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Retail Food Establishment Inspections

The Racine Public Health Department acts as an agent for the Department of Agriculture Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP). State Statute 97.41 authorizes DATCP to enter into a written agreement with a local health department to act as an agent for issuing permits, making investigations, and conducting inspections of facilities regulated by DATCP. The Racine Public Health Department is responsible for licensing and inspecting approximately 600 facilities in the City of Racine.

Who Conducts The Inspections You Are About To Review?

Retail Food Establishment inspections in Racine are conducted by Environmental Health Specialists (EHS). These professionals work with facility owners and managers each day to keep food safe from harmful bacteria, viruses, physical hazards and chemical contaminants. Environmental Health Specialists spend time during each inspection discussing the processes and measures taken in a retail food establishment to assure a safe product.

Racine Environmental Health Specialists perform other important services including:

  • Public pool inspections to assure a safe swim environment.
  • Local lodging inspections to assure the public is kept safe from fire, injury hazards and pests.
  • Local tattoo and piercing facility inspections to ensure a safe and hygienic environment.

Retail Food Establishment Inspection:

A person who serves food to the public is required by law to first obtain a license. Licenses are issued following a pre-inspection to confirm compliance with food safety standards and practices.

Routine inspections during subsequent operation of the food service establishment assess the operator's success in ensuring that day-to-day operations are conducted in a safe and sanitary manner. These inspections are generally unannounced.

Risk Based Inspections:

Routine inspections are conducted using a risk-based inspection approach.

The risk-based inspection is conducted using the following process:

  1. Following the making of food products throughout the facility.
  2. Observation and verification of proper food safety practices and procedures.
  3. Discussion and dialogue with food service employees and management.

The inspection is focused on identifying risk factors and good retail practices in addition to providing education and information on proper food safety practices.

Risk factors – improper practices or procedures identified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), through epidemiological data, as the most prevalent contributing factors of foodborne illness or injury. “Risk Factor” includes:

  1. Poor personal hygiene;
  2. Food from unsafe source;
  3. Inadequate cooking;
  4. Improper holding temperatures; and
  5. Contaminated equipment.

Good Retail Practices – the practices or procedures that focus on general sanitation in the food establishment.

If deficiencies are observed during routine inspections, they are described in an inspection report with reference to a relevant section of the Wisconsin Food Code (WFC). Deficiencies that result in immediate health hazards to the general public are corrected immediately.

Keep in mind that an inspection report is a "snapshot" of the day and time the inspection occurred. On any given day, a retail food establishment could have fewer or more violations than noted in the report. An inspection conducted on any given day may not be representative of the overall, long-term operation of an establishment.

Inspection Types

  • Pre-inspection is a type of inspection used for a new establishment or an existing establishment under new ownership. A pre-inspection must be completed before an establishment can be open for business.
  • Routine is a complete risk based inspection covering all items in the Wisconsin Food Code. Routine inspections are conducted annually within the licensing year.
  • Re-inspection is a type of inspection that is required when risk factor violations are noted on the routine inspection report and cannot be corrected onsite or when consecutive violations are noted on past inspection reports. Re-inspections are required to ensure that violations have been corrected.
  • Follow-up Inspection is a type of inspection that is used at the discretion of the inspector to check back with the establishment operator to assure that violations have been corrected following a routine inspection.

INSPECTION REPORTS

Retail Food Establishment Complexity Categories

Complexity categories are used to evaluate the type of potential risk in the food establishment based on the type of food service activities as indicated in the chart below.

Pre-Packaged means a retail food establishment that serves only individually wrapped single food servings that are prepared and packaged off premise by a licensed processor with preparation on the premise limited to heating and serving.

Simple means a retail food establishment, whose point value equals 2.5 or less.

Moderate means a retail food establishment, whose point value is >2.5 - 4.5.

Complex means a retail food establishment, whose point value is >4.5.


Determining Factors for Assigning License Categories Point(s)
A retail food establishment that only sells pre-packaged food or meal items, regardless if the food items are time/temperature controlled for safety food. 0
The retail food establishment does not serve meals and has annual gross food sale receipts less than $25,000. 0.25
The retail food establishment does not serve meals and has annual gross food sale receipts more than $25,000 but not more than $1,000,000. 0.5
The retail food establishment does not serve meals and has annual gross food sale receipts more than $1,000,000 but not more than $5,000,000. 1
The retail food establishment does not serve meals and has annual gross food sale receipts more than $5,000,000.2
The retail food establishment contains a self-service salad or food bar.*1
The retail food establishment handles raw poultry, meat, eggs or seafood.1
The retail food establishment has a variance under 3-502.11 (special processing methods **) or a required HACCP plan under 3-502.12 (reduced oxygen packaging) of ATCP 75 Appendix, Wisconsin Food Code.1
The retail food establishment has approval under 3-301.11 (bare hand contact plan) or 3-501.19 (time as a public health control plan) of ATCP 75 Appendix, Wisconsin Food Code.1
The retail food establishment has a catering operation or processes, packages, or holds customer preordered meals or food items.1
The retail food establishment does cold holding, hot holding, or reheating of time/temperature control for safety foods.1
The retail food establishment prepares TCS food at its location and transports it to be sold, under the wholesale exemption for retail food establishments.1
The retail food establishment has one or more additional areas where food preparation activities occur.1
The retail food establishment specifically prepares or serves food to a population identified as highly susceptible, such as a nursing home or day care.1
The retail food establishment has a customer seating capacity greater than 75, or operates a motor vehicle drive-thru window for food purchase and service.1

* If only “condiments” or other non-meal, ready-to-eat, non TCS foods are offered or displayed for customer self-service, that display does not qualify as a salad or food bar, such as, but not limited to, pickles, onions, non-TCS dessert topping, relishes, garnishes, and bakery items.
** Smoking, curing, using food additives or components for preservation rather than flavor, reduced oxygen packaging, operating a molluscan shellfish life-support system, custom processing, sprouting seeds or beans or any other method as determined by the department to require a variance.
* A retail food establishment that has been ordered closed by a state or local health department or that has caused a foodborne outbreak within the previous licensing year shall be included in the complex category.

Understanding Observations on the Inspection Report

  • Priority Observations are those violations such as improper cooking, reheating, cooling, or hand washing. These violations are known to cause foodborne illnesses. A priority observation is designated with a superscript P (P). Uncorrected priority observations usually result in a re-inspection.
  • Priority Foundation Observations are those violations such as no soap or single use toweling available for hand washing, failure of the person in charge to properly train employees, not maintaining required documentation, labeling or records. These observations support or enable a priority violation and may contribute to a foodborne illness. A priority foundation observation is designated with a superscript Pf (Pf). Priority foundation observations will be reexamined during the next routine inspection.
  • Core Observations are violations that usually relate to general sanitation, operational controls, sanitation standard operating procedures, facilities or structures, equipment design, or general maintenance. They are not designated by a superscript. Core observations will be reexamined during the next routine inspection.