We will begin a series discussing the components of a risked based health inspection report. Traditionally, each health department usually has its own version of a health inspection form. Locations that have risked based inspections tend to have an inspection form based on the Model Food Code's Food Establishment Inspection Report.
The first section of the inspection report is an Administration Section. This section captures the details of the establishment being inspected; i.e., address, date and time of inspection, the purpose of the inspection, the risk category of the establishment, number of violations and maybe a score. Our primary focus will be on the purpose, risk category, and violation count.
The 2013 FDA Food Code defines Risk Category as the designation of risk/priority level for determining frequency of inspection. In essence, the risk category equals the minimum inspection frequency.
There are currently 4 risk categories that an establishment can categorized into:
Risk I-these are establishments that serve or only sell pre-packaged, non-time/temperatures control for safety foods, prepare non-TCS foods or heat only commercially processed TCS foods; i.e., hot dog carts and coffee shops
Risk II-these establishments are limited menu establishments that cook and serve foods immediately with minimal cooling and reheating of a few TCS foods; i.e., Quick Service Restaurants
Risk III- these establishments typically have extensive menus that include cooking, cooling and reheating; i.e., Full Service Restaurants
Risk IV-these establishments serve highly susceptible populations or conduct specialized process (curing or smoking for extended shelf life); i.e., preschools, nursing homes, and hospitals.
The Purpose of Inspection: is the reason why the health inspection is occurring on a given day. Examples of purposes include but are not limited to:
Routine Inspection-regular occurring inspection based on risk category
Re-Inspections-Occurs after a poor routine inspection to verify an establishment is in compliance
Follow-up Inspection-these occur after the routine inspection. Follow-ups are used to verify violations from the routine inspection have been corrected.
Complaint-if the health department receives a complaint from the community an inspection may occur to investigate the complaint.
The last area of discussion in the administration section is the Risk Factor/Intervention Violations or Score. Depending on the health department you may receive a percentage score (90%), a letter grade (B), a rating (Satisfactory), or just a count of the violations received.
Most inspections are public record and the administration section can give the public a quick rundown of the establishment. This could be considered the most important area of the report for a customer. This information in the administration section could help determine if a customer decides to eat.
Next week we will look at begin to take a look at the Foodborne Illness Risk Factors and Public Health Interventions.
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