You likely will notice a bit of a difference in the reports.

New food service rules and regulations went into effect Dec. 1, which change the manner in which the state Division of Public Health inspects kitchens and hotel rooms.

Now, you not only will see a numerical score for each establishment, but also a letter grade. The new grading system is:

A: Means food safety excellence and is applied to numerical scores of 90 to 100.

B: Means satisfactory compliance and is applied to numerical scores of 80 to 89.

C: Means marginal compliance and is applied to numerical scores of 70 to 79.

U: Means unsatisfactory compliance and is applied to numerical scores of 69 or less.

The change in the grading system also is explained in the narrative listed at the beginning of the kitchen report.

The new system also outlines the frequency that certain establishments are inspected and the exact required placement of the inspection reports, which includes posting them in drive-through windows.

The rules and regulations also can be viewed online at health.state.ga.us/programs/envservices.index.asp.

As always, to register a complaint against a food service establishment, call the Hall County Environmental Health Department at 770-531-3973.