Ottawa health inspectors found infractions nearly three times more frequently than the city average at the restaurants they visited most, according to an analysis of municipal data dating back to the beginning of 2009.

The most serious infractions—those deemed “critical” to food safety, according to health regulations—ranged from failing to wash hands, protect food from contamination, or refrigerate food properly. The majority of infractions, however, were “non-critical”, such as failing to keep surfaces clean or keep a meat thermometer handy.

Inspectors found infractions at Feleena’s, in the Glebe, and Stella Osteria, in the Byward Market, during 68 per cent of inspections, more than three times the city average of 21 per cent. Both of those restaurants were among the 10 most inspected in Ottawa over the past five years, which collectively were found non-compliant with provincial or city health regulations during 58 per cent of inspections.

That doesn’t mean those restaurants aren’t safe places to eat, said Toni d’Ettore, a supervisor with the city’s environmental health protection branch.

A “non-compliant” score is not the same as failing a health inspection, she said. Many of the violations identified by inspectors—such as walls in need of washing—are not an immediate threat to food safety. Any restaurants found to be unsafe are closed immediately, she said.

Just five per cent of inspections last year found infractions serious enough to require “urgent remediation,” according to a May 5 memo from Ottawa’s medical officer of health, Isra Levy, to the Ottawa Board of Health, which governs public health programming for the city.

Clyde Ross, 72, owns Feleena’s and works evening shifts seating customers and managing the restaurant. He says he isn’t sure why Feleena’s has been inspected and found non-compliant so much more often than the average Ottawa restaurant, though he believes it has something to do with how busy Feleena’s gets during the summer months.

Feleena’s has never been fined or closed for a violation, he said.

Inspectors identified 30 violations of the provincial Health Promotion and Protection Act during the 19 most recent inspections of Feleena’s, dating back to October 25 2012, the cut-off point for inspection summaries for the restaurant on the city website. Most were labelled “non-critical” by the inspector—for example, failing to ensure a hand-washing station was available or stocked with soap, or failing to provide an accurate thermometer to measure food temperature.  Five were labelled “critical” for posing a threat to food safety, including four infractions found during an August 29 inspection:  failing to wash hands thoroughly before and after handling food, failing to properly refrigerate food, failing to separate raw and ready-to-eat foods in storage, and failing to protect food from potential contamination.

All of the critical violations were corrected during the inspection, the inspection summaries show.

Those violations are not unique to Feleena’s; the same problems have been identified at many of Ottawa’s restaurants since late 2012, the city’s inspection summary page shows.

Several factors together determine how often a restaurant is inspected, including a risk score that accounts for its intended clientele­—businesses that serve young children or the elderly are inspected more often—whether the staff handles raw meat, and the restaurant’s performance on past inspections, d’Ettore said.

Customer complaints are always followed up with an inspection, she said, adding to a restaurant’s total number of inspections regardless of whether any violations are found.

If a threat to food safety is found that does not require closing the restaurant, it will be inspected the next day to ensure the problem has been addressed, she said. Restaurants are given three days to remedy any violations that do not pose a risk to food safety, or longer if solving the problem requires renovations or significant changes to the restaurant.

Restaurants that are repeatedly found to be not compliant can be issued a provincial offence notice, which can lead to a fine or conviction, if city officials deem it necessary. Those notices are not made public, d’Ettore said.

The city’s ten most inspected restaurants averaged 45 inspections total—9 per year—since 2009, compared to 9 inspections—1.8 per year—on average across Ottawa.  Buffet Indian Aroma on Laurier Avenue led the way with 59 inspections, and was found in full compliance 36 per cent of the time.