Who inspects commercial kitchens in San Benito County?

San Benito County Health and Human Services Agency, Public and Environmental Services, Environmental Health Department is the food safety authority for San Benito County. Reach them at (831) 636-4035. California Retail Food Code (CRFC) provides the statutory base; the agency conducts inspections and documents findings through narrative violation reports.

How are inspection results communicated in San Benito County?

San Benito County Health and Human Services Agency, Public and Environmental Services, Environmental Health Department documents inspections through narrative violation reports; no letter grade or numeric score is assigned. Results are available to the public through the agency's published portals.

Who enforces fire and hood-cleaning rules in San Benito County?

Unknown - likely San Benito County Fire Department or local fire districts is the fire authority having jurisdiction (AHJ). They enforce 2025 CFC and NFPA 96 (2021 edition) for commercial kitchen exhaust. Hood cleaning default frequency: quarterly.

What fire code edition applies in San Benito County?

2025 CFC is the adopted edition. NFPA 96 (2021) governs commercial kitchen exhaust systems. Local amendments: none recorded.

Where can I verify San Benito County inspection records?

Primary source: https://hhsa.sanbenitocountyca.gov/environmental-health-2-2/. EvidLY ScoreTable mirrors the latest jurisdiction-published results at https://www.getevidly.com/scoretable/california/san-benito.

California Jurisdiction

San Benito County commercial kitchen compliance

California's 45th-largest county by commercial kitchen population. San Benito County Health and Human Services Agency, Public and Environmental Services, Environmental Health Department is the authority. Here's the methodology, the thresholds, and the fire code overlay.

Authority chain

San Benito County → San Benito County Health and Human Services Agency, Public and Environmental Services, Environmental Health Department → California Retail Food Code

San Benito County is a smaller California jurisdiction. Inspection volume is lower than the metro counties, but the statutory framework — California Retail Food Code — is identical. The jurisdiction oversees approximately 300 permitted food facilities. The county seat is Hollister. Hollister Fire: (831) 636-4380. Small county with limited commercial kitchen volume.

Standard 01

Food Safety

Authority

San Benito County Health and Human Services Agency, Public and Environmental Services, Environmental Health Department

Phone: (831) 636-4035
Website: hhsa.sanbenitocountyca.gov/environmental-health-2-2
Scoring type: None
Grading type: None
Permitted facilities: ~300
Office: 351 Tres Pinos Rd C-1, Hollister, CA 95023

Methodology

San Benito County operates a CalCode-only retail food safety program through the Environmental Health Department, which sits within the Public and Environmental Services Division of the Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA). Triple-layered department hierarchy. No local placard ordinance, no letter grade system, no numeric scoring overlay, no rating tier. Direct fetch of canonical EH page confirms no public-facing inspection portal -- records-request floor tier within the violations-list-only family. 8 EH oversight areas enumerated: Consumer Protection (Food Facilities), Hazardous Materials (USTs, CalARP, CERS), Land Use (Planning and Building Projects), On-Site Wastewater Treatment Systems, Drinking Water (Water Systems), Body Art (Tattoos, Permanent Cosmetics, Body Piercing), Recreational Water (Commercial Swimming Pools and Spas), Vector Control. Distinctive operational apparatus: daily Mobile Truck Inspection window from 8am-9am Monday-Friday (different model from Madera's annual concentrated December event or Stanislaus's office-based MFF model). Animal control reverse delegation: "San Benito Contracts with the City of Hollister Animal Control to provide services to the unincorporated area of the County" -- county contracts OUT to city, atypical relative to most CA county Animal Services consolidations. EH Manager: Darryl Wong, REHS.

Inspection results published by the agency are mirrored at San Benito County on ScoreTable.

Primary source

Direct web_fetch of https://hhsa.sanbenitocountyca.gov/environmental-health-2-2/ -- complete content verification this session including triple-layered department hierarchy (EH within Public and Environmental Services within HHSA), EH Manager Darryl Wong REHS, 8 EH oversight areas verbatim, daily Mobile Truck Inspection window 8-9am M-F verbatim, animal control reverse delegation to City of Hollister verbatim quote, 21 operator-facing documents organized by 6 categories including 2 Spanish-language variants and MHKO application, contact details (351 Tres Pinos Rd C-1 Hollister CA 95023, (831) 636-4035, fax (831) 636-4037, Environmentalhealth@sanbenitocountyca.gov, M-F 8am-5pm), HHSA main building 1111 San Felipe Road Hollister, City of Hollister Animal Control phone (831) 636-4320, payment apparatus (credit cards 2.25% fee + e-checks $1.25 fee), no public-facing inspection portal documented (records-request floor tier), WordPress + Elementor CMS platform attribution.

Last verified by JIE: May 21, 2026

Published inspection data for San Benito County is mirrored on ScoreTable, direct from the agency.

Jurisdiction detail

What makes San Benito County distinct

Triple-layered department hierarchy: Environmental Health Department within Public and Environmental Services Division within Health and Human Services Agency -- three levels of nesting. Even more nested than Mariposa's double-layered pattern. Public Health and Environmental Health are paired under the 'Public and Environmental Services' umbrella, reflecting a small-county HHSA organizational consolidation pattern.
Daily morning Mobile Truck Inspection window (8-9am M-F): San Benito establishes a daily one-hour MFF inspection window from 8am-9am Monday through Friday. Structurally distinct from Madera (annual concentrated December event) and Stanislaus (office-based without specific time window). First county documented this session with explicit daily MFF inspection window. Predictable operator engagement timeslot.
Animal control reverse delegation -- county contracts OUT to city: San Benito contracts WITH the City of Hollister Animal Control for unincorporated-area service. Atypical relative to most CA counties where city→county is the standard direction. Reverse delegation pattern reflects small-county capacity constraints.
Spanish-language operator documentation apparatus (2 documents): Spanish-language Mobile Food Commissary Authorization + Temporary Food Guidelines reflect Salinas Valley agricultural workforce demographics. Smaller Spanish-language inventory than Inyo (4 documents) but operationally significant.
MHKO (Microenterprise Home Kitchen Operation) program adoption: San Benito joins Lake County in adopting AB 626 MHKO permitting. Indicates operator-friendly stance at small-county scale.
Pinnacles NP east entrance federal land overlap: Pinnacles NP spans San Benito/Monterey boundary; east entrance is in San Benito. NPS in-park concession food service under FDA Food Code 2022, not San Benito EH. Smaller scale than Yosemite (Mariposa).

Standard 02

Fire Safety

Authority having jurisdiction

Unknown - likely San Benito County Fire Department or local fire districts

Phone: (831) 637-5523
Website: sanbenitocountyca.gov
Fire code edition: 2025 CFC
NFPA 96 edition: 2021
Hood cleaning default: Quarterly
Permit type: Operational Fire Permit — annual renewal, pass/fail

Hood cleaning frequencies

Frequencies enforced by Unknown - likely San Benito County Fire Department or local fire districts per NFPA 96 (2021).

Cooking volume / type	Frequency
Solid-fuel cooking	Monthly
High-volume / 24-hour / charbroil / wok	Quarterly
Moderate-volume	Semiannually
Low-volume / seasonal / place of worship	Annually

Hood cleaning enforcement

LOW

Reference

Frequently asked

Who inspects commercial kitchens in San Benito County?: San Benito County Health and Human Services Agency, Public and Environmental Services, Environmental Health Department is the food safety authority for San Benito County. Reach them at (831) 636-4035. California Retail Food Code (CRFC) provides the statutory base; the agency conducts inspections and documents findings through narrative violation reports.
How are inspection results communicated in San Benito County?: San Benito County Health and Human Services Agency, Public and Environmental Services, Environmental Health Department documents inspections through narrative violation reports; no letter grade or numeric score is assigned. Results are available to the public through the agency's published portals.
Who enforces fire and hood-cleaning rules in San Benito County?: Unknown - likely San Benito County Fire Department or local fire districts is the fire authority having jurisdiction (AHJ). They enforce 2025 CFC and NFPA 96 (2021 edition) for commercial kitchen exhaust. Hood cleaning default frequency: quarterly.
What fire code edition applies in San Benito County?: 2025 CFC is the adopted edition. NFPA 96 (2021) governs commercial kitchen exhaust systems. Local amendments: none recorded.
Where can I verify San Benito County inspection records?: Primary source: https://hhsa.sanbenitocountyca.gov/environmental-health-2-2/. EvidLY ScoreTable mirrors the latest jurisdiction-published results at https://www.getevidly.com/scoretable/california/san-benito.

Related coverage

What to do with this data

EvidLY

Predict the failure. Reduce the cost. Prove the work.

EvidLY reads the regulations for San Benito County, identifies what's about to slip, and documents what got done — before an inspector or insurer asks.

See EvidLY pricing

ScoreTable

San Benito County inspection data — direct from the agency.

Real inspection results for San Benito County, mirrored from the jurisdiction's own published portals. No aggregation, no conversion.

View San Benito County on ScoreTable

FTC disclosure: Stovio Advisors is a Cleaning Pros Plus, LLC company. Cleaning Pros Plus, HoodOps, and EvidLY (with ScoreTable) are commonly owned. Links to these sister brands are editorial references, not paid placements, and do not influence coverage. Vendor Network placements are paid and labeled as such; they do not influence editorial coverage.

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