New Public Health pilot project has some Toronto restaurateurs upset

WATCH: Mark Carcasole reports on the new restaurant food poisoning tip line, which some business owners say can be subject to abuse.

TORONTO — When there’s something weird (in your food), and it (and you) don’t feel good … Who you gonna call?

Toronto Public Health hopes it’s “GastroBusters.”

The six-month pilot project launched last month is essentially a “snitch” line for those who believe they’ve suffered food poisoning from a meal at a Toronto restaurant.

READ MORE: Your restaurant meal is just as bad as fast food, study warns

It’s almost like Crime Stoppers for restaurants, because reports can be made anonymously. But some Toronto restaurant owners worry about the potential for abuse of the system.

“A competitor, disgruntled staff, disgruntled patron, whatever, can set up a whole system of complaints without ever being responsible,” says Andre Rosenbaum.

Taking a quick timeout from serving a busy lunch crowd, the co-owner of the Queen Mother Cafe on Queen Street also worries about inaccurate self diagnoses leading to wrongful accusations against restaurants.

“You never really know where you got (food poisoning),” he says.

“The truth of the matter is it could take 48 hours for the symptoms to appear, so even though your last meal was at a restaurant, (the bad food) may have been at your aunt’s place or the lunch you had before that.”

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Industry representatives like Restaurants Canada say there are already plenty of checks and balances for restaurants here and that Toronto Public Health is just being redundant.

“A waste of time and taxpayers’ money,” is how the group’s Ontario Vice President James Rilett describes the pilot.

He worries Public Health is hurting the industry more than it is helping.

“You’re basically giving the industry as a whole a bad name. You’re saying the industry can’t be trusted so we’re bringing this other program.”

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But City Councillor Joe Mihevc, Chair of Toronto’s Board of Health, says this isn’t a sting operation.

There are no fines, they just want to track down bad batches of food before they spread — while extending their current reach.

“Right now, if you’re in a hospital or if you’re in a school and someone has food poisoning, they’re obligated by law to report that to Public Health,” Mihevc explains.

“With GastroBusters, what we’re trying to do is get the public to participate in that process.”

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Mihevc says there’s no change to how reports are handled, they’re just trying out a new way of bringing them in. He didn’t have any information on the number of complaints made since launch.

A report on the tip line could trigger an inspection of the reported restaurant. Mihevc admits a false report is an inconvenience to restaurants, but he says it’s better than not following up at all.

GastroBusters will be evaluated by the Board of Health after its six-month test run. Officials say it falls within Public Health’s current budget, so there are no added expenses.