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Food Hygiene Program
The Department of Health's Food Hygiene Program is designed to reduce the occurrences of foodborne illness (often referred to as food poisoning). This is done through the education of food workers and the general public and the routine inspection of food service operations that are under the jurisdiction of the Department of Health.
Those operations that are under the Department of Health's jurisdiction include food service operations located in institutional settings (such as schools, assisted living facilities, and detention facilities), civic and fraternal organizations, theaters (that limit their menu to drinks, candy, popcorn, hotdogs, and nachos), bars and lounges that don't prepare food, and churches that serve the public. Applications are received and inspections are performed by the local health departments
Get Information On
Opening a Business:
Restaurant, Mobile Food Vehicle, or Caterer
Grocery Store, Convenience Store, or Food Processor
Institution Such As A School, Hospital,
Assisted Living Facilities, or Jail.
Bars not preparing food, Civic or Fraternal Organizations.
Food Manager Certification
About Food Manger Certification. What one is and how to become one.
Online Food Hygiene Training Manual
Learn about proper food handling and storage.
Make A Complaint About a Business:
Restaurant, Mobile Food Vehicle, or Caterer
Grocery Store, Convenience Store, or Food Processor
Institution Such As A School, Assisted
Living Facility, or Jail
Bars not preparing food, Civic or Fraternal Organizations |
Breaking News
As of July 1, 2010, the Department of Health no longer has food regulatory
authority in hospitals, nursing homes, child care facilities, and churches and
other not-for-profit religious organizations
If you are a mobile food unit or caterer that uses a church or other not for
profit religious organization commissary, you may be required to secure another
commissary; contact your local health departments immediately. Read the
information about food service regulation in hospitals or nursing homes
here.
Did you Know?
Most Restaurants in our state are regulated by the
Department of Business and Professional Regulation. You can contact them at 850-487-1395.
Most Grocery stores and convenience stores in our state are regulated by the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. You can contact them at 850-245-5520.
Please Note: None of the state or federal food regulatory agencies
allow you to operate a food operation from your home.
Personnel Hygiene (hand washing) is the number one cause of food borne outbreaks in our state. The local health departments have lots of flyers/posters/presentations on the importance of hand washing.
The Department of Health regulates food service establishments as defined by
s. 381.0072, Florida Statute. Generally this includes food service
operations located in institutional settings (such as schools, assisted living
facilities, detention facilities, adult day cares, etc.), civic and fraternal organizations, bars and
lounges that don't prepare foods, and theaters that limit their food service to
items customarily served at theaters (such as beverages, pop corn, hot dogs and
nachos). Establishments are regulated under
Chapter 64E-11
(192 KB Pdf), Florida Administrative Code.
Even though there are multiple food safety regulatory agencies, a food operation is typically regulated by only one of those agencies.
Frequently Asked Questions
Please read before you call. You may find
answers to your question
here.
The Department of Health's (DOH) Food Hygiene
Inspection Program is risk-based. This means that
those facilities that
pose a greater risk to the public becoming sick from
consuming their product are inspected more often
than those that pose a
lesser risk. The amount of risk is determined by
risk factors. These risk factors include the types
of food served, the amount
of preparation that is required, the population that
is served, and the quantity of food that is
prepared. Considering these types
of factors are consistent with recommendation from
the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. In fact,
Annex 5 of the 2005
version of the FDA Model Food Code is devoted to
conducting risk-based inspections. High risk
facilities are inspected quarterly,
which means 4 times per year (or 3 times for schools
that close for summer vacation). Moderate risk
facilities are inspected
semiannually, which means 2 times per year. Low risk
facilities are inspected once per year.
Here are some examples:
|
Types of Facilities and Food
Preparations |
Number of Inspections per year |
| A school that prepares their own food |
4 |
|
A school that prepares their own food, but is opened for 9 months or
less |
3 |
| A school that receives catered meals
and does not keep leftovers |
2 |
| A childcare center that only serves
prepackaged items |
2 |
| A detention facility that receives
catered meals, does not keep any food items overnight, nor does any
dishwashing |
1 |
Inspections are performed at the County Health Department (CHD) level by the
Environmental Health section. Each CHDs
Environmental Health section is responsible for all DOH-regulated food service
establishments located within their county.
There are several types of inspections that are performed. The types of
inspections that you may see in this report are routine
inspections, re-inspections, and complaint inspections. Routine inspections are
periodic inspections that are performed as a
part of the on-going regulatory system. Re-inspections are completed when a
facility has violations that require corrections in
more than the standard time frame. Complaint inspections are performed in
response to a citizens complaint. Both routine
and complaint inspections are unannounced inspections. This means there is no
prior notice or pre-arranged time frame
before the inspector arrives. If a re-inspection is required, the facility is
given a specific date by which specified violations must
be corrected; therefore, there is an arranged time for the re-visit.
Once an inspector completes an inspection it is given a result of Satisfactory,
Unsatisfactory, or Incomplete. "Satisfactory"
means that there were no observed violations at the time of inspection or the
violations that were observed were not significant
enough to require correction before the next routine inspection.
"Unsatisfactory" means that the violations were a significant
threat to public health and sanitation and require correction before the next
routine inspection. An "Incomplete" inspection
means that the inspection was interrupted and the inspector had to leave before
completing the inspection.
If you would like to review a copy of a facility inspection report, please
contact the facility operator or the local county health
department (some county health departments may charge a record request fee for
this service).
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