McKinney health compliance staff review restaurant inspections, cite top violations and outreach efforts

Richard Milam, McKinney’s health compliance manager, briefed the City Council on Sept. 23 about the restaurant inspection program, inspection results and the division’s education work during National Food Safety Education Month.

Milam told the council the health compliance team of four environmental health specialists oversees food establishment inspections, temporary-event vendors, commercial pool inspections and mosquito surveillance. He said the division conducted 2,071 food establishment inspections in 2024 across 992 permitted facilities, completed 305 plan reviews and handled 85 complaint investigations. Milam said the division aims to respond to complaints within 24 hours and that this year the team has averaged 6 hours, 39 minutes to respond to 55 complaints as of that morning.

Milam highlighted the program’s education focus and the top demeritable violations. He identified the top three issues as overall facility cleanliness, proper food storage (for example, storing raw chicken below ready-to-eat items) and adequate hand-washing facilities, and showed data indicating the division’s average demerit score has improved in recent years. He noted temporary-event inspections for upcoming gatherings such as Oktoberfest and said his staff conducts required plan reviews for new food-service construction.

Milam closed his presentation with consumer food-safety guidance, urging residents to "clean, separate, cook, and chill" when handling food at home. The presentation also noted collaboration with McKinney ISD for federally required inspections of school meal programs.

No formal council action was taken; the presentation was informational.