Restaurant Inspections
The Northeast Colorado Health Department (NCHD) publishes inspection reports for restaurants, fast food operations, cafeterias, grocery stores, convenience stores, and other types of retail food establishments that we have inspected. Inspections are conducted using the Colorado Retail Food Establishment Rules and Regulations which are consistent with national uniform standards designed to safeguard public health by controlling risk factors for foodborne illness.
Our mission is to protect the health of all food service customers. Food safety is particularly important if you are immunocompromised, an older adult, or a preschool aged child. Inspection Reports are only a snapshot of the day and time of the inspection. Please remember, any retail food establishment could have a failure in food safety practices that would lead to foodborne illness, no matter what kind of inspection results or ratings it may have received previously. The following describe the main points addressed during an inspection and the consequences.
PROVISIONS: These are items that being in violation of contributes to risk for foodborne illness or injury, and enforcement of these are vital to safe retail food practices.
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Priority item means a provision in the food code, application of which contributes directly to eliminating, preventing, or reducing hazards associated with foodborne illness or injury, and where no other provision has more direct control over that hazard. These are items with a quantifiable measure to show control of hazards including but not limited to cooking, reheating, cooling, and handwashing.
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Priority Foundation item means a provision in the food code, the purposeful application of which supports, facilitates, and enables one or more Priority items. These foundations include actions, equipment, and procedures by industry management in order to control risk factors that contribute to foodborne illness or injury; including but not limited to personnel training, necessary infrastructure and equipment, documentation or record keeping, labeling, and a Hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP) plan.
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Core items refer to provisions in the food code that relate to general sanitation, operational controls, sanitation standard operating procedures (SSOPs), facilities, structures, equipment design, or general maintenance. These are items not designated as priority foundation or priority but contribute to maintaining control of risk factors for foodborne illness or injury.
SCORING: Each violation is assessed a point value based on the severity of a risk event that is occurring during the inspection, which makes up the risk index score. The risk index score assesses this severity and pervasiveness of each item of concern.
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Pass means the establishment meets fundamental food safety standards. There may be violations in any of the items above described, but some or all of those were corrected during inspection. The risk index range is 0-49 total points.
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Re-Inspection Required means that violations were found that exceeded fundamental food safety standards. Correction may have been made during inspection, but the rating requires reinspection to ensure that basic food safety standards are met. The establishment has higher level of risk with multiple violations in any or all of the items described within the report. The risk index range is 50-109 total points.
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Closed means that significant unsanitary conditions or other imminent health hazards were found. The establishment has multiple violations in any or all of the items described. The facility must cease operations until conditions and violations are corrected. The facility must also receive prior approval from NCHD before reopening. The risk index range is 110+ total points.
FREQUENCY: Establishments are normally scheduled for one to three inspections per year. Factors that determine frequency include:
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The complexity of the menu or food items offered for sale.
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The amount of food made from raw products.
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The amount of food made in advance rather than being cooked to order.
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Whether there has been a suspected or confirmed food-borne illness outbreak or enforcement action.
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Whether the facility passed their previous inspection, or if a re-inspection or a closure was necessary.
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Whether the establishment serves a highly susceptible population.