they should be even more subject to inspections. There's no way we can keep the state from running them...they make the decisions on who can, but regardless of that they should still have to be inspected. But then again, if they were, the 'government inspectors' would be inspecting their own...kind of the fox in the chicken coop. Pehap both restaurants AND inspectors should be jobbed out to private companies, would probably raise the quality of both! How many lawsuits can the state (we the people/taxes) afford? I'm sure there will be a bunch over this!
Why does our Government run restaurants? This is the stupid part of all this. The food business should be contracted to a private business. That way the food would probably be better and cost less as well as be inspected.
 @poorsob It often times does not cost less - the private company has profits built into the cost of everything, while the government run one only has to cover expenses, not profits.
 @Jenni S.  @poorsob And that's why a burger at the zoo costs double, compared to most fast-food places?
 @Jenni S.  @poorsob You are not accounting for the fact that the government is the most inefficient organization. While it is true that private enterprise makes a profit, they are also must better at running the businesses that they run. Take a look at any business that the government has taken over and you see the same patterns of inefficiency and incompetence. Paying a well run restaurant to handle the food enterprise would be the best use of facilities and money.
 @poorsob Because the zoo is owned by the state? (is this rocket science?) and it benefits the zoo because of the absurdly high food prices....(and yet they ask for money all the time)
 @deejm2112  @poorsob The zoo is not owned by the State it is run by Metro. What does that have to do with it anyway? There are other government entities that sub out the restaurant business. They could still charge what they want and simply mark up what the restaurant or caterer charges. The point that is trying to be made here is that the government obviously has no expertise in the food business. Why not let the people who know what they are doing do it best.?
 @deejm2112  @poorsob The zoo is a subsidiary of the Metro regional government - the same folks who pay some $200,000 in compensation each year (from your tax dollars) to their "Columbia River Crossing" "planner". They have to cut costs somewhere!
I blame the viruses. They didn't pay any attention to the memo about not being allowed to infect government-owned restaurants. Probably because the Post Office forgot to deliver it.
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Does this same exemption apply to other government-run restaurants? How about schools? And if anyone is inspecting the cafeteria at the state capitol, it should be stopped immediately.
@al_02 Cafeteria at State Capitol is a privately owned busness,