King County Will Find Out If Its Favorite Fruit Cup Stand Is Allowed or Not

The King County Board of Health voted to expand food safety regulations to make it easier to identify unlicensed food sellers, with the rules set to take effect next year.

New rules approved Thursday will require bakeries, food trucks and caterers that have received county-issued food-handling permits to display their ratings. Those are the smiley signs you see in the windows of many restaurants, telling customers what they rated during their most recent inspections.

King County has recently seen a surge in people setting up their own food trucks and pop-ups, often without a permit, selling snacks and a variety of foods. They’ve had success — and more closures. Dozens of unauthorized vendors have been shut down in Seattle and beyond in the past year, from tamale vendors selling out of the back of cars to fruit-in-a-cup vendors on Alki Beach.

For retailers who comply with local food health standards, this isn’t a big change, but it will make it easier to identify places that aren’t certified.

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Marcos Arellano said he sees it from both sides. He runs Sharkbite Ceviches in front of El Centro de La Raza on Beacon Hill, where three illegal food carts have been closed since August.

Arellano started out selling ceviche to his friends. With the help of an accountant and El Centro, he expanded his business into a formal business, with all the necessary health and administrative permits.

He added that from a business perspective, more regulation could limit competition among brick-and-mortar stores and, to some extent, his own food truck.

“But when it comes to people, (illegal sellers) are people who want to succeed in life and maybe they need more information,” Arellano said in Spanish.

But running a business like his also requires a certain level of financial investment. Arellano’s cart alone cost about $3,000. His minimalist, cold storage kit helps him comply with county guidelines for food storage temperatures. That doesn’t include permits, which can take months to obtain, he added.

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Arellano joked that the standards are so high he might as well run a restaurant.

Eyob Mazengia, who leads food safety inspectors for Public Health Seattle and King County, outlined three key considerations to consider when getting a permit, especially for carts and caterers:

• Food must be prepared and stored in a commercial kitchen that has been inspected by health inspectors.
• Food carts must pass inspection and show they have access to sufficient clean water, cold and hot. They must also show that dirty water will not contaminate food or spill onto the street.
• Food must be stored at the correct temperature, and retailers must also know how to handle food safely before serving it to customers.

The process of getting permits to open a food truck or stand is cumbersome, Jorge Guzman Pioquinto said. That’s one reason you can see bubbles on weekends at downtown’s Waterfront Park.

Guzman Pioquinto wanted to run a food truck after he lost his job but decided it would be easier to sell soap guns. He had tried to get into the food business with the help of a local nonprofit, but so far he had no luck, he said.

“They just make me go around in circles,” Guzman Pioquinto said in Spanish. “They tell me it’s a process, but they don’t tell me when to introduce myself or what kind of ID I need.”

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County health officers are tasked with separating providers who need help accessing resources from those who aren’t following the rules. They want to connect people with the resources providers need to comply with the health code, said Mazengia of Public Health Seattle and King County.

“’Permit’ is a (very) loaded term,” Mazengia said. “It’s not just paperwork. It’s really one way to verify that they’re meeting all the minimum requirements, at least the minimum requirements, to be able to safely sell food to the public.”

He added that with adequate resources, many people receive the assistance they need to effectively comply with food safety regulations.