Restaurant Inspection Violation Codes — Plain-English Glossary

Florida DBPR food-service inspection codes grouped by public-health priority. Plain-English explanations come from the current RiskyEats 58-code taxonomy.

HIGH-PRIORITY

1 Approved source
3 TCS/PHF out of temperature
4 Equipment cannot maintain temperature
7 Cross-contamination/segregation
8 Food-contact surfaces clean
10 Handwash sinks/handwashing
11 Bare hand contact
12 Employee health/hygiene
13 Roach activity present
14 Rodent droppings/rub marks
15 Rodent activity present
16 Insects, pests, or animals present
20 Toxic substances identified/stored
21 Water supply/sewage disposal
29 Live shellfish tags/display
41 License expired
42 No license
49 Quarantine
50 Stop Sale
51 Time as a public health control
52 Variance

INT

2 Labeling, date marking, advisory
6 TCS/PHF properly thawed
9 Warewashing facilities/test strips
19 Vending machine/commissary use
22 Plumbing/backflow
31 Food stored in approved location
34 Dishwashing facilities
37 Reuse of single-service articles
53 Food manager certification/employee training

BASIC

5 Thermometers provided/accurate
17 Pest control service
18 Objectionable odors
23 Garbage/refuse disposal
24 Floors/walls/ceilings
25 Lighting
26 Ventilation
27 Dressing rooms/lockers
28 Premises maintained/clean
30 Non-food contact surfaces clean
32 Food protected from contamination
33 Wiping cloths/in-use utensils
35 Utensils/equipment/linens stored
36 Single-service articles
38 Food dispensing utensils
39 Food returned/reservice
40 Food establishment permit
43 Other conditions
44 Other facilities/equipment
45 Other food handling
46 Other
47 No food/activity
48 Public lodging/public food service
54 Florida Clean Indoor Air Act compliance
55 Automatic gratuity notice
56 Copy of Chapter 509 FS available
57 Hospitality Education Program info (info only)
58 Smoke Free (info only)

All Violation Codes

Code	Priority	Label	Plain-English explanation
1	HP	Approved source	Food from an unapproved or unsafe source.
2	INT	Labeling, date marking, advisory	Improperly labeled or dated food containers, making it hard to track safety.
3	HP	TCS/PHF out of temperature	Food stored at unsafe temperatures (too warm or too cold). This allows dangerous bacteria to multiply.
4	HP	Equipment cannot maintain temperature	Refrigeration or hot-holding equipment is broken and cannot keep food safe.
5	BASIC	Thermometers provided/accurate	Missing or inaccurate thermometers in required equipment.
6	INT	TCS/PHF properly thawed	High-risk food (like meat) improperly thawed, promoting bacterial growth.
7	HP	Cross-contamination/segregation	Raw food touching ready-to-eat food or dirty surfaces. This is a high-risk source of contamination.
8	HP	Food-contact surfaces clean	Surfaces that touch food (like cutting boards or prep tables) are dirty or not sanitized.
9	INT	Warewashing facilities/test strips	Dishwashing machine or 3-compartment sink is set up incorrectly, or no test strips are available to check sanitizer levels.
10	HP	Handwash sinks/handwashing	Handsink is blocked, missing, or has no soap or hot water.
11	HP	Bare hand contact	Food workers handling ready-to-eat food with bare hands.
12	HP	Employee health/hygiene	Employee is sick, didn't wash hands properly, or touched food after touching their body.
13	HP	Roach activity present	Roach activity present as evidenced by live roaches found.
14	HP	Rodent droppings/rub marks	Rodent droppings or rub marks found.
15	HP	Rodent activity present	Live rodent activity present.
16	HP	Insects, pests, or animals present	Pests, insects (other than roaches), or animals are present in the kitchen or dining area.
17	BASIC	Pest control service	The building is not protected against pests, or pest control is not being performed.
18	BASIC	Objectionable odors	Objectionable odors are present in the establishment.
19	INT	Vending machine/commissary use	Vending machine or commissary use violation.
20	HP	Toxic substances identified/stored	Chemicals or toxic substances are stored improperly near food.
21	HP	Water supply/sewage disposal	Water is not safe to drink, or sewage is backing up into the kitchen.
22	INT	Plumbing/backflow	Plumbing is in disrepair, or there is a risk of contaminated water flowing back into the clean water supply.
23	BASIC	Garbage/refuse disposal	Garbage cans are overflowing, missing lids, or attracting pests.
24	BASIC	Floors/walls/ceilings	Floors, walls, or ceilings are dirty or in disrepair.
25	BASIC	Lighting	Inadequate lighting or missing light shields in food prep areas.
26	BASIC	Ventilation	Greasy or malfunctioning ventilation hoods.
27	BASIC	Dressing rooms/lockers	Employee personal items are not stored in a designated area away from food.
28	BASIC	Premises maintained/clean	General cleanliness of the establishment is not maintained.
29	HP	Live shellfish tags/display	Shellfish (oysters, clams) are missing proper harvest tags.
30	BASIC	Non-food contact surfaces clean	Non-food surfaces (shelves, counters, handles) are dirty or greasy.
31	INT	Food stored in approved location	Food is not stored in an approved, safe location (e.g., stored on the floor).
32	BASIC	Food protected from contamination	Food is not covered or protected from contamination.
33	BASIC	Wiping cloths/in-use utensils	Dirty wiping cloths are not stored in sanitizer, or in-use utensils are stored improperly.
34	INT	Dishwashing facilities	Dishwashing facilities are not properly set up, supplied, or maintained.
35	BASIC	Utensils/equipment/linens stored	Clean utensils, equipment, or linens are not stored in a clean, protected location.
36	BASIC	Single-service articles	Single-use items (like cups or straws) are stored improperly or reused.
37	INT	Reuse of single-service articles	Reusing single-use items.
38	BASIC	Food dispensing utensils	Improper storage of dispensing utensils (e.g., scoop handle touching food).
39	BASIC	Food returned/reservice	Re-serving unwrapped, ready-to-eat food (like bread or chips) to different customers.
40	BASIC	Food establishment permit	The food establishment permit is not displayed or is expired.
41	HP	License expired	The establishment's license is expired.
42	HP	No license	Operating without a required license.
43	BASIC	Other conditions	Other miscellaneous conditions noted.
44	BASIC	Other facilities/equipment	Other miscellaneous facility or equipment violations.
45	BASIC	Other food handling	Other miscellaneous food handling violations.
46	BASIC	Other	Other miscellaneous violations.
47	BASIC	No food/activity	No food or activity observed at time of inspection.
48	BASIC	Public lodging/public food service	Public lodging/public food service violation.
49	HP	Quarantine	Food is under quarantine.
50	HP	Stop Sale	A stop-sale was issued for food items.
51	HP	Time as a public health control	Food held using time-only (not temperature) is not properly marked or discarded.
52	HP	Variance	A required variance (special permission) for a food process is missing or not being followed.
53	INT	Food manager certification/employee training	Missing or expired Food Manager Certification, or inadequate employee training records.
54	BASIC	Florida Clean Indoor Air Act compliance	Violation of the Florida Clean Indoor Air Act (smoking).
55	BASIC	Automatic gratuity notice	Failure to properly post automatic gratuity notice.
56	BASIC	Copy of Chapter 509 FS available	Copy of the law (Chapter 509 FS) is not available.
57	BASIC	Hospitality Education Program info (info only)	Hospitality Education Program info (info only).
58	BASIC	Smoke Free (info only)	Smoke Free (info only).

Emergency Orders

Emergency Order of Reinstatement (EOR) and Emergency Order of Suspension (EOS) are separate DBPR enforcement events: suspension stops operation; reinstatement records the state allowing operation to resume.

Pre-2013 vs Post-2013 Schema

DBPR adopted the 2009 FDA Food Code in 2013. Before that transition, inspection records used critical and non-critical categories. Post-2013 records use the three-tier HIGH-PRIORITY, INTERMEDIATE, and BASIC structure shown here.

Briefing Section Definitions

The homepage groups restaurants into nine briefing dimensions. Each has a distinct inclusion rule, drawn from DBPR records, Sunbiz registry, and (for closure watch) third-party places signals. Definitions:

Red Alert — Emergency Orders (90d): Restaurants that have been shut down by a DBPR emergency order in the last 90 days. Cards show the EOR-issue date plus the call-back-complied date when DBPR has cleared the reopening; otherwise marked as still under remediation.
Near Miss — High-Priority Citations (30d): Inspections in the last 30 days that posted high-priority violations but were NOT shut down. The near-miss tier — bad enough to write up, not bad enough to close. Excludes anything already in Red Alert.
Chronic Offenders (180-day repeat pattern): Top high-priority violation counts over the trailing 180 days. Ranks how badly a kitchen has been performing across multiple recent visits.
Bad Actors (historical 11-year pattern): Restaurants with systemic 11-year patterns of repeat emergency closures or complaint inspections. The historical view: who keeps showing up on this list year after year.
Closure Watch — Closure Signals: Defunct-detection panel built from up to four independent signals: (1) Google Places businessStatus flips to CLOSED_PERMANENTLY (fastest, days). (2) Foursquare flags closure (date_closed or unresolved flags). (3) DBPR license flips to Inactive or Cancelled (status 45 / 46). (4) Sunbiz dissolves the operating corporation (slowest, the legal end of the entity). A card with all four signals firing is the strongest possible defunct attestation.
Ghost License (180+ days uninspected): Restaurants whose DBPR license is still ACTIVE and whose Sunbiz corporation is still ACTIVE, but the inspector hasn't visited in 180+ days. Per Florida statute 61C-1.002, restaurants should be inspected 1–4 times per year — these are off-cadence and represent regulatory blind spots.
Change of Ownership (30d): DBPR ownership-change records from the last 30 days — "Approve Change Owner Request" actions. New operator on an existing license.
New Licenses (30d): Food-service licenses just issued in the last 30 days. Brand-new restaurants and ownership-change re-licensings. License issuance precedes opening — the briefing distinguishes confirmed-open (Google Places, Foursquare, or Facebook signal) from license-issued-only.
Clean Plates (current quarter): Restaurants with multiple inspections in the current quarter and ZERO high-priority or intermediate violations. The opposite of the rest of the briefing.