Arkansas warns foodservice operations to watch out for bogus sanitation inspectors

Arkansas warned its dining establishments on Thursday to be on the alert for scam artists who pose as foodservice sanitation inspectors and levy bogus on-the-spot fines for alleged food safety violations.

“Call my office immediately if you are contacted by a con artist demanding money from a false business inspection,” Attorney General Leslie Rutledge advised in a formal alert issued by her office.

The notice stresses that actual Arkansas Department of Health officials will never ask for money while inspecting a facility. Rutledge advised establishments to demand to see inspectors’ official identification card and to scrutinize the agency logo it should bear.  

If a place should have any suspicions about the ID or the person bearing it, it should contact the health department to verify the inspector is indeed an employee, Rutledge said.

She did not reveal how prevalent the scam is.

It’s one of several that have preyed on eateries this summer. Operators and civic officials in several major cities have issued warnings about shakedown artists who post unflattering reviews of restaurants on Google.

The establishments are subsequently contacted with an offer to take down the slams if the restaurants provide the reviewers with a $75 credit to buy game time and other goods and services via Google.