Cold-Holding Violations in Santa Clara County, by City

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By Cool Aid A/C & Refrigeration · Published November 11, 2026 · Data: County of Santa Clara Department of Environmental Health (DEH) inspection data, routine inspections October 14, 2024 to October 9, 2026

Santa Clara County health inspectors cited food held at the wrong temperature at 5,119 of 20,271 routine inspections (25.3%) between October 14, 2024 and October 9, 2026, more than any other violation on the county’s list. Where the inspector’s note says which, cold holding outnumbered hot holding about 4.5 to 1.

Hot and cold holding citations by city

Santa Clara County’s Department of Environmental Health records every food facility inspection and each violation found. Code K07, “Proper hot and cold holding temperatures,” is cited when an inspector measures food that should be kept at 41°F or below, or at 135°F or above, outside that range. California’s Retail Food Code sets those limits, with some exceptions (Health and Safety Code section 113996).

Among the 14 cities with at least 100 routine inspections, the share citing K07 ranged from 17.5% in Mountain View to 40.5% in Cupertino. San Jose, with 9,237 routine inspections, was at 23.9%. Countywide, 3,359 of the 5,119 K07 citations (65.6%) were marked critical in the county data.

These differences are not a food safety ranking of cities. Each city has its own mix of restaurants, markets, cafeterias and other food businesses, and the figures reflect the inspections done there.

Cold or hot? What the inspectors’ notes say

K07 covers both problems, so the code alone cannot say which one the inspector found. Every citation comes with a note, and we sorted the 5,119 citations at routine inspections by what the note describes (see Method). Where a note could be sorted to one side, cold holding outnumbered hot holding about 4.5 to 1. Notes that could not be sorted often describe food left on a counter without naming any equipment.

Of the 2,803 cold-holding citations, 1,597 (57.0%) were marked critical in the county data.

Which refrigeration units the notes name

Prep units and prep-table coolers were named in 1,133 of the 2,803 cold-holding citations (40.4%), more than any other kind of unit. A note can name more than one unit, so the shares add up to more than 100%. A citation records that food was too warm; it does not say whether the unit was faulty, overloaded or left open.

Higher in summer

Across the full months in the file (November 2024 to September 2026), the share of routine inspections citing K07 was highest in August and lowest in December. Taken together, 31.7% of routine inspections in June to August cited it, against 21.4% in December to February. For cold-holding citations alone the figures were 17.9% and 10.7%.

What this means for restaurant and food business owners

• Temperature is the finding to plan for. Hot and cold holding was cited at more routine inspections than any other item on the county’s list, ahead of handwashing facilities (23.5%).
• Most of it is cold holding, and prep units come up most. Inspectors cite the temperature of the food, not the dial on the unit. A prep rail with the lid up, pans filled past the line or a dusty condenser runs warm first; see prep table rail not cold enough.
• Plan for summer. The share rose from 21.4% of routine inspections in December to February to 31.7% in June to August. The data does not say why, but warm months are when refrigeration has the most heat to remove, so book condenser cleaning and a refrigeration check before June.
• Write temperatures down. A daily log shows a unit drifting above 41°F before an inspector finds it. Our printable refrigeration logs are free.
• A unit that cannot hold 41°F needs a technician, not a lower setting. Turning the thermostat down can ice the coil and hide the cause. If food is at risk, work through the refrigeration emergency checklist and call us.

This study describes inspection records. It is not legal or food safety advice: the California Retail Food Code and the county Department of Environmental Health set the rules, and the inspector decides each case. Our health inspection refrigeration checklist covers what inspectors look at on refrigeration.

Method

Data. Three linked tables from the county’s open data portal: inspections, violations and food businesses. We downloaded them on November 11, 2026; the portal shows them last updated on October 12, 2026. They cover inspections from October 14, 2024 to October 10, 2026.

What we counted. Routine inspections only: 20,271. Follow-up inspections (2,946), which re-check problems found earlier, and risk-factor inspections (176) are left out of the rates. Counting every inspection record, K07 was cited at 5,338 of 23,393 (22.8%). An inspection counts once if it cited K07; none in the file has more than one K07 entry. K07 was cited at more routine inspections than any of the 49 violation codes in the file; the next was K06, handwashing facilities, at 4,768 (23.5%). “Marked critical” is the county’s own flag on each violation.

Cities. The city in each facility’s county business record, with one misspelling corrected. Places with fewer than 100 routine inspections are grouped as “Other places.” Facilities: the 9,667 businesses with at least one routine inspection in the period.

Cold or hot. We read the inspector’s observation, the part of each note before the corrective action (which usually quotes both temperature limits). A citation is cold holding if the observation names cold-holding equipment or cold holding (a refrigerator, cooler, walk-in, reach-in, prep unit, ice bath or salad bar, for example), names no hot-holding equipment, and any temperature it gives is in the cold-holding failure range; hot holding is the mirror image (a warmer, steam table, hot box or heat lamp). Anything else is “both” or “could not be sorted.” We checked the sort by hand on random samples: of 50 citations sorted as cold, 44 described a cold-holding problem only, 5 also described a hot-holding problem and 1 described neither; of 30 sorted as hot, 28 were hot only and 2 also described a cold-holding problem.

Units named. Word matches in the observations of the 2,803 cold-holding citations. Months. Calendar months pooled over the full months in the file, November 2024 to September 2026, so each month appears twice.

We keep the script that produces every figure on this page and a dated copy of the county files it used.

Sources

• SCC DEH Food Data INSPECTIONS, County of Santa Clara Department of Environmental Health, October 14, 2024 to October 10, 2026, updated October 12, 2026: data.sccgov.org/d/2u2d-8jej
• SCC DEH Food Data VIOLATIONS, County of Santa Clara Department of Environmental Health, October 14, 2024 to October 10, 2026, updated October 12, 2026: data.sccgov.org/d/wkaa-4ccv
• SCC DEH Food Data BUSINESS, County of Santa Clara Department of Environmental Health, October 14, 2024 to October 10, 2026, updated October 12, 2026: data.sccgov.org/d/vuw7-jmjk
• California Health and Safety Code section 113996 (hot and cold holding temperatures): leginfo.legislature.ca.gov

Limits

• A citation records that food measured out of range. It does not say whether a unit failed, was overloaded or was left open, and many notes describe food taken out of refrigeration.
• The county files carry no facility type, so “food facilities” here includes restaurants, markets, cafes, bars, cafeterias and other permitted food businesses, and the figures cannot be split by type.
• The cold and hot split is our reading of free-text notes; 28.9% of citations could not be sorted, so the cold and hot counts are minimums.
• City is the city in the county business record. Alviso is part of San Jose, Stanford is not a city, and a few facilities list a city outside the county.
• The county’s open data holds a rolling window and is updated regularly, so a later download will give different totals. This page uses the files as downloaded on November 11, 2026.

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