Public Health Inspection Reports
The Needham Public Health Division Environmental Health Unit performs comprehensive routine inspections of all permitted retail food establishments. Routine inspections are usually performed at least twice a year but many times more often, and we focus on ensuring food safety best practices determined by the FDA are being followed to reduce the risk of harm to the public. If violations are found, the establishment is educated about them and is given a timeframe to correct them, the duration of which is based on how risky the violation is to the public. The violations are documented and ordered to be corrected in the form of a standardized inspection report and a follow-up reinspection occurs to confirm that violations are corrected in a timely matter.
To help incentivize food establishments to prioritize and actively manage the operations within their establishments our office has developed a Food Code Enforcement Policy (PDF) as part of our Food Safety Excellence Program.
Copies of all routine inspection and follow-up reinspection reports from September 1, 2024, onwards, are posted on this page. Inspections can be searched for by establishment name or address. These posted reports are slightly altered to make the reports appear cleaner for immediate viewing. If no inspection report is posted, there has yet to be an inspection after September 1, 2024. If you would like a copy of the original full report, you may request that from us during our office hours, or the food establishment that you are dining at must be able to provide you with a copy of their last inspection report upon request as well.
As part of this policy, the NPHD has developed a scoring system to help summarize the level of excellence of the food establishment by deducting points based on the number and level of riskiness of violations found during a routine inspection. This score is posted on the upper right-hand corner of the inspection report along with the number and type of violations found.
If there are questions about the inspection reports or the Food Safety Excellence Program Policy, or if you would like to file a complaint or have a general inquiry, please email our office or call 781-455-7940.