Data Sources & Attribution
Last updated: June 30, 2026
Every restaurant inspection score that will appear in Inspect My Chef is sourced from official government health agencies. We do not generate, edit, or alter individual inspection findings. We aggregate, refresh, and translate these public records into a single, consistent experience — and we credit each source clearly, as their licenses require.
Standardization & methodology
National rating regimes vary widely — from NYC’s A/B/C letter grades, to the UK’s 0–5 star Food Hygiene Rating, to the Nordic Smiley schemes, to France’s four-tier Alim’confiance, to the Netherlands’ Voldoetsystem. Inspect My Chef will translate each of these into a single 0–100 universal score and letter grade for comparison purposes only. The original government rating, original inspection date, and a direct link to the official source will always be displayed alongside our standardized score, so users can verify the underlying record themselves.
Standardization is a transformative use of openly licensed public data; it does not modify the underlying inspection record.
Sources at launch
Inspect My Chef launches with the following fourteen jurisdictional sources across eleven countries. Additional jurisdictions (New Zealand, more Canadian cities, and further US states) and statewide expansion across all 100 North Carolina counties are on the roadmap.
United States — New York City
NYC Department of Health & Mental Hygiene (DOHMH)
Dataset: DOHMH New York City Restaurant Inspection Results
Licence: NYC OpenData — public domain, free reuse with attribution
A/B/C letter-grade system. Inspections conducted by the Bureau of Food Safety & Community Sanitation.
Visit official source →United States — Chicago
Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH)
Dataset: Food Inspections (Chicago Data Portal)
Licence: Open data — City of Chicago Data Portal (public-domain dedication)
Chicago uses a Pass / Pass with Conditions / Fail result model rather than letter grades. We map Pass → A, Pass with Conditions → B, and Fail → C.
Visit official source →United States — Charlotte / Mecklenburg County, NC
Mecklenburg County Health Department — Environmental Health, in partnership with the NC Department of Health & Human Services
Dataset: NC Public Health Inspections — Food & Lodging (CDP NCENVPBL portal)
Licence: Public records (N.C.G.S. § 132-1 — North Carolina Public Records Law)
100-point sanitation score with letter grades (A 90+, B 80–89.5, C 70–79.5). The CDP NCENVPBL system is the shared statewide platform across all 100 NC counties; Charlotte coverage is the entry point for North Carolina, with statewide expansion on the roadmap.
Visit official source →United States — South Carolina (statewide)
South Carolina Department of Public Health (DPH) — Food Protection
Dataset: Retail Food Establishment Inspections & Posted Grades (statewide)
Licence: Public records (South Carolina Freedom of Information Act, S.C. Code § 30-4)
South Carolina posts an A / B / C grade placard at each establishment, covering all 46 counties statewide. We map each posted letter to the top of its Universal band.
Visit official source →United States — Atlanta / Fulton County, GA
Fulton County Board of Health — Environmental Health Services
Dataset: Food Service Inspection Scores (Georgia DPH inspection model)
Licence: Public records (Georgia Open Records Act, O.C.G.A. § 50-18-70)
Georgia issues a 100-point inspection score with a posted letter grade: A (90–100), B (80–89), C (70–79), and U — Unsatisfactory — below 70. The numeric score passes through directly.
Visit official source →United States — Florida (statewide)
Florida Department of Business & Professional Regulation (DBPR) — Division of Hotels & Restaurants
Dataset: Food Service Inspection Records — DBPR Instant Public Records (all 67 counties)
Licence: Public records (Florida Public Records Act, Fla. Stat. ch. 119)
Florida does not post letter grades; each inspection records a disposition (e.g., 'Inspection Completed – No Further Action', 'Warning Issued', 'Administrative complaint recommended', 'Emergency order recommended'). We map the disposition to the Universal score and always show the original disposition as the native rating.
Visit official source →United Kingdom
Food Standards Agency (FSA)
Dataset: Food Hygiene Rating Scheme (FHRS) — 608,000+ establishments
Licence: Open Government Licence v3.0 (OGL-UK-3.0) — attribution required
0–5 star rating across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Scotland uses Pass / Improvement Required (FHIS).
Visit official source →Canada — Toronto
Toronto Public Health
Dataset: DineSafe — Food Premises Inspections
Licence: Open Government Licence – Toronto — attribution required
Pass / Conditional Pass / Closed system, with itemized infractions.
Visit official source →Australia
NSW Food Authority and participating local councils
Dataset: Scores on Doors (state-by-state participation)
Licence: Public records; varies by state and council
5-star, 4-star, 3-star public display scheme. Coverage and licensing differ across NSW, ACT, and other participating jurisdictions.
Visit official source →Sweden
Livsmedelsverket / municipal food-control authorities (Stockholm, Linköping)
Dataset: Municipal livsmedelskontroll inspection results
Licence: Public records (offentlighetsprincipen) — open reuse
Municipalities publish inspection findings rather than a consumer grade; we derive an A/B/C/F letter from the recorded deviations (avvikelser).
Visit official source →Denmark
Fødevarestyrelsen (Danish Veterinary and Food Administration)
Dataset: Findsmiley.dk — Smiley Scheme
Licence: Public data — open reuse, attribution required
The Smiley Scheme is the international gold standard for restaurant inspection transparency: every food business receives one of four smiley faces based on its most recent inspection report.
Visit official source →Norway
Mattilsynet (Norwegian Food Safety Authority)
Dataset: Smilefjes — Smiley Inspection Scheme
Licence: Norwegian Licence for Open Government Data (NLOD)
Smiley-based public reporting available via Mattilsynet's REST API. Modeled on the Danish Smiley scheme.
Visit official source →Finland
Ruokavirasto (Finnish Food Authority)
Dataset: Oiva — Food Control Inspection Reports
Licence: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0)
Oiva uses a four-tier evaluation (Excellent / Good / To be corrected / Poor) with downloadable inspection PDFs for each establishment.
Visit official source →France
Direction générale de l'Alimentation (DGAL) — Ministère de l'Agriculture et de la Souveraineté alimentaire
Dataset: Alim'confiance — Résultats des contrôles officiels sanitaires
Licence: Licence Ouverte / Open Licence v2.0 (Etalab)
Four-tier rating: Très satisfaisant, Satisfaisant, À améliorer, À corriger de manière urgente. Updated continuously via data.gouv.fr.
Visit official source →Belgium
Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain (FAVV-AFSCA)
Dataset: Operator inspection records and Smiley voluntary scheme
Licence: Public data — open reuse, attribution required
Each operator carries a stable identifier across inspections.
Visit official source →Netherlands
Nederlandse Voedsel- en Warenautoriteit (NVWA)
Dataset: Horeca inspection results — public disclosure (openbaarmaking)
Licence: Public data — Creative Commons Attribution where applicable
Voldoet / Voldoet niet binary plus detailed inspection reports. Coverage expanded to all horeca nationwide between 2020 and 2025.
Visit official source →Trademarks & agency marks
DineSafe™, Scores on Doors™, Findsmiley™, Smilefjes™, Oiva™, Alim’confiance™, and the various Smiley emblems are trademarks or official marks of their respective government agencies. Inspect My Chef references these programs descriptively for source attribution. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any government agency or food safety regulator.
Refresh cadence & accuracy
We refresh source data on a regular cadence and timestamp every score we display. Health inspections change frequently and our copy may briefly lag the issuing agency. Where any inconsistency exists between Inspect My Chef and the official government source, the government source controls. Always confirm sensitive details with the relevant health department directly before making decisions that affect a restaurant’s livelihood or your own health.
Corrections & takedowns
Restaurant operators, government agencies, and members of the public may request corrections or removal of any record they believe is inaccurate, outdated, or misattributed. Email Simtechaffiliate@simtaff.com with the establishment name, location, and the nature of the issue. We will respond within ten (10) business days.
Questions
For licensing, partnership, or methodology questions, contact Simtechaffiliate@simtaff.com.
Inspect My Chef is a product of SimTech Affiliates LLC. This page will be expanded as additional jurisdictions come online and as full mobile and desktop apps launch.