Clarification: The original version of this article’s headline was unclear. Jerry’s Famous Deli did not fail a health inspection.
An inspection made by the Department of Public Health determined that Jerry’s Famous Deli was fit to serve customers after a hepatitis A incident on Nov. 30, when the restaurant announced that an employee had contracted the virus.
The employee, a food handler in the restaurant, had continued to work the following two to seven weeks after contracting the virus, a time period during which others could potentially be infected.
Jerry’s Famous Deli is experiencing lower demand after the hepatitis A incident, even though an inspection made by the Department of Public Health concluded that the restaurant is safe to cater to the Westwood community.
“(The hepatitis A incident) definitely affected us. There’s been a huge drop in business, but it’s picking up,” said the manager of Jerry’s Famous Deli, Antonio Vazquez.
Avoiding the restaurant is unnecessary, said Elizabeth Bancroft, a medical epidemiologist at the Department of Public Health in Los Angeles County.
“There was no reason for students to steer clear of Jerry’s the day (the hepatitis A case) was announced, and there’s no reason now,” Bancroft said.
Bancroft has been involved with the case ever since it was reported to the Department of Public Health on Nov. 30.
She said that to her knowledge, no other cases of hepatitis A related to the Jerry’s Famous Deli incident have been reported to the department.
Bancroft said the Department of Public Health abided by the protocol used nationwide in similar instances to determine whether or not it would be beneficial to publicize the case.
She also said the department evaluated the symptoms of the infected food handler and made an analysis of the food prepared by this employee.
The department took into account both the incubation period for the virus as well as the time between the patient’s diagnosis and the submission of the report to the Department of Public Health, Bancroft said.
The sanitation of the restaurant and the standards held by the restaurant for its employees were also considered.
The department went public with the case because they were notified that during the infectious period, the infected person prepared uncooked food, Bancroft said.
It is often not the restaurant’s fault in these instances, she said. Employees pick up diseases outside the restaurant and then come back to work.
“It doesn’t mean that the restaurant has good or bad hygiene,” she said.
Jerry’s Famous Deli in Westwood endured a full, top-to-bottom inspection by the restaurant inspection team from the Department of Public Health.
Bancroft said she did not know the exact results of the inspection, but she said the restaurant passed well enough that the department did not close it down.
According to a sign posted in the window of Jerry’s Famous Deli, the restaurant maintains an “A” in public health rating.
Second-year international development studies student Amanda Haas has not let the case of hepatitis A keep her from the restaurant.
“I had their pastrami sandwich two days ago, and I have plans to go back there tonight,” Haas said.
Second-year Afro-American studies student Gus Rick, on the other hand, said he does not plan to return to Jerry’s Famous Deli.
“Even if you can eat your food off the floor of that place, I’m not going back there any time soon,” Rick said.
The Department of Public Health is not implementing any new procedures or regulations to prevent this incident from happening again in the future, Bancroft said.
“Jerry’s will have to follow the same procedure (that every other restaurant does),” she said.