New Dining with Confidence Ordinance Takes Effect Today, Using New Placards to Show Results

• Detroit’s new Dining with Confidence Ordinance features new placards to show inspection results
• The placards will be used beginning today to show inspection results at all
  1900+ licensed city food establishments

Chief Public Health Officer Denise Fair Razo and Detroit City Council Member Scott Benson (D3) today announced the launch of the City’s new Dining with Confidence ordinance that will use new green, white and red placards to indicate whether an establishment is in compliance or has been closed for failure to correct serious violations of Michigan’s Food Safety Code.

The move follows the passage in June by the Detroit City Council of the Dining with Confidence Ordinance that was introduced by Council Member Scott Benson (D3). The new ordinance takes effect today. There are no changes to the regulations or inspections, other than introduction of the new placards.

“Our mission is to address the public and population health priorities of Detroiters, and that includes making sure they are safe when they dine out,” said Chief Public Health Officer Denise Fair Razo. “Detroiters and visitors need to feel confident that when they dine out in Detroit, the food they eat has been prepared in a clean and healthy environment and that it is safe to eat.

“The Health Department’s Environmental Health team keeps Detroiters safe from food and environmental-linked illnesses and poisoning through education, enforcement and investigations. Our team regularly inspects more than 1900 restaurants and food trucks every year, plus an additional 300+ temporary food service vendors at events such as the NFL Draft and the Grand Prix.”

The new Dining with Confidence Ordinance serves to raise awareness about Detroit Health Department inspections and provide another incentive for restaurants to correct any pending violations, according to Council Member Scott Benson, who introduced the legislation that passed in June 2024.

“My goal is to increase awareness among Detroiters of the importance of food safety, and serve as a reminder that they should only dine in licensed food service establishments,” Council Member Benson said. “The placards should be displayed near the entrance to serve as a visible reminder to Detroiters that they can dine in confidence that the restaurant is licensed and has passed its most recent safety inspection, or else they should spend their hard-earned money elsewhere.”

The Dining with Confidence program uses the following placard rating system:

Green Placard (In Compliance): the establishment has no serious food safety violations, and has a valid food service license

Red Placard (Closed): posted if the establishment does not have a valid food service license, poses a serious health risk, or is in the final step of enforcement

White Placard (Temporary): If the establishment has corrections that are required, or is eligible for enforcement, they will be issued a white placard with information on the program and instructions in how to search inspection results online using the Health Department’s Open Data Portal. A white placard is available on request by licensed food establishments currently in good standing that are awaiting their next routine scheduled inspection.

Food service establishments will receive one of three placards based on the results of regular routine inspections conducted by the Detroit Health Department. Placard colors can change between scheduled inspections if, for example, a closed restaurant (red) is permitted to reopen (white), or comes into compliance (green) or a compliant restaurant (green) fails an inspection based on customer complaints that uncovers serious violations (red).

Everyone can access inspection results and overall food safety ratings by using the Detroit Health Department’s Food Safety Open Data Portal: detroitmi.gov/diningwithconfidence.