78,737 Violations. 16,283 Vendors. What the Florida DBPR Data Actually Shows.

We built VMScore on top of the Florida DBPR inspection database. In the process, we analyzed every public inspection record for the state's 16,283 licensed mobile food vendors: 37,417 inspections, 78,737 documented violations, across all 67 counties.

Here is what the data actually shows.

The Headline Number

About 2 in 3 Florida mobile food vendors (10,855 out of 16,283) carry at least one documented violation in their inspection history. That does not mean 67% of trucks are dangerous. It means the majority have at least one documented instance where an inspector found something wrong. Some are minor paperwork issues. Some are live roach infestations. The record does not distinguish between them unless you read it.

Breaking Down 78,737 Violations by Severity

DBPR classifies every violation into one of three severity tiers. The distribution is lopsided toward the less severe end, but the severe end is where the real risk lives.

Basic: 38,083 violations (48%). Housekeeping, signage, storage organization, non-critical maintenance. These do not directly correlate with foodborne illness risk, but they signal operational discipline. A vendor with a wall of basic violations is telling you how they run their kitchen.

Intermediate: 26,999 violations (34%). Equipment maintenance, sanitization practices, training gaps, hot water availability, handwashing setup. These are the violations that become high-priority if they are not corrected. They are early-warning signals for systemic food safety problems.

High priority: 13,655 violations (17%). Time and temperature control, cross-contamination, improper cooling, pest activity, employee hygiene failures. These are the violations that correlate most directly with foodborne illness. 4,866 vendors (about 1 in 3) carry at least one high-priority violation on file.

What the Patterns Show

Violations cluster. The 10,855 vendors with any violation history average 7.3 violations per vendor. But the distribution is not even. The top 10% of offenders account for a disproportionate share of the total. These are the vendors where the same issues appear inspection after inspection.

Recurrence is the tell. 7,781 violations carry the REPEAT VIOLATION flag, meaning the inspector documented the same issue they had documented before. Recurring violations in the same category predict future enforcement action better than total violation count alone.

19,458 warnings. 2,992 administrative complaints. 1,620 failed inspections. The state is actively enforcing. The records exist. The question is whether you read them before you book.

What This Means for You

If you are booking vendors for events and not checking DBPR inspection data, you are not making an informed decision. You are making a guess. And the data says the guess lands on a vendor with violation history about two-thirds of the time.

The records are public. They are available. The question is whether you look at them before booking or find out about them after something happens.

Search any Florida mobile food vendor on VMScore. Full inspection history, risk score, violation breakdown. First report free with code FIRSTFREE. $9.99 per report after that.

Related Resources

Find vendors in Miami, Tampa, Orlando, or any Florida city. Read about what DBPR tracks and why it matters, or see our FAQ for details on how VMScore works.