Three levels of seriousness
- Public health hazards: the most serious, such as active pests or no hot water. These can lead to immediate closure.
- Critical violations: conditions likely to cause illness, such as improper holding temperatures or cross-contamination.
- General violations: cleanliness and maintenance problems with a less direct link to illness.
How they affect the score
Each violation earns points based on its category and how severe the condition is. One critical violation can be worth 5 or more points, so two or three can push a restaurant past the 13-point A cutoff.
Reading a restaurant page
On each restaurant page we split the latest violations into critical and non-critical, and show the critical points separately, so you can see whether a B grade came from cleanliness problems or from food safety risks.