Data Methodology

Data Sources

All data on FloridaFoodSafety.org comes from official Florida state government sources:

  • Florida DBPR Division of Hotels and Restaurants: Health inspections, violations, emergency closures, and licensing data for food service establishments
  • DBPR Enforcement Records: Disciplinary actions, administrative complaints, fines, and case dispositions from 7 regional enforcement offices

Data Collection

Our automated pipeline collects data from Florida state systems and processes it through several stages:

  1. Record ingestion: Inspection records, violation details, closure orders, disciplinary actions, and fire safety reports are collected from public state data
  2. Validation: Records are checked for completeness and consistency. Duplicates are detected and removed
  3. Enrichment: Facilities are geocoded, assigned to counties and metro areas, linked to prior business names at the same license, and scored for severity
  4. Indexing: Only facilities with documented inspection histories are listed. Facilities with no inspection record, inactive licenses, or permanently closed status are excluded entirely
  5. Publication: Facility pages are served dynamically from live state data. Hub pages for counties, cities, and inspection archives are updated nightly

Active Listings Policy

FloridaFoodSafety.org only lists food service establishments that have an active Florida DBPR license with at least one inspection on record. We do not publish pages for:

  • Establishments with no inspection history
  • Permanently closed or delicensed facilities
  • Historical-only records no longer associated with an operating food service establishment

This policy ensures every page reflects a real, currently inspected food service establishment — not outdated placeholder data.

AI-Assisted Summaries

Some facility pages include an AI-generated overview paragraph. These summaries are:

  • Generated from the facility's inspection data (violations, closures, fines, trends)
  • Reviewed by our editorial team for accuracy and fairness
  • Clearly labeled as "Summary generated from Florida DBPR public inspection records"
  • Never based on opinion, reviews, or non-governmental sources

Florida Inspection System

Inspection Types

  • Routine Inspection: Scheduled food safety evaluation
  • Callback Inspection: Follow-up to verify corrections from prior violations
  • Complaint Investigation: Triggered by public complaints
  • Licensing Inspection: Required before a new or transferred license is issued
  • Administrative Complaint Inspection: Part of a formal enforcement action

Violation Severity

  • High Priority: Violations that pose a direct threat to public health (improper food temperatures, sewage issues, pest infestations)
  • Intermediate: Violations that could contribute to health risks if not corrected
  • Basic: Maintenance, cleanliness, and administrative violations

Emergency Closures

The state may order an immediate closure when inspectors find conditions that pose an imminent threat to public health. Common closure reasons include roach or rodent activity, sewage backups, no running water, and operating without a valid license.

Data Limitations

  • Data reflects official state records at time of collection. Facilities may have corrected violations since their last inspection
  • Inspection timing and publication delays are controlled by state agencies, not by us
  • Some historical records may be incomplete for inspections prior to 2016
  • Fire safety and disciplinary data is sourced from separate state systems and may have different update schedules
  • This information should supplement, not replace, your own judgment

Verification

To verify any data on this site, refer to the official source at MyFloridaLicense.com or contact the DBPR Division of Hotels and Restaurants directly.