Almost Paradise: Inside the Hawaii Department of Health Food Safety Branch

The Hawaii Department of Health food safety branch office is unassuming and not at all how I pictured it.

The drive to Aiea, the small neighborhood the department is located in, twists away from the crowded bustle of Honolulu’s city center. The quiet road leading to the branch’s headquarters is lined not with palm trees or ocean views — perhaps a naïve Midwestern fantasy on my part — but chain-link fences and metal signs reading “animal quarantine” (the Hawaii Department of Agriculture is just down the street).

As our car slows to a halt, even our Uber driver turns to QA editor Jason Brill, photographer Alexander Garrett and me and asks, “Are you sure this is the right place?”

Inside, we see a modest training room and a mostly empty office space (the department’s 30 employees have switched to telework). But the small space is immediately enlivened by the wry humor and candid observations of our host, Peter Oshiro, environmental health program manager for the Hawaii DOH food safety branch, who begins by showing us his fantasy football trophy and passing out souvenir Hawaii quarters before settling in to discuss the very real challenges of keeping food safe on a remote island in the middle of the ocean, far from the rest of the country (read our full Q&A with him on page 12).

In talking with Oshiro, it’s quickly apparent that there’s more to Hawaii than its standard representation as paradise, with postcard views and the perfect climate. During his 35-year tenure at the DOH, he’s seen the state’s percentage of imported goods jump to 80%-90%. Gone are the days of thriving pineapple fields and canneries and sprawling sugar cane fields; it’s cheaper to grow elsewhere, and Hawaii’s economy now relies on tourism. The state grapples with the reality of being 2,471 miles from the U.S. mainland and what that means for food security.

Despite these challenges, Oshiro and his team have made headway with enterprising initiatives such as a color-coded restaurant grading system designed to reduce foodborne illness risk factors in restaurants and a mandatory food safety education certification program for food handlers.

His next goal: securing more funding to achieve optimal staffing for inspecting the 6,000 establishments on Oahu.

“What we’re doing is trying to create a positive food safety culture,” he said. “You have to assess yourself and not be afraid of being criticized. Nothing’s perfect, right?”