Preparing for a health inspection
By Vimal Bhaya, Founder and Lead Systems Architect · Last reviewed 25 October 2026
This is a continuation of Temperature logs and inspections, an 8-part tutorial. You are on part 4 of 8.
You usually will not know the date. Inspections are often unannounced and can happen at any time you are open, so the only real preparation is to run every day as if it were inspection day.
In practice that means three things: food at the right temperatures, with a thermometer to prove it; paperwork the person in charge can put a hand on; and a person in charge who can answer questions about holding, cooling and reheating.
Walk your kitchen once a month with the inspector's own checklist
A self-inspection done the way an inspector does it finds most problems before they do. Many states publish a self-inspection checklist built from their inspection report. Indiana's is a good model, and the FDA's model report lists the same risk factors.
Pick a set day each month. Do it as an inspector would: open every cooler, probe the food, read the logs and ask the person on shift the questions below.
Ten minutes of temperature checks covers the items restaurants miss most
- Cold food in each cooler. Probe the food, not the air. Should read: 41°F (5°C) or colder.
- Hot food on the line. Should read: 135°F (57°C) or hotter.
- The thermometer in each cooler. Should be: in the warmest part, readable, and working.
- Your probe thermometer. Should read: 32°F (0°C) in ice water, within 2°F (1°C).
- Food cooling right now. Should be: down from 135°F to 70°F (57°C to 21°C) within 2 hours of cooking, and to 41°F (5°C) within 6.
- Date marks. Should be: on ready-to-eat TCS food kept more than 24 hours.
- The temperature logs. Should be: complete, with real times and an action next to every bad reading. See how to do temperature logs correctly.
Cold holding is the first item for a reason. FDA found it out of compliance at least once in 62.2% of fast food and 79.8% of full-service restaurants. See what health inspectors look for.
Keep the paperwork where the person in charge can reach it
- The certified food protection manager certificate, current and on site.
- Written procedures, such as the procedure for holding food on time instead of temperature.
- HACCP records, if you work under a HACCP plan.
- Food invoices, for the inspector to check your sources.
- Temperature logs, for as long as your health department asks. See how long to keep temperature logs.
- Training sign-off sheets. See training staff on temperature logs.
Digital readings go into a paper binder as the reading at each check and the highest in between
Some inspectors like to flip through paper. The Food Code only asks that your records are available to them, not that they are on paper, so ask yours first. See digital vs paper temperature logs. If they want a binder, here is how to turn readings taken every few minutes into a log with a check every 2 or 3 hours.
- Pick the check times your plan names, for example every 3 hours from 6 AM to 9 PM.
- Copy the reading nearest each check time, with the time it was taken. That is what a person with a thermometer would have seen.
- Add the highest reading since the last check. This is the number a hand check misses. If it was above 41°F (5°C), write how long it stayed there.
- Write the cause and the action next to any high reading: a defrost, a delivery or a door left open, and what was done about it.
- Have the person in charge sign each day, and keep the sheets for as long as your health department asks. See how long to keep temperature logs.
Vaccine clinics are asked to do the same with their data loggers. CDC's vaccine temperature log says to "check and record the exact min/max temperatures at the start of each workday".
Never use an average, and never delete a high reading. An average smooths a warm hour into a number that looks fine. Deleting a high reading is the digital version of pencil whipping. Write down what caused it instead.
Here is why, on one real night. These are readings taken every 5 minutes in one restaurant's reach-in cooler, between the 9 PM and 6 AM checks:
| What you copy onto the log | What it says |
|---|---|
| The reading at the 6 AM check | 37°F (2.6°C). Looks fine |
| The average of the night's readings | 40°F (4.2°C). Looks fine |
| The highest reading since the 9 PM check | 51°F (10.8°C), just before 11 PM. Above 41°F (5°C) for about 40 minutes |
Copy only the 6 AM reading, or the average, and the log says nothing happened. The highest reading shows the box warmed to 51°F (11°C) and came back down within the hour. Written down with its cause, that is an honest log. A glycol buffer bottle on the sensor makes short rises like this one smaller, because the reading follows the food rather than the air.
TemperatureWise prints this sheet for you. Each box gets a daily sheet with the reading at each check time, the highest reading since the last check, and the time spent above 41°F (5°C). The person in charge adds the cause and the action next to any high reading, and signs.
The person in charge should know six numbers by heart
The inspector can check the person in charge's knowledge by asking questions. These are the numbers they ask about most:
| Question | Answer | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Cold holding | 41°F (5°C) or colder | Food Code 3-501.16 |
| Hot holding | 135°F (57°C) or hotter | Food Code 3-501.16 |
| Cooling | 135°F to 70°F (57°C to 21°C) in 2 hours, and to 41°F (5°C) within 6 | Food Code 3-501.14 |
| Reheating for hot holding | 165°F (74°C) for 15 seconds, within 2 hours | Food Code 3-403.11 |
| Receiving cold food | 41°F (5°C) or colder | Food Code 3-202.11 |
| Freezers | 0°F (-18°C) or colder | USDA FSIS |
On the day, walk with the inspector and fix what you can on the spot
- Walk with them. Hear each finding first-hand and ask how they want it fixed.
- Fix it while they are there. Under the model Food Code, priority and priority foundation items are corrected at the time of the inspection where possible.
- Keep the report. The inspector leaves a copy and asks you to sign that you received it.
Each violation comes with a tag that sets how fast you must fix it
The inspector writes each violation on the report with the rule it breaks. Under the model FDA Food Code, every rule already carries one of three tags, so the inspector does not choose it:
- Priority: controls a hazard directly, such as cold holding, cooking, cooling and handwashing. Fixed on the spot, or within 72 hours.
- Priority foundation: makes a priority item possible, such as an accurate thermometer, training and records. Fixed on the spot, or within 10 calendar days.
- Core: general cleaning, upkeep and the building. Fixed within 90 calendar days.
More on the tags, and how some states print them on the form, in what health inspectors look for.
A violation left unfixed brings a reinspection, then fines or closure
Every health department has its own scoring and its own names, but the steps are similar. Two US examples:
| Place | How the result is shown | If it is not fixed |
|---|---|---|
| New York City | A letter grade from points: A is 0 to 13, B is 14 to 27, C is 28 or more. A public health hazard, such as food held at the wrong temperature, starts at 7 points, a critical violation at 5 and a general one at 2 | A first inspection that is not an A gets an unannounced reinspection, "typically within a month", and that one is graded. A public health hazard not fixed before the inspector leaves can close the restaurant until it is fixed. Upheld violations carry fines, except sanitary violations on a first inspection that scores under 14 points |
| Santa Clara County, California | A green, yellow or red placard, set by the number of major violations, and a score out of 100. Yellow is a conditional pass: major violations found, all corrected during the inspection | Red means closed, until the violations are corrected and a new inspection is done. The first reinspection is free; later ones are billed by the hour |
In Canada, Toronto Public Health works the same way under different names. A significant infraction brings a conditional pass and a reinspection within 24 to 48 hours. Still not fixed at that reinspection, it brings a ticket; still not fixed at the next one, a court summons. A crucial infraction not fixed on the spot can close the premises, and an inspector then visits daily to check it stays closed.
In all three places, the cheapest violation is the one fixed while the inspector is still there.
After the visit, fix the cause, not only the item
A warm cooler on inspection day is rarely a one-off. Read its log for the weeks before, and check the box itself. See the danger zone for what to do with the food, and after a failed inspection for the deadlines, reopening and appeals.
Want inspection day to be a normal day?
TemperatureWise checks your coolers and freezers every 15 minutes, every day, not just the week before an inspection. When a box drifts out of its normal pattern, TemperatureWise emails, then texts and calls up to 3 people per sensor until someone answers. A box that drifts at night gets fixed that night.
For the binder, TemperatureWise prints a daily sheet for each box: the reading at each check time, the highest reading since the last check, and the time spent above 41°F (5°C). Every reading behind it is kept indefinitely.
It does not replace the probe checks of food, cooling and hot holding, or the person in charge's knowledge.