Chicago Mayor Proposes Self-Certification For Some Restaurants

Chicago retailers that sell pre-packaged foods with little or no food handling would be free to “self-certify,” under a mayoral plan designed to free inundated inspectors to focus on “high-risk” establishments.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel wants Chicago to become the nation’s first major city to establish a self-certification plan for food handlers.

Health Commissioner Bechara Choucair said the pilot program would apply to roughly 2,500 of the city’s 15,000 licensed food establishments.

Details of the private inspections that would be required to obtain self-certification have yet to be finalized. Chicago is home to roughly 7,000 restaurants. The Health Department has just 32 field inspectors. The number of food sanitarians was not known.

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