Local food truck owner shares concerns over illegal food vendors

It's easy to spot food vendors all throughout the Coachella Valley, but just how many of those food vendors are selling food with a permit?

Leonard Alexander Flores, owner of Lenny's Tacos food truck has made sure to undergo Riverside County's permitting process.

"I want my customers and my future customers to know that I take this very seriously, and their health is my number one priority," says Flores.

He shares some frustrations he's ran into while sharing space with food vendors that are selling without the proper license or permit.

Although there is competition, the majority of his concerns regard the public's safety.

"On top of food borne illnesses, us legal vendors, we take a bunch of steps to try to make sure that our customers get nothing but the best quality, and at the end of the day, they're not going to get sick," shares Flores.

Food vendors like Flores, have to adhere to certain health codes and food safety laws like disposing food and waste properly.

Some vendors, especially those without permits, fail to meet those standards.

"You can also see the amount of environmental hazards that they're causing as far as like oil, debris, trash, charcoal, just littered on the side of the road," says Flores.

One of Flores' concerns is that the penalties may fall on him, since he shares space with unpermitted food vendors at times.

He's gone as far as asking his customers to refrain from buying his food if they've already purchased food from another vendor.

"The bigger issue on that is if you buy food from him, or her and then buy it from me, and you get sick, then we both have to go through the investigation and we both have to be down and I really can't afford to shut down," says Flores.

Brent Casey, Program Chief with Riverside County's Department of Environmental Health shares common issues food vendors without a permit run into.

"There's no hand washing and a lot of these unpermitted vending operations, no way to safely keep food hot or cold. No way to protect it from possible contaminants you know, that are in the air or insects. A lot of the vendors are on dirt for example, dirt lots and it's windy," says Casey.

I asked Casey what might keep someone from pursuing a food permit.

Casey says, "I think a lot of it is just the unknown. You know, they think it's going to be too difficult. But I'm not sure why. And so what our inspectors do is really try and talk them through that process to let them know, and help them out along the way. That it's not as difficult as they may think.” 

Riverside County's Department of Environmental Health has a 'Make the Smart Choice' campaign that encourages customers to look for food safety markers like a 'Grade A sticker.

You can check out the 'Make the Smart Choice' campaign and more food safety tips here.

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