Local Results

Santa Cruz County, California

The Score Behind Every Table.

Data verified: April 2026

CaliforniaColor PlacardCalCode

Santa Cruz County — Fire Safety & Food Safety

Food Safety: Santa Cruz County Environmental Health

Fire Safety: CAL FIRE / Santa Cruz County Fire Department

Beach boardwalk tourism meets agricultural Watsonville — two food economies in one small coastal county.

The Score Behind Every Table.

Food Safety

Evaluation

Color Placard

Public Posting

No mandate

Inspection Frequency

Risk-based

Facilities

1,500+

Fire Safety

Fire Code

CFC

Cleaning Standard

NFPA 96

Cleaning Frequency

Per NFPA 96 Table 12.4

Authority

CAL FIRE / Santa Cruz County Fire Department

Color Placards

Santa Cruz County follows the California Retail Food Code (CalCode) with a pass/fail inspection framework. Online transparency is limited — inspection results are not readily available through a public database, and kitchen leaders must request records directly from the Environmental Health Division.

Green

Pass — facility meets food safety standards

Yellow

Conditional Pass — corrections required

Red

Closed — imminent health hazard

Fire Safety

Fire Authority

CAL FIRE / Santa Cruz County Fire Department

Santa Cruz Fire: (831) 420-5280. CAL FIRE CZU for unincorporated. CAL FIRE contract. City of Santa Cruz Fire, Watsonville Fire are separate AHJs.

Hood Cleaning Standard

NFPA 96 Table 12.4 sets the interval by what the kitchen cooks: monthly for solid fuel, quarterly for high-volume cooking, semiannually for moderate volume, annually for low-volume or seasonal cooking.

Suppression Inspection

UL-300 wet chemical suppression systems required for all commercial cooking hoods. Semiannual by licensed fire protection contractor.