Focus on food safety helps keep Nashville healthy

As Nashville continues to grow each year, more and more restaurants and dining options continue to open. Ensuring the people who eat at those restaurants can do so without the fear of food-borne illnesses falls to the Food and Public Facilities Program at the Metro Public Health Department. Through rigorous inspections, education and enforcement of sanitation standards, the Food and Public Facilities Program ensures safety at public swimming pools, schools, daycare facilities, hotels, tattoo parlors and organized campgrounds, in addition to restaurants. Inspections are based on a zero to 100-point scale, with violations carrying more risk penalized more harshly than other violations.

In total, the Food and Public Facilities Program inspected more than 7,000 establishments in 2024. That included permits at more than 170 temporary food establishments like fairs and festivals. While inspections end with a score, the focus remains on food safety education and prevention of illnesses. The program regularly offers food safety training courses in English and Spanish, with classes in Arabic also available. The training sessions are free and open to the public, and are an easy way for operators to increase their food safety knowledge and better serve their customers in a healthy, safe manner.

Public health focuses a lot of energy on preventing avoidable illnesses and conditions, something that the Food and Public Facilities team works to do. If an illness tied to a public establishment does occur, the team steps in using their expertise to investigate where that illness might have originated. Throughout this investigative process, additional guidance is offered to the operator of the facility, ensuring further illnesses are avoided. By working collaboratively and professionally with the operator of the facility, better health for the community can be achieved.

Food and Public Facilities Program