Food Inspection Process

Food Establishment Inspection Process

It is the responsibility of the Northern Nevada Public Health (NNPH), Environmental Health Services Division to conduct routine inspections of retail food establishments in Washoe County in order to ensure compliance with the Regulations of The Washoe County District Board of Health Governing Food Establishments (NNPH food regulations). The NNPH food regulations can be found on the Regulations Page.

Standard routine inspections are unannounced inspections conducted at each food establishment at least once per year. The focus of routine compliance inspections is on critical violations.

Critical violations are more likely to contribute to foodborne illness or injury. Examples of critical violations include improper cooking procedures, temperature abuse of food during storage, lack of hygiene and sanitation by food service workers, cross contamination between raw and ready-to-eat foods and foods from unsafe sources. 

Non-critical violations are those violations that do not directly cause foodborne illness, but are important factors in general sanitation and maintenance, operational controls, and facility design.

Download the Food Establishment Inspection Form used by staff when inspecting an establishment and the corresponding Food Establishment Field Inspection Guide which provides a detailed explanation of common violations, and appropriate corrective actions.

Inspection findings may result in a Pass, Conditional Pass, Failed, or Closed status:

	Great job! The food establishment is practicing safe procedures. Fewer than 3 critical violations were observed during the inspection.
	The food establishment has some safety issues that were able to be corrected during that inspection. 3-5 critical violations were observed during the inspection. The facility is able to stay open and a reinspection will occur to verify that all violations have stayed corrected.
	The food establishment has more than 6 critical violations that were able to be corrected during the inspection. The facility is able to stay open and a reinspection will occur to verify all violations have stayed corrected.
	The food establishment has at least one critical violation that can not be corrected during the inspection. The facility must close until all issues are corrected and control over food safety has been regained.

Inspection results can be viewed at www.WashoeEats.com.

If you have any additional questions regarding the new regulations or inspection process, contact The Food Protection Services program at foodSafety@nnph.org.