Number of Routine Inspections:
In this example the number of routine inspections conducted since 2008 is 14. 2008 was the first full calendar year of electronic inspections using this software system. Each inspection report can be viewed in the Related Inspection Reports panel below the graph. The inspection report is the same report issued to the food establishment operator at the conclusion of an inspection.
Rank
The arrangement of eleven Key Phrases so that the most common category is ranked #1. Note that not all food establishments will have a Top 5, as some establishments have a simple menu (grocery store or mobile food truck only holding cold foods cold) or have effective managerial control over employee practices and behaviors, i.e. doing a very good job of controlling these violations.
Key Phrases
Key Phrases correspond to sections of the FDA Food Establishment Inspection Report. These sections are categories of food code violations that have a significant impact on public health. They are known as either risk factors that contribute to foodborne illness or as public health interventions to help prevent foodborne illness or injury. To learn about the Key Phrases move your mouse over the lines below.
Preventing Contamination by Hands includes violations such as:
Employees using their bare hands to touch ready-to-eat food;
No soap or hand drying supplies;
Inaccessible hand washing sinks;
Hands not washed when required; or
Not washing hands correctly.
Good Hygienic Practices includes violations such as:
Kitchen employees drinking or eating food while preparing food;
Using a utensil more than once to taste food; or
Food employees working with persistent sneezing, coughing, or runny nose while handling exposed food or clean equipment.
Potentially Hazardous Food (Time/Temperature Control for Safety Food) includes violations such as:
Food held between 42°F-134°F at a long enough time may result in increased numbers of disease-producing organisms (pathogens);
Cooking to temperatures that are too low to destroy pathogens; or
Exceeding time limits allowing a potential increase in pathogen numbers.
Chemical includes violations such as poisonous or toxic materials, chemicals, lubricants, pesticides, medicines, first aid supplies, or other personal care items that are not properly identified, stored or used.
Protection from Contamination includes violations such as:
No separation between raw animal foods and cooked ready-to-eat food (cross-contamination) during preparation or storage;
Food prepared on unclean & un-sanitized surfaces resulting in contamination; or
Inadequate sanitizing of food-contact surfaces.
Other Key Phrases not in this example are Approved Source, Food Service Sanitation Manager Certification (FSSMC), Employee Health, Consumer Advisory, Highly Susceptible Populations, and Conformance with Approved Procedures.
% Out-of-Compliance This term is used to describe the number of times this category had a violation divided by the number of routine inspections.
How is this calculated? E.g. Preventing Contamination by Hands had 10 violations /14 routine inspections = .71 x 100 or 71%.
Can the % exceed 100%? Yes, another food establishment could have 170% from 10 routine inspections which means that it received 17 violations in this category, either spread over the 10 inspections or concentrated in a few inspections; view individual inspection reports for details.
Importance? Fewer Key Phrase categories and lower Out-of-Compliance percentages means managers and employees are better at controlling violations that impact public health.
Rank
Rank is an arrangement of 45 Violation Phrases so that the most common category is ranked #1.
Violation Item #
The Violation Item # refers to a number and interpretation assigned to a rule within the food service sanitation manual, e.g. Item #37 is associated with walls, ceiling, and attached equipment and their construction, repair, and cleanliness.
Violation Phrase
The Violation Phrase corresponds to grouping violations as presented in the Food Service Establishment Inspection Report from the 1976 FDA Food Service Sanitation Manual. These violation phrases and inspection report are still in use, see Food Establishment Inspection Report.
# of Times Out-of-Compliance is a count of the number of rule violations which occurred in this Violation Phrase category.
Why isn’t the Top 5 Foodborne Illness Risk Factors/Public Health Interventions the same as the Top 5 most frequent violations? Often the most frequent violations of the food code are general sanitation, general maintenance of equipment or structure, and equipment design, i.e. they are not violations categorized as risk factors or public health interventions. In this example, the violation for the lack of hand drying facilities (empty paper towel dispensers) was cited and counted 6 times (below the #5 rank of 14 times out-of-compliance).
Importance? The fewer the violations, the better the compliance with the food code.
The food establishment’s graph illustrates the total number of all violations (green), the number of violations known to significantly impact public health (red), and the number of repeated violations cited from the last inspection (blue). Often each individual inspection is regarded as a “snapshot” of the operation so the graph combines each “snapshot” into a “movie” to illustrate trends of compliance.
Related Inspection Reports let you view previous inspection reports by date.
All Violations
Risk Factors/Interventions
Repeat Violations