Food Safety Risk Levels

Risk levels are determined by the types of food preparation that take place, including reheating and hot holding. The risk level assigned to an establishment determines the license fee. Click below to expand the description of Risk Levels in Food Service Operations/Retail Food Establishments.

Level 1

Main concerns are general sanitation, labeling, source of food, storage temperature control, and expiration dates.

Pre-packaged non-TCS foods (temperature control for safety)
Non-potentially hazardous beverages (packaged, fountain, coffee)
Pre-packaged refrigerated and/or frozen potentially hazardous foods
Baby food and baby formula

Level 2

Includes level 1 main concerns plus hand contact and employee health. Permits handling of potentially hazardous foods in situations where there is little or no potential for pathogen growth resulting in foodborne disease should bacteria contamination occur.

Baking of non-TCS food
Manufacturing of confectionary products
Bulk displays of unwrapped non-TCS foods
Re-packaging of non-TCS food prepared elsewhere
Warming of food from a commercially processed hermetically sealed container and immediately handled for retail sale or service
Maintaining hot TCS foods at proper holding temperature until handled for retail or service if it was received at 140 °F or above
Manufacture and bagging of ice for retail sale
The operation only prepares and/or services non-TCS food
Hand dipping of frozen desserts, frozen dessert dispenser
TCS foods received in individual portions and served immediately
Foods, prepackaged in individual portions, received from a licensed food operation or off premise commercial processor and served cold/heated individually and immediately served
Foods received from a licensed food operation or off premise commercial processor in bulk quantities and maintained and served at the same proper temperature as received

Level 3

Includes main concerns of level 1 and 2 plus proper cooking temperatures, proper cooling procedures, proper holding temperatures, contamination issues and/or improper heat treatment in association with longer holding times before consumption, or processing a raw food product to sell as ready-to-eat that requires bacterial load reduction procedures.

Processing of produce for ready-to-eat sale
Cutting or grinding of meat products, slicing of lunch meat
Cook/serve, cook/cool, cook/hot hold, cook/cool/cold hold
Heating of a product from an intact hermetically sealed package and held hot
Cook, cool, add additional raw ingredients, cold hold
Reheat in individual portions only

Level 4

Includes main concerns of level 1, 2, and 3 plus concerns associated with food or ingredients going through several preparation steps where temperature control is needed to preclude bacterial growth; offering as ready-to-eat raw TCS meats, poultry products, fish, or shellfish or foods with these raw TCS items as ingredients; or the use of freezing as a means of parasite destruction.

Cook/cool/reheat/hot hold
Cook/hold/cool/reheat (with or without additional ingredients being added)
Time in lieu of temperature
Freezing of fish to destroy parasites before sale or service in a ready-to-eat form, raw, raw-marinated, partially cooked, or marinated-partially cooked fish
Reheating bulk quantities of leftover TCS foods more than once a week
Transports TCS food as a catering food service operation or commissary food service operation
Serving primarily to a high-risk clientele including immune-compromised or elderly individuals in a facility that provides health care or assisted living
Offers as a menu item raw TCS meats, poultry, fish, or shellfish or foods with these raw TCS items as ingredients