Food inspectors flood LI restaurants

With refrigeration in question at hundreds of restaurants that lost power in Tropical Storm Irene, county food inspectors have fanned out to restaurants throughout Long Island, checking on meats and produce that must meet specific temperature requirements.

"We have about 30 inspectors who are going to about 1,100 to 1,200 restaurants," said Dr. James Tomarken, Suffolk County commissioner of health services. "The concern is foods that have been without refrigeration and could potentially be contaminated."

Inspectors have not yet tabulated data to determine how many restaurants were forced to discard food deemed unsafe for consumption. They began their tour of restaurants Monday and will continue their efforts through Friday, Tomarken said.

In addition to checking on food temperatures, Tomarken said that inspectors would also note whether proprietors had access to an alternate power-generating system in the absence of LIPA's electrical service.

In Nassau, a similar army of food inspectors is on the hunt for restaurant food that may have gone unrefrigerated, said Mary Ellen Laurain, spokeswoman for the Nassau County Department of Health.

"We will not let restaurants operate if they do not have power. Our staff is still out there, and they have been going since the storm," she said.

Along with food inspectors, Nassau has a number of teams that are investigating sewage, toxic waste and water quality.

There are 5,000 food establishments in Nassau, Laurain said, but only those that lost power are being inspected.As in Suffolk, inspectors are receiving information from LIPA to determine which eateries lost electrical service, and which are still without it.

There have been no reports of food-borne illness in either county.

Restaurant proprietors in both counties who couldn't maintain foods at specified temperatures -- no higher than 40 degrees Fahrenheit for refrigerated foods and zero for frozen fare -- are being told to trash them. Consumers, Tomarken said, should heed the same refrigeration guidelines for optimum food safety, and follow a well-known public health rule of thumb: "When in doubt, throw it out."