Many people don’t always think of kitchen cleanliness when dining out. Although a restaurant may have a tidy dining area, the environment behind the scenes can be quite different.

Senior Ashley Barley said, “My family and I would always order take-out from a Thai restaurant near my house; however, the restaurant has recently closed due to five cases of customers complaining about food poisoning after dining at this restaurant.”

Ten thousand restaurants, lunch wagons and food establishments were recently given a new set of food safety rules on Feb. 24.

The state Health Department will be sending food inspectors to introduce the new rules to all vendors.

The last change in Hawaii’s Food and Drug Administration model food code was in 1997. The new rules that Hawaii has recently adopted are already being observed in 90 percent of the U.S.

Stricter regulations include a grading system that mandates food establishments posting results in a public area where customers can easily access them.

Three distinctive colors will classify the cleanliness of eateries. A green placard signals a passing grade, a yellow placard a “conditional pass” and a red placard “closed.”

Sophomore Shajaira Fiesta said, “I think that the FDA is making a huge improvement by setting these new rules. Since my family and I often eat out for dinner, it is reassuring to know that the restaurants we eat at are clean and are considered well qualified by the FDA.”

Food inspectors will be increasing the number of on-site inspections from one inspection every two years to three inspections every year.

Hawaii’s FDA is aiming to lower the violation rate from 70 percent to below 20 percent. With the new regulations, the FDA has hopes to encourage food industry owners to take the specific guidelines seriously and begin improving the cleanliness of their food venues. The FDA will begin to implement and enforce the new rules by June.