Food Safety

Denver is the host to over 4,000 food businesses. These businesses include restaurants, bars, convenience stores, bakeries, dairies, grocery stores, and much more. The Food Safety Program is designed to reduce the incidence of food-borne disease, commonly called food poisoning, through inspection of food businesses, education of those working with food, investigation of complaints, enforcement of regulations that affect the safety of food, and education of consumers about food safety. 

At a minimum, full service restaurants are inspected twice per year, most delis and fast food restaurants are inspected annually, and facilities with very limited food options - such as bars and convenience stores - are inspected once every 18 months. Facilities receive additional regulatory visits when re-inspections are required or complaint investigations are conducted. For information about applying for a variance to the regulations, view the DDPHE Board's rules.

• Denver Food Establishment Regulations
• Denver Revised Municipal Code, Chapter 23
• Food Labeling-Guide