It's not something you want to think about while you're sitting down for a meal at your favorite spot.
But, that restaurant could be under investigation for violations that concern your health.
"Our 282 environmental health specialists conducted over 60,000 food inspections last year," said Kristin Clay, with the Office of Environmental Health Services.
Clay explains there are three types of violations including priority violations, priority foundation violations, and core violations.
For example, chicken salad that can contribute directly to food borne illness. If that chicken salad were 60 degrees, it could increase the chances of bacteria to grow on it and it could make someone sick, that's a priority violation.
What made the chicken salad warm, like not putting it in the fridge or a broken cooler, would be a priority foundation violation.
Then a core violation would be general sanitation; making sure there are sinks available for hand-washing, proper sewage disposal, and an available water source.
A priority violation is supposed to be fixed within 10 days and a priority foundation violation should be fixed within three days.
Click HERE for a list of restaurants checked in Roanoke, Lynchburg and Danville from ABC-13 WSET.