DENVER (KDVR) — If you have dinner plans out, have you ever searched reviews to find the best restaurants or considered how safe your food really is when you check out a new business you’ve never been to?
You are not alone. Did you know that you can actually see food safety inspection information for restaurants in the Denver metro area?
The Department of Public Health and Environment has reports from food safety inspections dating back to June 1, 2000.
How to see the reports
To see the reports, you can search them by going to the restaurant inspection section of the Denver website.
“Restaurant inspections are normally conducted, at minimum, once every six months to every two years, depending on the complexity and risk of the food handling operations. (For example: restaurants that handle food extensively are inspected more frequently than a convenience store that serves pre-packaged foods.)” the City of Denver said on its website.
When you’re on the website, you will be able to type in the name of the restaurant or its address and then you can click search.
What are the different types of violations?
There are two types of violations you might see while looking at reports. The first are critical violations, which are more likely to cause a foodborne illness.
Here are some examples of critical violations, according to the City of Denver:
- Poor temperature control of food
- Hazardous cooking, cooling, refrigeration or unsafe reheating temperatures
The second type of violations you might see are non-critical violations. Here are some examples of those:
- A lack of facility cleanliness and maintenance
- Improper cleaning of equipment and utensils
The non-critical violations are not directly related to the cause of foodborne illness, but if uncorrected, could impede the operation of the restaurant.