You're right - I can say from experience that those health department regs as they apply to restaurants are absolutely necessary. Even the hightest scoring restaurants aren't as clean as your average suburban kitchen.
Care to wager on the laxness of standards in determining the hygiene of shipboard dishwashers?
I was trained as a sanitation inspector while in the USAF. Very few civilian restaurants could stand up to the scrutiny that the military dining halls undergo by the veterinary inspection units. I have a hard time eating at restaurants because of my training, I see way too much.