Vancouver has been described as a great city for restaurants. Diners can enjoy cuisine from around the world, often prepared by people who are familiar with the way it’s done in their home countries.

The quality of Vancouver’s eateries attracted a great deal of publicity during the 2010 Olympics, which delighted tourism officials. But the region can’t claim to be a national leader in informing the public on the safety of local food establishments.

In Toronto, the public health department uses a colour-coded risk system, which is based on the most recent inspection. Signs are posted near the entrance of food establishments, publicizing the results of health-department checks to all customers.

A green “pass” sign means that there are only minor or no food-safety issues. A yellow “conditional pass” sign sends a message that there may be some food-handling, preparation, or storage issues, which must be corrected within 24 to 48 hours. A red “closed” sign indicates that there is “an immediate health hazard and a significant risk to the public health”, according to the department.

Neither the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority nor the Fraser Health Authority has posted colour-coded, consumer-friendly signs outside local restaurants. Vancouver Coastal spokesperson Anna Marie D’Angelo told the Georgia Straight by phone that her organization doesn’t post stickers near the entrances of restaurants because they can go out of date if a problem has been resolved.

Vancouver Coastal lets visitors to its Web site know if restaurants have been closed due to health concerns. On its home page, Vancouver Coastal links to an updated PDF of food-establishment closures in 2010. Its jurisdiction includes Richmond, Vancouver, and the North Shore.

Three establishments were shut down at some point during the year because of “rodent infestation”: Doc’s Restaurant & Pub on Bowen Island, Persia Food Products Inc. in West Vancouver, and India Bistro in Vancouver. Sakana Sushi in West Vancouver was temporarily closed because of a “cockroach infestation”, and another 28 eateries had to stop serving the public temporarily because of “pest infestation”.

Vancouver Coastal does not make it clear on its home page that the public can also examine inspection reports on its Web site, diners can gather more information about what’s been detected in different establishments. There is a drop-down menu, which enables consumers to search by food establishment, area, facility name, and inspection date.

Fraser Health’s jurisdiction includes Burnaby, New Westminster, Delta, Surrey, the Tri-Cities, and the Fraser Valley. Finding restaurant inspections on its Web site is far more difficult than locating the list of closures on the Vancouver Coastal site. But once you get there, Fraser Health lets people search by area. Unlike Vancouver Coastal’s reports, these documents carry hazard ratings of low, moderate, and high.

Meanwhile, across the border in Alberta, people can go on-line and get more detailed restaurant-inspection reports, which cover everything from the cleaning and sanitization of utensils to the storage of food and the finishing on the floors.

D’Angelo said that Vancouver Coastal inspectors have relationships with local restaurateurs, which has helped them prevent a problem that recently surfaced in Toronto: phony restaurant inspectors. In a news release in June, the Toronto public health department issued a warning about fake inspectors scheduling on-site visits and requesting detailed business and personal information.

“If you are contacted by someone attempting to schedule an inspection and asking for personal information, contact your local police department,” Toronto Public Health official Jim Chan said in the news release. “Legitimate public health inspectors do not call ahead to schedule inspections. In most cases, inspections are unannounced.”