Food Protection Trends - November/December 2022 - 443

Most frequent food safety violations
The five most frequent food safety violations per category
(critical, serious, and minor) were identified by summing the
10-year total for each violation. The most common critical
violations were management and employee food safety
knowledge (n = 601), facilities to maintain proper storage
temperature (n = 358), potentially hazardous food exceeding
temperature during preparation (n = 274), adequate hand
washing sinks (n = 251), and procedures for responding to
vomit and diarrhea (n = 115). The most common serious
violations were evidence of rodents or insects (n = 1,199),
adequate dish washing facilities (n = 496), outside waste and
grease trap stored and sealed properly (n = 375), certified
food manager on site (n = 320), and toilet room clean and
supplied (n = 163). The most common minor violations were
walls, ceilings, and attached equipment clean (n = 5,570),
ventilation clean (n = 4,930), flooring clean (n = 4,846),
food- and non food-contact surfaces clean (n = 3,050),
and premises maintained and litter free (n = 2,697). Table
4 provides details for the five most frequent violations per
category by year.
Least frequent food safety violations
The five least frequent food safety violations per category
(critical, serious, and minor) were also identified by
summing the 10-year total for each violation. The least
common critical violations were proper eating, drinking,
tasting, or tobacco use (n = 3), wash and rinse water clean
and proper temperature (n = 7), water source safe, hot
and cold, and under city pressure (n = 8), source of crosscontamination
controlled (n = 11), and person in charge
present and performs duties (n = 32). The least common
serious violations were adequate number of inside trash
containers (n = 1), toxic items properly stored and labeled
(n = 8), proper disposal of previously served food (n =
20), food-contact surfaces cleaned and sanitized (n = 20),
and inspection report summary displayed and visible to all
customers (n = 25). The least common minor violations
were only authorized personnel in food preparation areas
(n = 54), contamination prevented during food display (n =
77), ice dispenser clean (n = 96), food in original container
properly labeled (n = 226), and refrigeration and metal stem
thermometers provided (n = 510). Table 5 provides details
for the five least common violations per category by year.
DISCUSSION
All foodservice establishments are inspected for proper
food safety practices, and the goal of these inspections is
to ensure safe food handling and to identify deficits. The
foodservice establishments most common inspected are
restaurants, and these inspections are important for ensuring
the safety of customers. In the present study, the " customers "
were elementary and high school students, who are more
vulnerable to foodborne illnesses due to lower body mass
and lack of control over food preparation (9). Thus, vigilant
food handling practices are paramount for ensuring student
safety. Food safety inspections in school foodservice are
important for identifying violations and developing targeted
interventions (18). The aim of this study was to analyze food
safety violation trends between 2010 and 2019 in a large
urban school system to explore research and educational
opportunities.
Over the 10-year period covered by the study, over 20%
of the nearly 12,000 inspections were identified as failures.
Common reasons for a school food service to fail a food
safety inspection are lack of temperature controls, major
rodent or insect infestations, and lack of cleaning facilities
and equipment (7). The identification of and corrective
actions for these critical violations are crucial for ensuring
safe food handling practices. Identification of these types
of violations also is important for educating food handling
employees and directors. Seiver and Hatfield (30) detailed
the importance of health inspections for educating and
increasing the awareness of restaurant employees, thus
encouraging them to comply with proper food safety
practices. The results of the present study revealed a slight
downward trend in the number of overall violations per
inspection over the 10-year period, predominantly due to the
decrease in minor violation citations in later years.
The CDPH (7) has identified three types of food violations
that can be detected in an inspection: critical violations,
serious violations, and minor violations. Over the 10-year
study period, 9.0% of all violations were identified as critical.
This percentage is consistent with previous research in
school foodservice settings (18). Critical violations pose
an imminent threat to food safety and must be corrected
immediately. Examples of these violations are (i) inadequate
storage temperatures, (ii) inappropriate food handling
practices, (iii) improper personal hygiene, (iv) major rodent
and/or insect infestation, and (v) lack of hot running water.
In the present study, the five critical violations most often
cited over the 10-year period were lack of manager and
employee food safety knowledge, improper temperature
controls, lack of hand washing sinks, and lack of written
cleaning procedures. These findings are consistent with
previous food safety inspection research, in which recurrent
violations were associated with critical aspects of food
holding temperature, hygiene practices, sanitization, and
hygiene facilities (26). Lee and Lui (18) identified improper
temperatures and management and personnel knowledge as
among the five most common critical violations.
Although overall food safety violations trended downward
over the 10-year period, the majority of the critical violations
trended upward during this same period, meaning the
number of these violations increased yearly. Thus, the
current training practices and interventions in use have not
been effective for reducing these critical violations. Lack
of management and employee food safety knowledge was
November/December Food Protection Trends 443
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