We at The Flor-Ala thought it was important for students to know how local restaurants and on-campus dining facilities were doing and how health scores are determined.

The Alabama Department of Public Health’s restaurant scoring encompasses all that occurs at an establishment from management to food quality, cleanliness, employees and facilities — inside and out, said Public Health Environmentalist Chris Jackson.

“The score that a restaurant gets is an overall view of what’s going on inside and outside of the facility,” Jackson said. “When I go to inspect a restaurant, I look at everything from the food quality and sanitation of the building to the storage of non-food supplies.”

All restaurants are required to post scores in an inconspicuous location for the public to see and must be inspected once every three months, Jackson said.

Freshman Kimberly Hasha is more cautious about where she will eat after working in a restaurant, she said.

“Working at a restaurant made me more aware and skeptical about low scores because if a place gets a low score, they must have done something pretty bad,” Hasha said. “I think that the inspections should be done more often and spontaneously.”

Hasha is more concerned with the real story — what might be going on in restaurants when inspectors are not there, she said.

To find out how some of the on-campus eateries and hot spots for dining in Florence were doing, I checked out their scores on the ADPH website and went to the locations where lower scores were exhibited to find out why.

UNA Dining Services in the Guillot University Center raked in a score of 98 during their last inspection, exhibiting no critical violations.

Towers Hall, which scored a 96, always starts health inspections off below 100 because of building maintenance issues, said General Manager of Sodexo Dining Services Alan Kinkead.

“It’s important for students to be aware of health scores,” Kinkead said. “They should also know that there are other funny things that can affect the scores, but do not directly affect the food.”

While on-campus scores were high, the scores of restaurants around town had more variation.

When I went to find out why Chili’s Grill and Bar received a 90, I found the ten points were deducted because of issues with ventilation in the restrooms, storing of soap in an improper location, stacking of wet containers and a presence of live insects.

Some hazards considered in health score evaluations may not be directly related to food, Jackson said.

“For example, a broken floor tile can lead to grease build up on the floor in a restaurant, creating a threat of insects coming inside,” he said. “Then there’s definitely a threat to the food.”

The lowest score I found was at Evergreen China Buffet on Florence Blvd.

When I arrived at Evergreen China Buffet, I could not find the score sheet and the employees were unable to tell me where it was. When I spotted it, it was hidden behind the establishment’s business license. I explained I wanted to see the health score sheet, and they would have to let me because it is public information. I got my hands on it, only to find the score of 84 was handed out for storing a personal drink in a food area, an unlabeled bottle of cleaner, a drain leak, an outdoor spill and the presence of molded food.

While I was reading the details about the score, the manager started shouting that I could not look at the sheet, asked for my job title and tried to take the sheet from me; however, I already had the information I needed.

When I contacted the restaurant later for a statement, they declined to comment.

Junior Joseph Latham prefers to eat “I would like to eat somewhere that’s got a 95 or above,” Latham said. “I think it’s important to know the scores, so I keep up with the places that I eat at.”

Junior Corey Battles thinks he should be more mindful of health ratings, he said.

“I think that I should probably start paying more attention to health ratings,” Battles said. “I mean, you can die from food poisoning.”