You can see most court records online and if you live in Cleveland, Ohio you can add food inspection records to what you can see on the Internet. Earlier this month officials with the Cleveland Health Department posted the records for 3,000 restaurants and food vendors located in the city. The businesses are inspected at least once a year.

The online records can be seen by anyone with Internet access. While the records have always been available, officials said not many people request them—only about 100 each year. Online access may have two effects they said. First consumers will be educated about food borne illness. Second companies may work harder to comply with the city’s food safety laws.

The database is searchable. If someone is going to have dinner at a restaurant that evening, he or she can look the restaurant up by name. The violations include everything from improper storage to insects and rodents in the restaurant.

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2010/01/cuyahoga_county_health_departm.html