← Cleanplate
When it slips

The riskiest month to eat out in LA

The share of inspections that turn up each problem, month by month. Some risks have a season. One doesn't.

less commonmore common
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
pests
17
17
18
23
27
26
28
29
26
17
19
19
temperature
15
15
15
21
21
22
23
25
23
14
14
15
food or gear seized
7
8
9
11
12
12
12
15
13
7
8
8
handwashing
15
15
15
18
21
20
18
18
18
12
14
17

Each cell is the share of that month's inspections that found the problem. Pests, temperature failures, and food or equipment seized as unsanitary all climb through the summer and peak in August. Handwashing violations stay flat all year.

The two risks that actually make people sick, pests and temperature, both ride the heat. It's the same reason your own fridge works harder in August.

These are rates, not raw counts, so the pattern isn't an artifact of the county running more inspections in some months. Every number here comes from the LA County Department of Public Health inspection record. We translate the record; we don't change it. Cleanplate is not affiliated with or endorsed by the county.

More from the data: all Cleanplate findings