Environmental Health: Public Use of Restaurant Inspection Reports

The Appleton Health Department has had citizens come in to our office or call and ask about an establishment’s inspection history. The department has also had formal open records requests for this information. In order to provide easier access to these public records, the department wanted to make them accessible on the city web page, in a format that was easy to understand without lending itself to misinterpretation by the user. On the web site, the department provides numbered definitions of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) risk factors, improper practices or procedures that, if left uncorrected, are likely to contribute to foodborne illness. Also provided are definitions of noncritical violations. Users can refer to the definitions to check the types of violations cited for the establishments listed in the Inspection Report Summaries database. The Inspection Report Summaries list the date of inspection and the date that violations were confirmed as resolved.