Majority of Calgary food trucks fail to make the food safety grade
Majority of Calgary food trucks fail to make the food safety grade
BY MICHAEL PLATT ,CALGARY SUN
FIRST POSTED: TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2012 06:53 PM MDT | UPDATED: TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2012 07:09 PM MDT
Tasty, trendy and potentially toxic.
That’s the local health inspector’s verdict for nearly three-quarters of Calgary’s popular food truck fleet, in the first 14 months since city hall gave gourmet grub wagons the official green light.
Of the 35 trucks operating long enough to garner full health inspections, 26 of them have been written up for critical health violations — defined as food handling errors with the potential to make customers sick.
According to environmental health inspection reports posted on the Alberta Health Services website, 26 of 35 food-truck operators in Calgary failed inspection, the majority due to water and temperature issues.
AHS executive officer Sarah Nunn says problems with refrigeration and keeping food hot may seem like no big deal, but it creates a breeding ground for bacteria which causes food poisoning.
“When we see critical violations, we want them corrected to protect the public,” said Nunn.
“Temperature violations are a big deal because that’s the thing that can cause food-bourne illness — that’s why it’s written as a critical infraction.”
As well as issues with water supply, heat lamps and fridges, there’s been a couple of public complaints requiring inspection, and a handful of grim discoveries by the professional food detectives.
“Whole limes were stored in an old “raw meat” box,” reads one typical report. “Do not store other foods in previously contained meat boxes which reduces the likelihood of cross-contamination.”
The inspections are publicized under the Alberta Public Health Act, and every restaurant or food vendor in the province is there — black marks and all — for potential customers to see.
In the case of food trucks — which have multiplied since city council made it easier to open shop in August 2011 — even a critical health violation rate of 75% is only an issue if it persists.
Nunn says the challenge that comes with running a restaurant on wheels is that many of the chefs learning on the go what works and what doesn’t — and so long as they solve the issue immediately, there’s little concern.
“It’s a restaurant on wheels is all, and a lot of these critical violations are the same ones you’d find in a typical restaurant,” said Nunn.
“Temperature violations are really serious to us, so we will focus on that. And what you’ll see on the reports is that a lot of the violations are corrected during the inspection.”
Fortunately for Calgarians trained to salivate the minute they approach a parked truck with a generator running, the people operating the majority of Calgary’s trendy food trucks are skilled gourmets.
Tasty doesn’t always mean safe, but a sign of professional kitchens is how quickly a potential problem is fixed — and squeaky clean follow-up inspections show most food truckers take customer health seriously.
James Boettcher, who founded the YYCFoodTrucks collective, says that’s the key — and as far as he can tell, the foodies selling their wares via mobile kitchens are running very tight ships.
“In terms of the standards we uphold it’s similar to a restaurant, but the challenge with a food truck is some of the amenities, like running water and electricity, aren’t as easy to come by,” said Boettcher.
Rather than seeing the high rate of health violations as a negative, Boettcher says the strict reports help an industry that’s here to stay to get progressively better.
“It’s a not a fad by any means — as a sustainable industry, with violations like these coming up, it forces everyone to be more accountable and better,” he said.
“I don’t think all is lost when the health board makes us aware of how we need to improve.”
Boettcher’s own truck, Fiasco, has maintained a spotless record since March, after being dinged for putting too much bleach in a cleaning solution.
He says the key for Calgary’s new food truck fleet has been instantly dealing with health concerns, and if that’s not possible, temporarily getting the rig off the road.
“Anytime there’s an issue it’s addressed right away, if possible. There was a truck during Stampede and their coolers were running high, so they shut themselves down,” said Boettcher.
“The accountability in our industry is very high.”
To visit Alberta Health Service’s restaurant inspection website, go to: http://www12.albertahealthservices.c...h-inspections/
