Action 9: Yelp including restaurant inspections along with reviews

ORLANDO, Fla. — Yelp customer reviews can drive a restaurant's success or failure. Now, Yelp is showing consumers what state inspectors found inside the restaurants.

The company has added the feature to its website that shows a pass or fail grade for a restaurant's latest safety inspection.

Taryn Cozzy is an avid Yelp user.

“It makes me a little more confident in making the right decision where I'm eating,” said Cozzy.

Yelp said it gives consumers access to inspection results when they need it.

But Action 9 did find problems.

Restaurants that routinely fail initial inspections get passing grades on Yelp.

“I don't think the information is much help,” University of Central Florida food safety expert Dr. Kevin Murphy said.

Murphy said the feature hides the real records of troubled restaurants.

One example is Buffet Village in Titusville. Action 9 identified it as a top violator. The restaurant failed two recent inspections, but Yelp shows it passed both.

Murphy said when an inspector finds so many violations, it requires another inspection, and that's a fail.

But on Yelp, it's a pass.

“That would mislead me to the quality of the restaurant, if in fact they've had problems with the state,” said Murphy.

The only fails Action 9 found on Yelp were for restaurant closures.

Action 9’s Todd Ulrich contacted Yelp's vice president of public policy, Luther Lowe, who said the company would now reconsider how it labels pass and fail.

“I think there is an open debate on whether or not a fail should be assigned to restaurants that require re-inspection, and we're taking that into consideration,” said Lowe.

But the new Yelp feature has supporters, such as Diego VillaVicentio.

“I think it's an excellent policy that needs to catch on,” he said.

After Action 9 contacted Yelp, the changes were made. Failed routine inspections now show as “fail.”

In many cases, consumers can view inspections over a two-year period.

More stories on WFTV.com:

• 2-county chase of homicide suspect ends with fiery RV crash, officials say
• Man forced to clean Walgreens bathroom dies of emotional  distress, widow says 
• Polk County emergency personnel save horse trapped in 6 feet of mud and muck

Cox Media Group