Orange County, New York found at least one critical, or “red,” violation in 606 of 2,307 routine restaurant inspections (26.3%) between October 1, 2025 and September 30, 2026, close to the 27.1% rate for the state outside New York City. Two numbers set the county apart: its inspectors cited toxic chemicals stored or labeled where they could reach food in 9.5% of inspections, 2.5 times the state rate, and 44 Orange inspections ended with a red item still open, more than a third of the 113 such inspections statewide.
These are our counts from the New York State Department of Health dataset Food Service Establishment Inspections: Beginning 2005 (rows updated October 22, 2026, inspections through October 16). An Orange County report lists red (critical) and blue (other) items in place of a letter grade or score.
| Orange County, Oct 2025 to Sep 2026 | Result |
|---|---|
| Routine restaurant inspections | 2,307 at 1,274 restaurants |
| At least one red violation | 606 (26.3%); state outside NYC 27.1% |
| Two or more red violations | 10.9%; state 10.6% |
| Toxic chemical item (4A) | 9.5%; state 3.8% |
| Ended with a red still open | 44 inspections (48 items); 113 statewide |
| No violation of any kind | 51.5%; state 24.2% |
| Return visit within 60 days of a red | 82.3% (median 26 days) |
How to look up an Orange County restaurant’s last inspection
The Orange County Department of Health’s Environmental Health division issues food service permits and inspects the places it permits. The reports themselves are published through the state.
- Open Food Service Establishment: Last Inspection and set the County filter to ORANGE.
- Type the restaurant’s name or street into the search box, and use the Municipality column to tell apart places with the same name in different towns.
- Read three counts on the row: critical violations, critical violations not corrected, and noncritical violations. The Violations field names each item.
- For earlier visits, open the full inspection history dataset linked above, filter County to ORANGE and search the restaurant’s NYS Health Operation ID.
For a copy of a report or a permit question, call Environmental Health at (845) 291-2331, 124 Main Street, Goshen. The division’s hours changed to 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on July 6, 2026.
Blank reports in Orange County: 51.5%, twice the state share
Orange County inspections ended with nothing written 51.5% of the time, twice the state share of 24.2%. The difference sits in blue items. Orange inspectors wrote 15A (floors, walls or ceilings dirty or in disrepair) in 6.1% of inspections against 26.2% statewide, and 10B (non-food-contact equipment) in 6.8% against 23.2%. The red rate, the count tied to food-safety risk, stays close to the state average (26.3% against 27.1%). When you compare an Orange restaurant with one in another county, compare red counts rather than blank reports.
Chemical storage (4A) and missing thermometers (2E): the county’s two outliers
Item 4A covers toxic chemicals that are improperly labeled, stored or used so they could contaminate food. Orange inspectors wrote it in 220 inspections, more than any other red item in the county. Item 2E, no accurate thermometer available or used for hot and cold foods, appeared in 71 inspections, and it shows up in most of the open reds: 35 of the 44 inspections that ended with a red still uncorrected included 2E. The likely reason: food at the wrong temperature can be discarded or reheated during the visit, while a missing thermometer is hard to replace before the inspector leaves.
| Red item | Orange County | State outside NYC |
|---|---|---|
| 4A Toxic chemicals stored or labeled where they could contaminate food | 9.5% | 3.8% |
| 5C Cold food left at room temperature | 5.8% | 7.0% |
| 6A Hot food below 140°F | 3.4% | 3.0% |
| 5B Food not cooled by an approved method | 3.3% | 3.7% |
| 2E No accurate food thermometer | 3.1% | 1.9% |
| 1H Food from an unapproved source or spoiled | 2.5% | 3.6% |
| 1D Swollen, leaking or badly dented cans | 2.2% | 1.3% |
Our guide to New York State critical violation codes explains each item and how often it repeats at the next inspection.
Monroe, Crawford and Cornwall versus Goshen and Montgomery
| Town (state listing) | Inspections | Red rate | No violation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monroe | 144 | 37.5% | 43.1% |
| Crawford | 46 | 34.8% | 37.0% |
| Cornwall | 67 | 32.8% | 47.8% |
| Middletown | 187 | 31.6% | 48.7% |
| New Windsor | 136 | 30.1% | 39.7% |
| Wallkill | 266 | 29.7% | 45.9% |
| Highlands | 60 | 28.3% | 46.7% |
| Newburgh | 435 | 28.0% | 49.4% |
| Blooming Grove | 66 | 27.3% | 51.5% |
| Woodbury | 108 | 26.9% | 47.2% |
| Port Jervis | 70 | 21.4% | 67.1% |
| Chester | 92 | 20.7% | 60.9% |
| Warwick | 269 | 20.1% | 54.6% |
| Goshen | 100 | 18.0% | 65.0% |
| Montgomery | 129 | 11.6% | 72.9% |
The table includes towns with 40 or more inspections; rates for the smaller towns can shift several points with a handful of visits. Across the county lines, Rockland County found reds in 31.0% of inspections and Dutchess County in 25.8%.
Two routine visits a year and quick returns after a red
Orange County gave 698 of its 1,274 restaurants two routine inspections during the year, 157 got three and 7 got four or more; 412 had one. After a red, the county came back within 60 days 82.3% of the time, at a median of 26 days, and 72.3% of those return visits found no red. The dataset holds 786 re-inspection records for the county across all permit types in the same period.
A red at one routine inspection was followed by another red at the restaurant’s next routine inspection 37.7% of the time, against 22.2% after an inspection without a red. After two or more reds, the share was 45.1%. Inspections thin out in summer: 65 routine restaurant inspections in July 2026, against 240 in October 2025.
How we counted
We kept routine inspections (type “Inspection”) of permits described as Restaurant, Restaurant/Catering Operation, Tavern or Food Service Establishment, dated October 1, 2025 to September 30, 2026, and counted one inspection per operation per date. A return visit is any later inspection of the same operation within 60 days. The next-inspection comparison uses the next routine inspection through October 16, 2026. The dataset lists active permits, so restaurants that closed during the year drop out. Town names are the Municipality field as the state writes it.
To report a problem at an Orange County restaurant, call Environmental Health or start from the state’s food complaint page, which sends restaurant complaints to the local health department. Our county-by-county comparison for New York outside New York City puts Orange next to the other counties, and what happens after a failed health inspection covers re-inspections and closures.
New York State Department of Health data and Orange County Department of Health pages checked October 25, 2026.