In the daytime, tiny feet scamper through the halls of Montrose Child Care Centre as giggles ripple through hallways of the downtown daycare.

But at night, different tiny feet have scampered through the halls over the past few years, according to city inspection records: rodents.

Montrose is among nearly 330 provincially licensed facilities in Toronto that have been cited for health violations in the past three years without the elderly and their families, parents of young children or the sick who eat in those places knowing.

Until a Ryerson School of Journalism/Toronto Star investigation, food inspection records for nursing homes, hospitals, daycares and school cafeterias were never publicly reported.

Parents and families had no easy access to the records, as the information was excluded from Toronto’s 12-year-old DineSafe website that makes public the results of restaurant inspections.

But in June, shortly after the Ryerson/Star investigation, Toronto Public Health changed course and began releasing a two-year history of inspection results online.

“You guys get the credit for pushing us to disclose,” said Toronto Public Health food safety manager Jim Chan. “The questions regarding disclosure of the institutions played a role in this.”

While the information is now moving online gradually, the institutions, which are provincially licensed, will still not be subject to the city bylaw that compels restaurants to post green, yellow or red signs at their entrances indicating their latest inspection results.

The public has to hunt the information online on the DineSafe website.

The city hasn’t shut down any institutional kitchens in recent memory.

“We put our children and our parents and people who are ill in these institutions,” said Canadian food safety expert Doug Powell. “We’ve got captive the most vulnerable people and if there isn’t going to be a high level of food safety there, where will you find it?”

Mansel Griffiths, director of the Canadian Research Institute for Food Safety and a professor in the Department of Food Science at the University of Guelph, said institutional kitchens that breach food safety standards should have their licences withdrawn.

“You can’t say, ‘Well, this is the only place they can eat, so we’ll continue to make them sick.’”

Inspectors have documented 11 food safety violations at Montrose between 2010 and last year, city records show. The first two inspections this year are both listed as “passes” with only minor or immediately corrected deficiencies.

In March 2010, inspectors identified Montrose’s pest-control problem, advising the daycare — near Ossington Ave. and Harbord St. — to professionally exterminate rodents and make a better effort to clean up droppings, city reports show.

Montrose’s pest problem seemed to be addressed by 2011. But by then, a parent contacted Toronto Public Health to complain that the daycare had been without hot water for two days.

Last year, the daycare received three conditional passes — all involving pest control problems — beginning in March when rodents returned, the reports show.

Inspectors can impose conditional pass ratings if they find crucial safety violations, allowing a kitchen to remain operational pending a follow-up inspection within a few days.

An “emergency follow-up” by a pest control company reveals exterminators visited the daycare and “found 10 dead mice on snap traps” on the first and third floors.

Four months later, in July, inspectors noted more rodents, warranting a visit from another pest control company to outfit the room with tamper-resistant bait stations and glue boards. The daycare struggled with pests again in their final 2012 inspection in November, receiving a third conditional pass.

Montrose declined to respond to repeated interview requests and a detailed written request for comment.

Inspection reports for Scarborough long-term care home Bendale Acres reveal a history of pest control problems dating back to at least 2009 when an inspector noted “dead cockroaches . . . under ovens, under cooking range and pot washing area.”

Facilities like Bendale are supposed to be inspected a minimum of three times annually. But repeated problems brought inspectors back for follow-up visits.

Between 2010 and 2013, city records show 11 conditional pass ratings with “failure to provide adequate pest control” as the most common reason listed.

In May, June and July of last year, following the second of two non-food related viral outbreaks, inspection reports continued to show more of the same vermin problems in four consecutive “conditional pass” inspections, including, “live cockroaches (nymphs and adults)” and “cockroach egg on floor under dishwasher.”

Toronto food safety manager Chan said that while Bendale staff did take corrective action, “a more appropriate process should have been implemented by the home such as doing their own inspections daily.”

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

“Toronto Public Health is concerned about inadequate inspection role by the nursing home operator to identify problems on their own.”

Margaret Aerola, Bendale’s administrator, said the 102-resident home has changed its pest control program in recent months and installed new equipment, flooring and surfaces.

“I think it has really increased the vigilance of our building services people. We’ve increased our monitoring to go along with our pest control. I think we’ve seen the benefits of that,” she said. “If you look at the number of people that cross the doorstep and the number of services provided here, yes, it is challenging.”

In an April 22, 2012, inspection, Bendale again received a conditional pass for ongoing pest control, cleanliness and food safety issues. It was upgraded to a pass four days later. Its most recent inspection last week — the first under the new disclosure system — was a “pass” showing only a minor infraction.

“If this is the direction of transparency, certainly we have to be prepared,” said Bendale’s Aerola. “It will keep our vigilance up for sure.”

At SuOn College, a private educational training college near Rexdale, poor food handling jeopardized diner safety.

City inspection records show that in February 2010 inspectors found shrimp, meat and other foods “some sitting in pails” left to thaw unrefrigerated in unsafe temperatures. In the walk-in cooler, reports noted “cooked meat, prepared vegetables, seasoned fish and other foods left uncovered.”

Food temperature problems are considered critical violations because they can lead to the growth of bacteria.

Though the college earned a pass two days later, the food storage and temperature problems were detailed in two more conditional passes in November 2010 and March 2011.

That month, Toronto Public Health slapped the college with three fines totalling $420.

“The inspector felt that the food handler and the operator did not have adequate food safety knowledge to operate,” said Chan.

Another conditional pass came a year later — in March 2012 — for many of the same problems.

An April inspection showed full compliance, said Chan.

Repeated calls and emails to SuOn College for comment were not returned.

From the outside, Briton House retirement home — near Mount Pleasant Rd. and Eglinton Ave. E. — suggests luxury living for seniors. But inspectors, beginning in early 2010, reported that the home’s kitchen has had problems with cleanliness, handling hazardous foods, and a lack of food handler training, resulting in more than 20 infractions during a two-year time frame.

In late March 2010, the home received a conditional pass for violations, including a dishwasher that failed to sanitize dishes at the proper temperature, an out-of-commission hand-washing sink and general uncleanliness. In supplementary notes, the inspector wrote, “judging by the debris and mouse droppings on the floor in this area, this appears to be a long-term arrangement.”

A persistent issue at the Briton House kitchen has been inadequate food handler training.

One inspection report reads: “It is STRONGLY recommended that supervisor(s) complete the food handler certification training, in order to know what the staff are expected to follow and direct them accordingly.”

Upon re-inspection, the kitchen received a pass, but in August 2010, another conditional pass was issued. This time, the home was cited for having “egg salad, tuna salad, meat and cheese sandwiches” improperly stored. The inspector advised the operator to “remove and prevent old food and mouse dropping accumulating.”

In January 2012, the kitchen received two conditional passes within a week. In the first report, the inspector advised proper cleaning of the electric slicer to prevent “accumulations of grease, old food debris, and other crud” and separate storage of raw meats and cooked foods.

During the second, the home was hit with eight infractions, including failure to keep hazardous foods at a safe temperature, and “an abundance of rodent droppings” throughout a kitchen that was littered with ineffective pest traps.

The inspection included a stern rebuke, with the operator advised to bring the kitchen into compliance with food premises regulations or face “significant legal consequences.”

In July 2012, a resident became ill with lab-confirmed salmonella. Inspection records noted a “slight issue with cockroaches.”

Inspections since have showed the issues have been addressed and the home is now operating without violations.

Craig Milne, Briton House’s food service manager, said the facility has always tried to address concerns quickly and has made food-handling certification mandatory for its food staff.

“I truly believe and know that we adopt a best practice procedure in everything we do here. In life there are easier ways but we look at what is the best way to do it.”

He says he supports the city’s decision to make institutional food inspection reports public.

“We are in the business of taking care of people and I think the public has a right to that information.”