The Commercial Kitchen Standard

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. 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
Scoring type
None
Grading type
None

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.

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.

Standard 02

Fire Safety

Authority having jurisdiction

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

Phone
(831) 637-5523
Fire code edition
2025 CFC
NFPA 96 edition
2024
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 (2024).

Cooking volume / typeFrequency
Solid-fuel cookingMonthly
High-volume / 24-hour / charbroil / wokQuarterly
Moderate-volumeSemiannually
Low-volume / seasonal / place of worshipAnnually

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, scores them per local methodology, and posts results to the public.
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 per none methodology. 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 (2024 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 (2024) 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.
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