TRI-CITIES, Wash. – The Benton-Franklin Health District (BFHD) has alerted local businesses about a person posing as a BFHD food inspector. This impersonator has attempted to gain access to three restaurant kitchens in the Tri-Cities area over the last month.
Erin Hockaday, Senior Manager of Surveillance and Investigation at BFHD, highlighted how the business’s staff noticed the imposter.
“It sounds like the person in charge at the time realized that was kind of unusual because they know who their food inspector is,” Hockaday said. “They were carrying an iPad, reportedly. And so when the person in charge questioned them about their authority, asked for identification, it sounds like the person just turned and ran.”
These incidents have prompted the Health District to remind businesses that genuine food inspectors will always identify themselves.
“So they must have a health district ID. They are required under the state code to both present their ID and state their purpose for their visit,” Hockaday said.
Hockaday mentioned that food inspectors have specific territories, allowing businesses to become familiar with their regular inspector. This is not the first instance of food inspector impersonation in the Tri-Cities.
“I recall about ten years ago we had some of these issues as well, and at that time, it sounded like people were trying to access the kitchens to steal some things or for some sort of criminal element,” Hockaday said. “I can’t really speak to why somebody would want to do that, but we know that we want to make sure that all of our local businesses and community members are aware of who we are.”
If anyone suspects a person of falsely claiming to be a food inspector, contact law enforcement first and report the incident to the Health District.
BFHD Food Program phone number: (509) 460-4205.
More information about food safety inspection can be found here.
