Public Health Hazard8 pointsFood Temperature & Time (TCS)

02FEggs, meat, fish or other PHF served raw or undercooked

This is raw or undercooked animal food (rare burgers, soft eggs, raw fish, etc.) reaching the guest without the proper consumer advisory. NYC lets a customer order food cooked less, but only when the menu carries the required raw/undercooked warning. Without that advisory, the food must reach its full minimum cook temperature. The inspector checks both what is being served and whether your menu has the advisory. It surfaces as a Critical violation, cited around 8 points.

What the inspector looks for

Watch for eggs, meat, fish, or shellfish sent out raw or undercooked. Unless the customer specifically ordered it that way and was given the menu advisory, it must hit its cook temp. Runny/rare with no advisory = flag it.

Points & grade impact

Cited at 8 points — Cited at 8 (condition IV). Open Data CRITICAL FLAG = Critical. NYC adds every cited violation’s points into one inspection score: 0–13 = A, 1427 = B, 28+ = C.

How to fix it

Cook the food to the required minimum internal temperature for its type unless the customer specifically ordered it cooked less and was given the required advisory.

How to prevent it

Post and follow NYC minimum cook temperatures; use a consumer advisory for any raw/undercooked menu items; verify temperatures with a calibrated thermometer.

  • Print the consumer advisory on the menu for every raw or undercooked item (the asterisk/footnote warning).
  • Cook to full NYC minimums by default; only go lower on a specific customer request that is covered by the advisory.
  • Verify every cooked-to-order temperature with a calibrated probe.
  • Train servers to flag undercooked orders so the kitchen treats them as intentional, not an error.

Reference: Health Code §81.09(c)(8)

Will your kitchen get an A?

Run a free 5-minute self-audit across all 73 NYC violation codes and see your projected letter grade — before the inspector does.

Run a free self-audit

More Food Temperature & Time (TCS) violations

← All NYC violation codes

AA Grade NYC

A Grade NYC is an independent tool built on the NYC Health Code (Ch. 23) and the DOHMH "How We Score and Grade" guidance. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated by the City of New York or the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Projected grades and point values are estimates for self-preparation — always verify against the official DOHMH worksheet.

© 2026 A Grade NYC · for NYC restaurants