Health department warns illegal food vendors can make customers sick

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Health officials say grabbing a late night bite to eat could bite back because officials have noticed more complaints about food vendors operating without a permit. Officials say many of the illegal vendors post up in parking lots in South End or Uptown.

“There are there are a number of food handling, food storage, food preparation and temperature control standards that we know are best practice for reducing the risk of food borne illness,” Dr. Raynard Washington, Director of Mecklenburg County Public Health said. “And those things, I cannot assure, are taking place at a table and chairs with the cooler in a parking lot.”

Legal food trucks are required to display their food safety scorecard.

“Our goal is always a voluntary enforcement. We don’t want to sort of criminalize the people’s efforts,” Dr. Washington said. “We work to support anyone and our small businesses trying to sell food to folks. Right? We just want to do so safely and according to the laws of our state.”

Health officials say most of the illegal food vendors operate between 8pm and 2am.

Dr. Washington says there have been no reports of serious illness linked to a food vendor without a permit, but he says most food borne illnesses are not severe and people recover on their own at home.