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Not the FDA — at least, not directly. The FDA publishes the Food Code as a model, and inspection authority sits with state and local agencies: state health or agriculture departments, county and city health departments. Which one shows up at your counter depends on where you are. Here's how the system fits together, and how to find yours.
Sources checked 2026-07-17 · your local authority always has the final say.
US inspections · how authority works
Every state page on this site links that state's verified food-service program directly.
The FDA Food Code is best-practice model regulation — it becomes enforceable only as each state (sometimes each county or city) adopts a version of it, often with amendments. The FDA tracks adoption, but it does not inspect your cafe: retail food service oversight belongs to state and local government.
That's why the practical question is never 'what does the FDA require' but 'what does my adopted code require, and who enforces it here'. Two cafes across a state line can face different rules built on the same model.
Depending on the state, retail food inspection is run by the state health department, the state agriculture department, or delegated to county and city health departments — and several big jurisdictions run their own programs entirely. Permits, plan reviews and routine inspections all flow from that same authority.
Rather than generalise, we keep it specific: every state page on this site names that state's regulating agency and links its official program — each link individually verified. Find your state below and you'll find your inspector's employer.
Wherever you are, inspections centre on the CDC's five risk factors: food from unsafe sources, inadequate cooking, improper holding temperatures, contaminated equipment, and poor personal hygiene. A person in charge who can answer food safety questions is itself a Food Code expectation.
Records aren't scored the UK way, but °F temperature logs with corrective actions are how a cafe demonstrates active managerial control — and they're exactly what ProCafe's US defaults capture.
Common questions
Not routinely — the FDA publishes the model Food Code and oversees interstate food manufacturing, but retail food service (restaurants, cafes) is inspected by state and local agencies under the state's adopted version of the code.
Start from your state: each state page on this site names the regulating agency and links its official program directly. In many states your county or city health department issues the permit and performs the inspections under that program.
No — each state adopts its own edition, often with amendments, and adoption years differ. The model numbers (41°F cold holding, 135°F hot holding) are the right starting point, but your state's adopted edition controls.
Keep going
Links verified 2026-07-17. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we'll correct it.
More guides: FDA Food Code basics
ProCafe turns these checks into clean, time-stamped records on your team's phones — organised by site and ready to show at an inspection.
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