Florida K-12 school food authorities are permitted by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services under FAC Chapter 5K-4. The food safety reference is the FDA Food Code, adopted by reference. Districts that understand the permit, the inspection cadence, and the cold-holding expectations rarely get cited on refrigeration.
FDACS Division of Food Safety permits and inspects K-12 school food service in Florida. University contract foodservice operations (Aramark, Sodexo, Chartwells, Compass at USF, UT, etc.) are typically permitted under DBPR Division of Hotels and Restaurants Chapter 61C-4 because the operator is a commercial restaurant operator.
When a single facility has both — a university with a K-12 charter cafeteria, for example — the regulatory line follows the operator's permit, not the facility.
FAC 5K-4.020 permits food service in public schools. The annual permit covers the kitchen, satellite serving lines, and storage. Permit fees are modest; the audit weight is on inspection.
Permits are tied to the school food authority (typically the district's nutrition services department), not the individual school.
FDA Food Code 3-501.16: TCS food at 41 F or below for cold holding. 3-501.14: cooked-product cooling at 135 F to 70 F in 2 hours, 70 F to 41 F in 4 more hours. 3-403.11: rapid reheat to 165 F.
Florida adopted the 2017 Code with the 2022 supplement effective in 2023. The 41 F cold-holding number is non-negotiable.
FDACS routine inspections at K-12 cafeterias typically run annually with risk-based follow-up. Repeat findings escalate frequency.
Refrigeration-related findings on Tampa Bay K-12: cold-holding above 41 F (most common), missing or illegible records, ice-machine sanitation, dish-room ventilation/condensation. Equipment-condition findings (gasket damage, condenser fouling) typically generate citations rather than emergency orders unless the equipment is actively failing.
Walk-in record current, calibrated probe in the kitchen, gaskets intact, condenser clean, dish-room dry, ice machine sanitized within the documented schedule. The inspector reads the operation in 90 seconds.
A district running ColdSentry continuous monitoring shortens the inspection: the inspector pulls the temperature trend on screen and moves to the next station.
DBPR Chapter 61C-4 inspects restaurants, including university contract foodservice. The same FDA Food Code applies. The forms are different and the regulator is different. A facilities team running a mixed fleet (K-12 plus university contract) needs two records systems aligned to one technical standard.
FrostIQ pulls Florida DBPR food-establishment inspection data for restaurants and university contract foodservice; FDACS inspection records for K-12 are not part of the DBPR feed. ColdSentry and ArcticOS are the right Suncoast tools for K-12 directly.
Hillsborough County Public Schools, Pinellas County Schools, and Pasco County Schools collectively run hundreds of FDACS-permitted cafeterias. District nutrition services departments manage the permits and the records.
Suncoast Cold Systems supports districts with refrigeration service contracts that include continuous monitoring, scheduled PM, and audit-ready records.
FDACS under FAC 5K-4 in almost all cases. University contract foodservice is typically DBPR under Chapter 61C-4 because the operator is a commercial restaurant.
41 F or below per FDA Food Code 3-501.16, adopted by FDACS 5K-4. The previous 45 F threshold was retired with the 2017 Code adoption.
Routine inspections are annual with risk-based follow-up. Repeat findings escalate frequency and may trigger administrative action.
FrostIQ pulls DBPR data, which covers restaurants and most university contract foodservice. K-12 cafeterias are FDACS-permitted, so FDACS records are the right source. ColdSentry continuous monitoring and ArcticOS records are the Suncoast tools that fit K-12 directly.
Suncoast Cold Systems handles exactly this kind of commercial refrigeration issue across Tampa, St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Brandon, Riverview, Temple Terrace, and Wesley Chapel. 24/7 dispatch. Licensed Class A A/C Contractor (FL #CAC1824642), EPA 608 Universal, OSHA 30 Construction.
What 7 CFR 210 actually expects from your refrigeration records.
Where the regulatory line falls for university contract operators.
Six causes ranked when the cafeteria walk-in drifts above 41 F.