If you are checking a Virginia grocery, convenience store or other VDACS-regulated food firm, start at the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Dairy & Foods page and open its Firm Inspections PDF. Read the row’s Extent before its classification: a dated row marked No Inspection is not a completed food inspection, even when its purpose says VISIT. For a restaurant, caterer, hospital or school food service, that same agency page points to the Virginia Department of Health. Restaurant inspections are in VDH records rather than this VDACS document.
VDACS or VDH: which Virginia agency covers the food activity
VDACS describes its Food Safety Program as covering food and dietary supplements made, processed, stored or sold in Virginia. Its retail-food-store explanation names grocery and convenience stores and seafood markets among retail establishments. The Dairy & Foods page separately points restaurant-style food service to VDH. A mixed business may have more than one activity at one address, so use the establishment’s actual operation and permit issuer before choosing a report source. Check each activity at a mixed site separately, since one VDACS row covers its own activity.
The VDACS page provides a firm inventory and a Firm Inspections link. The latter is a PDF activity list rather than a searchable scorecard. It identifies firms by name and address. Use the exact location rather than a chain name; two outlets with similar names can have different regulators and events. If the address is missing from this recent-period file, check the document’s date range and ask the agency about the record you need.
How to read the VDACS Firm Inspections PDF
The checked Firm Inspections PDF covers June–September 2026. Use its field headings as a sequence for asking what an event establishes:
| Read this field | Question to answer | Keep separate |
|---|---|---|
| Inspection Type | Which food program is involved? | Restaurant versus retail assumptions |
| Inspection Date | When was this event recorded? | Conditions on later days |
| Extent | Was an inspection performed, and how broad was it? | An administrative visit |
| Inspection Purpose | Why was the event recorded? | The number of separate visits |
| Classification | What conclusion did the agency assign? | A score or an action order |
On the first page, an actual No Inspection / VISIT row has a blank classification. Another row combines Full Inspection with ROUTINE:FOLLOW-UP. A colon in a purpose code describes one event with a combined purpose; a separate earlier or later event has its own row or record. Match addresses carefully: a familiar firm name elsewhere in the table can identify another branch.
What NAI, VAI and OAI mean in the VDACS legend
The first-page legend describes NAI as substantial compliance; VAI as violations subject to monitoring and possible action if unresolved; and OAI as critical or immediate-risk violations that may support criminal charges. A blank classification denotes a visit without an inspection. An actual enforcement order has its own text and date. Keep the classification and the evidence of action as separate entries in your notes.
For a row marked VAI or OAI, ask what the underlying inspection documented and whether a separate action or follow-up record exists. For an NAI row, ask the same question if you need item-level detail: substantial compliance describes what that inspection covered. For a blank classification, first check Extent and record a visit without an inspection as just that, separate from NAI. The general inspection-report guide can help you read a full item-level document once obtained, since the VDACS PDF lists events without the findings.
What to give VDACS when you request a record
When contacting VDACS, provide the firm’s exact address, the date shown, its Inspection Type, Extent and Purpose, and say whether you want the full inspection, a complaint record, a follow-up or an action document. That is more precise than asking for “the score,” since the table uses classifications. If you are investigating a restaurant in Virginia Beach, begin with the Virginia Beach restaurant-inspection route instead; the VDH-versus-VDACS split determines who holds the relevant record.
This table answers a narrow question: which VDACS food-firm events and classifications appear for the PDF’s stated period? A future PDF may cover another date range or revise a row, so cite the version and access date when you save a result.
VDACS Dairy & Foods, retail food stores page and June–September 2026 Firm Inspections PDF checked October 16, 2026.