By Christmas, county residents could see the familiar “A,” “B” and “C” food-grade cards they’ve come to rely upon at their favorite restaurants also posted on food trucks and food carts, thanks to a County supervisors vote Wednesday.
The Board, led by Chairman Ron Roberts, voted unanimously to adopt an ordinance to expand the County’s food card grading system to cover roughly 550 “mobile food facilities.” There are an estimated 250 “hot food trucks,” including about 50 “gourmet” trucks, and roughly 300 food carts that serve items like hot dogs and coffee, operating countywide.
“We want people to know and be assured that we’re doing everything possible so that the safety of the food — not talking about the flavor of the food or the style of the food — the safety of the food, is going to be protected,” Roberts said.
The County would become one of the first agencies nationwide to have such a grading system for food trucks. Los Angeles County implemented a similar measure last year.
San Diego County’s Department of Environmental Health (DEH) has inspected food trucks and food carts to make sure they comply with health and food safety standards for decades.
But the food grade card system would include a more detailed evaluation of food truck compliance.
The current system was sort of a “pass/fail” inspection, meaning trucks and carts complied or did not comply.
The new grade card system will rate and grade how well operators comply, based on a 100-point scale, with standards ranging from safe food handling, temperature control (keeping hot foods hot and cold foods cold to ensure safety) and employee sanitation and hygiene — just like traditional restaurants.
The new system consists of four key components:
- The scored inspection report and grading process similar to restaurants.
- Having food truck and food cart operators report their driving routes to the County, and the County creating a computerized mapping system, so inspectors can find trucks and carts in the field.
- Creating and distributing educational materials and holding workshops this fall where operators and workers can learn about the grading system and how to achieve the “A” grade.
- Reporting food truck and food cart grades online, where the public can find them at DEH’s website, just like restaurant grades.
DEH officials said they would start working to have local cities change their ordinances to recognize the county law and complete work on the grading system between now and the fall.
San Diego County was one of the first jurisdictions in California to create a grading system for restaurants back in the 1950s and has long been considered a model for other jurisdictions.
