Inspection Services

The Division of Public Health issues permits to over 3,300 food establishments. A food establishment is an operation that stores, prepares, packages, serves, vends or otherwise provides food for human consumption. This can include take-out counters in grocery stores. These operations are inspected on a regular basis to monitor for compliance with the State of Delaware Food Code, a national model endorsed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The Food Code applies scientific requirements from the U.S. Public Health Services to assist facilities in developing active managerial control. This approach identifies the risk factors and key interventions most likely to impact the operation's ability to deliver safe food to the consumer, and then reduces the risk of food borne illness through timely corrective action. Food establishments using active managerial control provide a safer product to consumers by establishing methods to control risks associated with:

• Unsafe food sources - such as food not processed by a regulated, inspected plant
• Inadequate cooking - such as food not cooked to the required temperature
• Improper holding - such as food not kept hot or cold enough before being served
• Contaminated equipment - such as not sanitizing food contact surfaces
• Poor personal hygiene - such as food workers not properly washing their hands

To obtain information about a food establishment through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), please follow this link to the Request for information form .

Food Establishment Inspection Reports

To find out more about food establishment inspection reports, please follow this link to the Food Establishment Inspection Reports page. See the link at the bottom of the page to visit the searchable database that is updated on a weekly basis.

More Information

For more information, please contact the Office of Food Protection.