The delicate question of enforcement in the case of repeated food service violations: Power in scores

Food service inspectors often encounter the dilemma of a continuing violati on that, by itself, is minor in nature and will not entail punitive consequ ences for the food establishment. The health risk to the public, however, c learly exists. What measures are available to enforcement agencies within t he parameters of existing procedures? Or, as an alternative, what possibili ties are there for structural change? If change is necessary: what would th e optimal strategies be for enhancing the dual functions of environmental h ealth agencies-education and enforcement-in a socially and politically sens itive environment? Borrowing from the field of motivational psychology, the author reasons that a reorientation of the reporting system to a positive ranking, as opposed to a demerit system, has the potential to induce better voluntary compliance.