Bill L. Veach , Director
Division of Hotels and Restaurants
1940 North Monroe Street
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1011
Phone: 850.487.1395
Fax: 850.488.1514
Division of Hotels and Restaurants
Critical Violations
Critical violations are those which, if not corrected, are more likely to directly contribute to food contamination, illness or environmental degradation. Examples of critical violations include poor temperature control of food such as improper cooking, cooling, holding or reheating temperatures. Critical violations are identified by an asterisk (*) next to the violation on the inspection report.
Florida’s Division of Hotels and Restaurants is a national leader in adopting food safety practices of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Conference for Food Protection. In March 2004, the division began identifying foodborne illness risk factors as critical violations due to their significance in contributing to the occurrence of foodborne illness. For more on risk factors and food code interventions, see our DBPR Form HR 5022-089.