Merced County looks to further crack down on illegal food vendors
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- Merced County board orders code revisions to crack down on unpermitted food vendors
- Environmental Health found unsanitary operations and issued citations recently.
- Supervisors direct staff to draft tougher code updates by Jan. 2025
Merced County’s Board of Supervisors is looking to further crack down on illegal food vending to combat unsafe food practices and safeguard fair economic competition for permitted businesses.
“Illegal food vendors operate without health permits, the most basic of proper sanitation, or even safety inspections, which can lead to foodborne illnesses and unfair competition for legitimate licensed businesses,” County CEO Mark Hendrickson said at the county’s Oct. 21 Board meeting.
County leadership directed staff to return with proposed updates to the county’s code to address the issue . The changes could include heavier fines, according to Mike North, Merced County’s Public Information Officer.
The push for tougher rules comes after county staff cooperated with local law enforcement for an operation that issued four citations against unpermitted vendors across the county on Oct. 11. Additionally, some local businesses have taken to their local governments to decry the illegal food vendors.
“We cannot compete with vendors who bypass all the local overhead,” Melissa Morales told the Board of Supervisors on Oct. 21.
Recent sweeps by the county’s Environmental Health Department found vendors selling food out of unsanitary conditions. One of the sweeps discovered maggots in a tote with tortillas operated by an unpermitted food vendor, Amanda Duran, Deputy Director of Environmental Health told the Merced County Board of Supervisors during their Oct. 21 meeting.
“In many cases, these are larger operations that bypass food safety regulations and engage in unsafe food handling and practices which create serious risk to public health,” Duran said.
During their Oct. 21 meeting, county leadership expressed frustration that fines and equipment seizures haven’t deterred persistent violators. Multiple supervisors urged staff to consider steeper penalties and enhanced enforcement.
Supervisor Josh Pedrozo directed county staff to draft code updates to address the issue by the Board of Supervisors first meeting in January.
“There’s got to be a little bit more of a hammer behind it,” Pedrozo said.
