Cincinnati Health Department Food Inspection Program Audit April 2019 cityof CINCINNATI iNTERNAL AUD! Lauren Sundararajan, CFE Internal Audit Manager Ann Herzner ‘Senior Internal AuditorCity of Cincinnati CHD — Food inspection Program Audit Table of Contents Executive Summary |. Introduction Background Audit Selection ‘Audit Objectives Audit Scope and Methodology Statement of Auditing Standards Commendations Il. Audit Findings and Recommendations UL Conolusion \V. Cincinnati Health Department Response 13, 14City of Cincinnatt CHD — Food Inspection Program Audit Executive Summary Internal Audit (IA) performed an audit of the Cincinnati Health Department's (CHD) Food Inspection Program. The audit objectives were to determine if the food inspection process was timely and efficient; verify the fees associated with the process were appropriate; and ensure compliance with legislative requirements. The purpose of the Food Inspection Program (also known as the Food Safety Program (FSP)) is to Inspect all food service operations and retail food establishments within the City to ensure compliance with the Ohio Uniform Food Safety Code. As sanitarians inspect each food service operation, they identity violations that may contribute to food contamination or illness. Several opportunities were revealed throughout the audit for improvement to the program. For ‘example, applying for new and renewal food licenses is an extensive internal process and heavily burdened with paperwork. Additionally, the FSP utilizes two software systems that do Not interface with one another, creating duplicate work to ensure the same data is maintained in both systems. Cost methodology (CM) is the process of calculating the cost of services provided to food establishments. IA found a Senior Sanitarian has been using the same method to calculate CM for many years without considering alternative methods, and management does not provide oversight by verifying the calculations to ensure accuracy. IA also found that the fiscal section of CHD is not involved in the process. Additionally, IA was informed about an error in the vending license fee that occurred over 12 years ago and was never rectified. This error reflects a shortfall of approximately $5,200 for the 2019 — 2020 licensing period alone. JA found additional management oversight of sanitarians is needed. Sanitarians do not have clearly defined performance measurements and goals, which should be created to accurately reflect the complexity and time involved with the food inspection process. Also, there Is no rotation policy among the sanitarians, which may facilitate a sense of undue familiarity with the food establishment operators or result in an informality to the process. Finally, the minimum number of inspections required per sanitarian is sometimes double the amount of work set forth by the Food and Drug Administration guidelines. With the current volume of inspections, the FSP risks the work performed by sanitarians may be done quickly and hastily while jeopardizing a thorough and complete Investigation. To reduce the risks in the FSP operations, [A recommends streamlining the new and renewal food licensing processes, including the ability to submit food business plans and applications electronically, determining if two software systems can interface, and working with CHD's fiscal ‘section to ensure the CM process has proper oversight, Additionally, IA recommends establishing performance measures for the sanitarians, creating a rotation policy, and performing data analysis to ensure the FSP is operating at an optimal level.