Skip to Content
 

Food Sanitation Grading System

The City of Milwaukee Health Department Division of Consumer Environmental Health inspects all restaurants, grocery stores, convenience stores, mobile food trucks, and mobile peddlers at least once a year for compliance with health and sanitation codes. Beginning in 2018, each city licensed food establishment’s annual regulatory food inspection resulted in an A, B, or C grade placard issue to each establishment. Posting of the Sanitation Grade was voluntary in 2018, and mandatory in 2019.

About the Scoring System

Every inspection conducted by MHD health inspectors is based on the 2020 Wisconsin Food Code. Violations fall into three categories: Priority, Priority Foundation, and Core violations.

Under Milwaukee’s Sanitation Grading System, an establishment's annual inspection will continue to be based on the 2020 Wisconsin Food Code, and each food establishment will start with 100 points. Points will be deducted for each violation documented, with point values assigned to the violations based on the Wisconsin Food Code criteria, or health risk, the violation poses to the public:

  • Priority (contributes directly to the elimination, prevention or reduction to an acceptable level, hazards associated with foodborne illness or injury and there is no other provision that more directly controls the hazard.) = 5.0 points
  • Priority Foundation (supports, facilitates, or enables one or more priority items) = 3.0 Points
  • Core Item (usually relates to general sanitation, operational controls, sanitation standard operating procedures, facilities or structures, equipment design, or general maintenance) = 2.0 points

How do these scores become a letter grade?

Milwaukee's Sanitation Grading System assigns a letter grade to the point value earned during an establishment's routine annual inspection. Because good sanitation and health practices need to be practiced every day, the final letter grade will be a weighted average of several inspections to reflect how well a restaurant has performed over time, not just on a single inspection.
 
At the annual routine inspection, a food service establishment's point total will result in a letter grade score following the below criteria:
A = 100-79 points
B = 78- 60 points
C = Below 60 points
Temporarily Closed = Less than 60 points or imminent health hazard. The establishment will re-open after all priority violations have been corrected and the imminent health hazard is eliminated.
 
Food service establishments can earn points back upon re-inspection. Corrected violations will earn points back, provided they were not repeat violations,  based on the Wisconin Food Code violation criteria and point values below:
  Reinspection #1 Reinspection #2 Reinspection #3
Priority 3.0 2.0 1.0
Priority Foundation 1.8 1.2 0.60
Core 1.2 0.80 0.32


The final letter grade assigned to a food service establishment is a weighted average of the previous three inspections. Currently,  the most recent inspection is worth 50% of the letter grade, 35% of the grade is from the last routine inspection, and 15% from routine inspection before. For new operators, the initial routine inspection is 100% of the grade. For a new operator's second routine inspection, the routine inspection accounts for 50% of the final grade, with 50% from the previous inspection. 

Sanitation Grade Posting Requirements

Each food service establishment issued a City of Milwaukee Food Dealer Licence will receive a Milwaukee Sanitation Grade. When a routine inspection results in no violations, a Seal of Excellence will be added to the grade card. The posting of the Sanitation Grade placard is mandatory.
City of Milwaukee Sanitation Grade Placards 2017

Each Milwaukee Sanitation Grade placard will be required to be placed in a visible place on the establishment’s front window, door, or wall or within 5 feet of the front door or other direct entrance from the street. Placards must be 4 to 6 feet above the ground or floor. If an establishment does not have a direct entrance from the street, they must post the grade near its point of entry, where it is clearly visible to passersby. The inspector will help identify an acceptable place.

Resources for Food Establishments

The City of Milwaukee Health Department (MHD) is committed to working with you to protect the health and safety of all local consumers. How can you prepare for an inspection under the Milwaukee Sanitation Grading System?

TALK TO YOUR INSPECTOR. MHD health inspectors can help you implement standards and systems to assure that your establishment meets the best food safety standards on a daily basis. 

CONDUCT A SELF INSPECTION. Use the self-inspection checklists here to conduct your own inspection of your establishment. Download City of Milwaukee Self-Inspection Checklists:
English | Spanish | Chinese | Hmong

REQUEST A CONSULTATION. Any operator can ask for a consultation from their inspector. During a consultation visit, the inspector will help you identify food-safety problems and solutions, and avoid the most common violations. These consultations are educational in nature, you will NOT be graded or fined during this visit. Inspections will be schedueld with the district inspector. For more information or to scheuld a consultaion, contact the City of Milwaukee Health Department at 414-286-3674 or email [email protected] .

For More Information

Questions or comments about the City of Milwaukee Sanitation Grading System, call (414) 286-3674 or email [email protected].

If you have a complaint regarding a food establishment in the City of Milwaukee, please use the form here.