Walk your kitchen the way an inspector would, find problems first and fix them before the visit.
Health inspections are unannounced in most places, so the safest approach is to be ready every day. A regular self-inspection turns the inspector’s visit into a routine check.
Rules come from your state and local health department, usually based on a version of the FDA Food Code. Use your local inspection form as the final reference and add any item it covers that this list does not.
21 items. Fill it in on screen or print a copy.
During a Tuesday self-inspection, a manager finds the walk-in at a higher temperature than the code allows and a hand sink blocked by a stack of trays. The trays are moved immediately, food in the walk-in is checked and moved, and a refrigeration technician is booked for the same afternoon.
State and local health departments enforce their adopted version of the FDA Food Code, and priority violations can lead to reinspection fees or closure. A self-inspection in the same format lets a manager find and fix those items before the inspector arrives.
| Restaurant | Lucky Noodle House, Seattle WA |
|---|---|
| Self-inspection | Tue, Apr 7, manager Jun |
| Walk-in | Product at 39 F; thermometer in place |
| Steam table | Broth 152 F, above 135 F minimum |
| Storage | Raw chicken moved below bean sprouts |
| Sanitizer | Quat at 200 ppm, test strip confirmed |
| Corrective | Food handler cards: 1 expired, renewal by Fri |
The raw chicken was stored above a ready-to-eat item and moved during the walk, which is the kind of fix inspectors want to see done on the spot. The expired food handler card gets a firm date because Washington requires cards for food workers.
Weekly is a good base, plus daily line checks.
Those in your state or local food code. Check the current version.
Items most likely to cause illness, such as wrong temperatures or poor handwashing.
Yes, it helps them fix the same issues daily.
Inspectors frequently write up food held at the wrong temperature, poor handwashing or blocked hand sinks, raw meat stored above ready-to-eat food, missing date labels and sanitizer at the wrong strength. Many of these are priority or critical items because they can directly cause illness. A weekly self-inspection focused on these areas catches most of them.
Under the FDA Food Code, cold-held foods that need temperature control must be kept at 41 F or below, so many operators set the walk-in a few degrees colder. Check the product, not just the air, with a calibrated probe. Your state’s adopted code is the final word.
More for the same job
Assign the work in EZTime to an employee, a team or a whole location, ask for photo proof, and get a late alert instead of chasing people. Book a demo if you want a walkthrough.