As an agent of the State of Wisconsin, the Rock County Public Health Department permits and inspects over 600 restaurants and more than 200 retail food establishments every year. 

Inspections

Inspections are conducted by Environmental Health Specialists (aka Sanitarians) who are either state certified Registered Sanitarians or nationally certified as Registered Environmental Health Specialists. These professionals ensure the food is safe for public consumption by:

• Conducting risk-based routine inspections on all licensed facilities
• Ordering appropriate corrective actions and conducting compliance inspections
• Training food establishment operators on proper food safety practices
• Investigating food related complaints and food borne illness outbreaks

Inspections focus on identifying risk factors that have been identified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as the contributing factors of foodborne illness or injury. “Risk Factors” include:

• Poor employee health and hygiene
• Food from unsafe sources
• Inadequate cooking
• Improper holding temperatures
• Dirty or contaminated equipment

Inspection Types

• Pre-inspection – an inspection for a new establishment or an existing one under new ownership before opening for business. The goal of the inspection is to ensure the facility has the proper equipment, procedures, & training to ensure food can be served or sold safely.
• Routine Inspection – a thorough risk-based inspection to ensure proper food safety procedures are being practiced. This is accomplished by observing the food flow process, dialogue with the operators, and testing of food and equipment. These are conducted annually within the licensing year.
• Re-inspection – an inspection that is required when risk factor violations are found during the Routine Inspection and could not be corrected onsite or when consecutive violations are found on past inspection reports.
• Follow-up Inspection – an inspection done at the discretion of an inspector to ensure that violations found during the Routine Inspection are corrected. Unlike a Re-Inspection these are not required.

Violation Types

• Priority Items – violations that are known to cause foodborne illnesses. Examples are improper cooking, reheating, cooling, or handwashing. These must be corrected immediately and may trigger a re-inspection.
• Priority Foundation Items – violations that may support, facilitate, or enable a Priority Item. Examples include no soap or towels for handwashing, improper labeling, or failure of a person in charge to properly train employees. Generally, these will be re-evaluated during the next Routine Inspection.
• Core Items – violations that relate to general cleanliness, standard operating procedures, equipment design, or general facility maintenance. Generally, these will be re-evaluated during the next Routine Inspection.

Important Points to Remember

• The inspections and associated reports are only a “snapshot” of the day and time of the inspection.   An inspection may not be representative of the overall, long-term operation of the food establishment. 
• Updates are posted as soon as possible.  However, this site may not reflect corrections of violations identified or new violations that have occurred since the last posted inspection.
• Only inspections conducted during the 2016-2017 fiscal year and later (on or after July 1, 2016) are available for online viewing. This is due to the use of different inspection tracking software being utilized prior to this date.