A health inspection can be compared to checkup at your health clinic. At your checkup, you may be told that you are in good shape, but you should exercise a little more, lose a few pounds, and eat more fruits and vegetables. In other words, you are basically healthy but could make a few improvements.
Think of a health inspection as the annual checkup a food business. A healthy business can follow correct procedures to safely handle and serve food, and still have room for some improvement.
Even the best businesses can have violations.
You can look up an individual report or view bulk data.
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Look up health inspection reports for food businesses in Minneapolis.
Download bulk health inspection data through the Minneapolis Open Data portal.
Health inspection report lookup bulk data field descriptions
A health inspection report begins with a score of 100. Violation points are subtracted from 100 to determine the final score for a business. Violations receive either zero, two or four points each.
Businesses have a routine inspection every 12, 18 or 24 months. How often a business is inspected depends on the food preparation methods used.
A follow-up inspection is done if a business scored 91 points or lower on their most recent inspection. If a business has an inspection report score of over 91 points, health inspectors have the discretion to do a follow-up inspection on significant issues.
Follow-up inspections will be done within about 14 days after the routine inspection. During follow-up inspections, health inspectors check if violations have been corrected.
The main job of a Health Inspector is to make sure a business is serving safe food. Health Inspectors check how food is received, stored, prepared and cooked. They also check that food safety rules are followed. Some food safety rules are about:
Health inspectors check many other items when doing a health inspection.
Any practices that do not meet Minnesota Food Code or Minneapolis food ordinances are reported as violations. Violations are either Priority 1, Priority 2, or Priority 3.
There are three types of violations.
Priority 1 violations - These violations are given four points each. They are the most serious violations. They can cause food to be unsafe or can cause an injury. Examples are
Priority 2 violations – These violations are given two points each. Priority 2 violations are things that are done to control food safety risk factors. Examples are a handsink without soap or not having a thermometer.
Priority 3 violations – These violations are given zero points. Priority 3 items relate to general cleanliness and maintenance. Examples are broken equipment or dirty floors.
Health Inspectors write orders to the owner or operator to fix the problem that caused the violation.
Some violations must be corrected immediately. Some violations are given more time to be corrected.
These businesses are inspected by state agencies. They are not inspected by the Minneapolis Health Department.
See the MN Food Code glossary (MN Food Code section 4626.0020, 1-201.10 statement of application and listing of terms)
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Minneapolis Health Department
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