Unpermitted food vendors bring about health issues

A street food vendor tent can be seen operating in front of a McDonald’s restaurant on the west side of Merced County.

Dirty locations, no refrigeration, and a pop-up tent with no enclosure are quick signs that a street food location is unsafe.

This is how some food was prepared for transport to a street food site.

Improperly stored food went without refrigeration.

Rotting food to be prepared for reuse was stored in bags at one commissary site.

Doesn’t it seem like there’s more “street food” around town than ever before?

Take any community in Merced County, and you’re bound to see a few, if not several, food stands in empty spaces near busy roads and intersections. This is especially true in the evening, and on weekends. And, it’s in addition to all the familiar food trucks that are parked in lots all over the place.

On the one hand, it seems like local residents are enjoying more convenient meal options than ever before — delectable tacos of all kinds, scrumptious burritos, hearty rice and beans, and even that succulent “al pastor” meat that’s slowly marinated on a spit right before their very eyes.

On the other hand, well, there just might be a cellphone that’s being used to call in a complaint.

“I ate at a food vendor on the side of the road on a Friday night, and I know they aren’t permitted, and I got sick immediately after.”

County officials say they are receiving “many” foodborne illness reports like the one above, all while documenting a boom in unpermitted food vending across the region. Officials from Environmental Health, the Sheriff’s Department, Community and Economic Development and sister agencies within cities have stepped up Code Enforcement measures over the past year, as well as developed a new plan to educate both the public and would-be entrepreneurs.

They are also on the cusp of starting an award certificate program for those restaurateurs who are doing things the right way.

“Our mission is to educate the public,” said Amanda Duran, the deputy director of Environmental Health, during a presentation to the Merced County Board of Supervisors last month. “We want them to be diligent and be cautious of where they purchase food. We want to empower the public to ask vendors if they have permits, support and respond to reports of unpermitted food vending, and utilize enforcement efforts that help educate and maintain fair business practices.”

Duran said unpermitted food vending is posing a serious health risk for local residents due to the likelihood of contaminated food that can lead to staph food poisoning, botulism, salmonella and trichinellosis.

“Your food might look fine when you go out into the street,” Duran told leaders at the meeting. “You get a taco. It’s cooked. It has, you know, all the toppings on top of it, but this is what we’re seeing behind the closed doors …”

The deputy director then pointed to a series of images projected on a screen. There were pictures of rotting food stored in trash bags, and food containers sitting outside, or in sheds with dirt floors, and without proper refrigeration. One slide showed boxes of improperly stored food in someone’s bedroom.

Duran also pointed out that there’s even more going on behind the scenes. In other words, some of the bad actors on the unpermitted food vending front aren’t your typical mom and pop operators who are struggling to make ends meet in an honest manner.

Recently, the Sheriff’s Department discovered a “commissary” during a drug bust in a nearby rural area, and Environmental Health was called in, according to Duran. Food vendors are required to have a commissary location to properly store food and equipment and conduct clean food preparation. However, what officials found was a makeshift garage and a couple of sheds that amounted to what Duran called “a mecca of unpermitted food vending.”

She said it was a sizable illegal operation with meat in bags, sitting outside in 100-degree heat, waiting to be prepared for the nightly customers. “We wrote down license plates of vehicles that were out there, and we did catch people out that night associated with this setup.”

Duran later told the Times, “Vans that are not designed to transport food, are doing so, from Atwater to Los Banos, in the middle of summer.”

Over the past year, Environmental Health has reported going out “multiple times a month” to investigate unpermitted food vending, along with after-hours sweeps with Code Enforcement teams. According to Duran, each night they would confiscate between 200-300 pounds of improperly stored and unsafe food. They have also impounded equipment on multiple occasions. Some of the equipment was loaded onto trailers for distribution at multiple locations.

Unpermitted food vendors will receive a notice of violation which includes the following penalties:

• $118 fine, or $177 if it involves overtime for county staff,
• They will also be charged three times the cost of a permit fee to operate a mobile food facility. The fee this fiscal year was $776. So the additional charge would amount to $2,328.

Said Duran, “They [vendors] do have an opportunity to speak with us, and get educated on how to properly get permitted. However, a lot of times that doesn’t happen, and then we see them out again.”

She also told the Times: “When we go to these vending sites, we always hear the people preparing food say, ‘I’m just an employee. Here’s my boss’s phone number. Call him.’”
Members of the Merced County Board of Supervisors praised the new effort to bring about awareness of unpermitted food vending.

“Most of the phone calls I receive are about potholes,” Supervisor Daron McDaniel admitted, but quickly added: “I think my No. 2 call is about illegal vendors being out there.”
He went on: “It’s interesting, at 6 p.m., you see these flatbed trailers rolling into the cities. They have all this food stuff on them. They drop them off at every corner, and then they take off. And even the folks who are employed by these people don’t have a proper place to wash their hands. They don’t have a proper place to use the restroom. And a lot of times, you see mothers with young children out there. … It’s a huge problem.”

Supervisor Josh Pedrozo said he gets calls from upset vendors who are following the rules, but are finding it hard to compete with those vendors who are not. Pedrozo called it a “quality of life issue,” and called for a “focus on education instead of punishing, but at some point, bring the hammer down.”

Supervisor Lloyd Pareira called the issue a growing problem, and said he was noticing more pop-up food stands that are expanding with large tables surrounded by chairs.
Supervisor Scott Silveira chimed in, saying: “Let’s reward the people that are doing the right things, and the ones who are not, at some point, you give them a really short leash in the sense of: We tried to educate you, and then if you choose not to follow that education, then we confiscate your stuff and take it away. I would imagine when you start talking about stainless steel equipment, if they’re using that, that stuff gets very pricey.”

Award of Excellence program

County officials say an important way to prevent unpermitted food vending is to recognize those food facilities that routinely meet and exceed standards. Environmental Health plans to roll out an Award of Excellence program that will uplift vendors and restaurateurs who meet the following guidelines:

• Food establishments who have not been found to have any “major” or “repeat” violations.
• Do not have any confirmed critical food related complaints.
• Have three or fewer minor violations.
• Have been open for business and currently operating for 3 years or longer.
• Has maintained a required health permit to operate.

The idea is to mail out award certificates at the end of next summer. Owners would be encouraged to display the awards for customers to see. County officials also promise to spread the word about those food facilities that are doing things right.

Says Duran, “It’s our responsibility in Environmental Health to ensure the public is getting safe foods. When you go out to a permitted food facility, or order food from a permitted vendor, you know that they have been inspected by environmental health. And the public has access to these reports online. The unpermitted food vendors are not just mom and pops, trying to start up. It’s a bigger operation going on, and it’s dangerous to public health.”

Quick ways to spot unpermitted vendors

• No permit in sight
• Operating in the dirt on the side of the road, or in a parking lot
• No hand washing
• No way to properly store food (fridge)
• No enclosure (Look for a net around station or pop up to prevent flies and other vermon to get onto the food.) 

Cause of illnesses 

• Staph Aureus Intoxication due to improper refrigeration. 
• Botulism due to food stored under inadequate conditions. 
• Salmonella due to not washing hands after handing raw meat. 
• Trichinellosis caused by eating undercooked meats infected with Trichanella roundworms. 

Common locations where street food concerns officials

Atwater 

• Applegate / Atwater Jordan 
• Commerce Ave. 

Winton

• Winton Way / Santa Fe 
• Winton Way & Crawford 

Merced

• 16th Street & SR59
•  MLK Way & 16th Street
• Campus Parkway & Coffee 

Stevenson 

• SR 140 & SR 165 

Los Banos 

• Pioneer and SR165 
• Pioneer & Center 
• H & Overland
  SR165 & Henry Miller 

Environmental Health Contact Information:

Phone: (209) 381-1100. Email: [email protected]

Go Online: www.countyofmerced.com/eh for general information, or to obtain a consumer complaint form.