The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) today proudly celebrates World Food Safety Day, which brings awareness and support to manage foodborne risks, and helps to improve human health.
“Ensuring the safety of food for our residents and visitors is an important public health priority, and DBPR continuously improves our inspection processes to catch risk factors for foodborne illnesses before people get sick,” said DBPR Secretary Melanie S. Griffin. “Thanks to the high quality and detailed inspection practices of the DBPR Division of Hotels and Restaurants, the state has seen a reduction of more than 80% in suspected or confirmed foodborne illness outbreaks over the past 25 years.”
The DBPR Division of Hotels and Restaurants licenses more than 63,000 public food service establishments in Florida including food trucks, vending machines, hot dog carts, caterers, culinary education programs, theme park food carts and restaurants.
Each public food service establishment regulated by DBPR is required to have between one and four unannounced inspections each year to ensure compliance with all state sanitation and safety laws.
Since the beginning of the 2022-23 fiscal year, DBPR has:
- Conducted more than 117,900 inspections at public food service establishments across the state;
- Cited approximately 642,700 observed food safety or sanitation violations; and
- Investigated more than 13,800 complaints regarding public food service establishments.
To verify a public food service establishment’s DBPR license, view an establishment’s inspection history or to file a consumer or foodborne illness complaint, visit the DBPR website at MyFloridaLicense.com.
