Editorial Standards
InspectFL exists to make Florida restaurant inspection data easier to understand. This page explains what comes from the official public record, what comes from InspectFL, and how we handle sourcing, updates, independence, and corrections.
InspectFL editorial baseline
We are not a government agency. We organize public inspection records, calculate an independent InspectFL Health Score, and publish explanatory reporting so readers can understand the record faster.
Use public records as the base layer
InspectFL is built on public inspection records from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. We do not invent scores, violations, restaurant details, or enforcement history.
Add context, not spin
Our job is to make the record easier to read. We add organization, comparison, scoring, and editorial explanation so people can understand patterns faster — not to sensationalize routine inspections.
Separate official facts from InspectFL interpretation
DBPR is the official source. InspectFL's Health Score, letter grades, summaries, and story framing are our independent interpretation layer. We label that distinction clearly.
Favor recency and patterns over one-off anecdotes
Editorial coverage focuses on repeated issues, strong trends, unusual inspection outcomes, and broader public-interest context. One isolated finding is rarely the whole story.
Correct fast when the record changes
If state data is updated, a restaurant is re-inspected, or we publish something inaccurate, we update the page and note the correction when appropriate.
Never sell score changes
Restaurants cannot pay InspectFL to improve, hide, remove, or edit their score, inspection history, ranking, or editorial treatment.
How content gets made on InspectFL
Most InspectFL pages begin with structured public inspection data. We import, normalize, and organize that data so readers can compare restaurants, cities, counties, and inspection patterns without digging through raw government interfaces.
On top of that public-record layer, we publish original editorial explainers, comparisons, and local summaries. Those pages may include our analysis of trends, recurring issues, enforcement patterns, or why a specific inspection detail matters to diners.
We try to make three things obvious on every trust-sensitive page: who created it, how it was assembled, and why it exists. The goal is not to replace the official record. The goal is to make it usable.
Primary sourcing
- Florida DBPR inspection records and establishment data
- DBPR inspection detail pages and dispositions
- InspectFL's own score calculations based on the public inspection record
- Original editorial analysis written by InspectFL
- Reader-submitted corrections or bug reports that can be verified against the source record
What is official vs. what is InspectFL?
Official: DBPR inspection dates, establishment records, violation codes, dispositions, and enforcement history.
InspectFL: Health Scores, letter grades, comparison tools, summaries, rankings, and editorial framing.
When there is a conflict, the government record wins. If you want the source document, use the linked DBPR record for that restaurant or inspection.
What we don’t do
- We do not perform inspections ourselves.
- We do not accept payment to alter coverage, rankings, or scores.
- We do not publish restaurant-owner personal data unrelated to the public inspection record.
- We do not present InspectFL grades as official government ratings.
- We do not remove factual public-record information simply because it is unfavorable.
Updates, challenges, and corrections
Restaurants, readers, and partners can contact us if they believe something is inaccurate, misleading, outdated, or technically broken. We review correction requests against the source record and update pages when warranted.
If the issue is with the official government record itself, that challenge should go to DBPR. If the issue is with how InspectFL displayed, summarized, linked, or interpreted the record, that should come to us.
Read our Corrections Policy for the public process, or contact us directly if you need to flag something.
