01
Most inspections are routine
Most restaurant inspections in Florida are scheduled routine inspections. Complaint inspections account for a much smaller share of the state's inspection activity.
0
restaurant inspections analyzed
Florida restaurants are inspected thousands of times every year. Most visits are routine. Some begin because a customer, employee or member of the public filed a complaint.
Those complaint inspections uncover more violations and more high-priority problems. But they do not usually end with a restaurant being shut down.
Complaint inspections do not just find
More violations.
02
Complaint inspections uncover more violations
Inspectors recorded an average of 6.35 violations during complaint inspections, compared with 5.21 during routine visits.
03
They also uncover more serious violations
Complaint inspections uncovered an average of 1.31 high-priority violations, compared with 1.01 during routine inspections.
High-priority violations are problems that may directly contribute to foodborne illness or injury.
Before seeing the answer
How much more likely is a complaint inspection to uncover three or more high-priority violations?
04
Multiple serious violations are more common
Nearly one in five complaint inspections uncovered three or more high-priority violations, compared with about one in eight routine inspections.
18.8%
Complaint inspections
13.2%
Routine inspections
But finding violations does not always mean
A restaurant closes.
05
Most complaint inspections end without severe enforcement
Nearly half of complaint inspections ended with no further action. About one in four required a follow-up inspection.
Warnings and administrative complaints were less common. Emergency orders accounted for only a small share of outcomes.
The takeaway
A complaint may trigger the inspection. What inspectors find determines what happens next.
Complaint inspections uncover more violations and are more likely to find several serious problems. Still, most do not lead to the strongest enforcement actions.
Methodology
This analysis examined 681,641 Florida restaurant inspection records and compared routine inspections with full complaint inspections.
The analysis compared total violations, high-priority violations, inspections with at least three high-priority violations and complaint-inspection outcomes.
Source: Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation restaurant inspection records.