Food Establishment Inspection Reports
Licensed establishment services are temporarily suspended while Public Health Madison & Dane County responds to the increased number of COVID-19 cases in our community. At this time, only hazards that are of imminent danger to health will be investigated. All other licensed establishment pre-inspections, inspections, and complaints are on hold.
If you have an urgent request or complaint that needs immediate attention, please email: health@publichealthmdc.com.
We appreciate your patience and understanding, and ask that you check back in August, 2020 as to the status of our program services.
Wondering how your favorite restaurant handles food safety? Inspection results for local food establishments are available to the public. Reports provide information on the conditions observed by a health inspector at the time of inspection, and may not reflect corrective actions or current condition.
Look up Health Inspection Reports
Food establishments can be permanent, mobile, or seasonal operations and include restaurants, grocery stores, delis, convenience stores, bars, worksite cafeterias, coffee shops, ice cream shops, catering kitchens and private organizations serving the public.
Understanding Health Inspection Reports
Routine Inspection: This is usually an unannounced inspection of a restaurant or retail food store performed at least once per year. A health inspector will perform a risk-based inspection for items such as, food handling, food temperature, personal hygiene and employee illness in the Wisconsin Food Code. In some cases, routine inspections are scheduled to ensure that the proper staff are present for the inspection.
Reinspection: This is an inspection for the specific purpose of following-up on health code violations that were found on the routine inspection.
The inspection report will include the following:
- Restaurant or retail food store name
- Address
- Inspection date
- Type of inspection (i.e. routine or reinspection)
- Wisconsin Food Code number and section
- Health inspector's observations
- Actions were taken/or required to correct the violation
Tools to understand inspections
Understanding Violations
The top five CDC (Center of Disease Control and Prevention) violations that most often are responsible for foodborne illness outbreaks are:
- Improper hot or cold holding temperatures of potentially hazardous food
- Improper cooking temperatures of food
- Dirty and/or contaminated utensils and equipment
- Poor health and hygiene among employees
- Food from unsafe sources
Priority violations are those items that if not done properly, are more likely to lead to foodborne illness. Priority violations must be corrected immediately at the time of inspection or within a few days. If the violation cannot be permanently corrected at the time of inspection, we will perform a reinspection.
Core violations are related to general sanitation and facility maintenance. Examples of core violations include dirty floors and leaking plumbing.
"Repeat" indicates the violation was observed and documented on previous routine inspection reports.
"Corrected Onsite" indicates the violation was corrected during the routine inspection. A reinspection may still be necessary even if the violation was corrected onsite.
Please note when interpreting a report, try not to focus on the number of violations cited, but on the types of violations. Keep in mind that some priority violations may increase the risk for foodborne illness.
We do not score or grade health inspections.