Food Safety at Temporary Events

Church suppers, street fairs, civic celebrations, art festivals, and other similar events call for food service outlets to be set up out-of-doors or in locations where keeping
foods safe and sanitary becomes a real challenge.

Experts say that most food poisoning at public events happen because of mishandling of food. Food spoils long before it looks or smells bad. The last thing you would want is to have someone become ill because of foods you served which were unproperly prepared by you or someone else.

This guide will help you keep your temporary event free of the risk of food poisoning.

1.	Permits. The Tooele County Health Dept. requires all temporary food vendors to obtain a permit at least 72 hours before the event. Be prepared to tell the department where you will hold the event, what you plan to serve, where the food will come from, how you will prepare and transport it, and the precautions you will take to prevent contamination.
In the event of a foodborne illness outbreak, it will help if you can show you ran your event "by the book"!!!
2.	Booths. Design your booth with food safety in mind. Your booth must have an overhead covering and two complete side walls (may consist of a tarp) with a front wall being a draped table or counter. Back can open for workers. The booth must be set up on a hard surface such as concrete, sidewalk, or asphalt, not grass, gravel or dirt. Only food workers may be permitted inside, children and animals must be excluded.
3.	Menus. Keep your menu simple, and keep potentially hazardous foods (meats, eggs, dairy products, potato salad, cut fruits, and vegetables, etc) to a minimum. Avoid using precooked foods or leftovers. Cook to order, to avoid the potential for bacterial contamination. Use only foods from approved sources. Never use foods prepared at home.
Complete control over your food, from source to service, is the key to safe, sanitary, food service.
4.	Cooking. Use a food thermometer to check on cooking and cold holding temperatures of potentially hazardous foods. Hamburgers and other ground beef should be cooked to 155 degrees Fahrenheit, or until juices run clear; poultry parts, to 165 degrees; pork and other meats to 145 degrees. You must bring a stab type thermometer to your event.
Most illnesses from temporary events can be traced back to lapses in temperature control.
5.	Reheating. Heat foods to above 165 degrees F within 30 minutes of eating. Do not attempt to heat foods in crock pots, steam tables, or other hot holding devices, or over sterno. Sterno is NOT allowed.
Slow cooking mechanisms may activate bacteria and never reach killing temperatures.
6.	Cooling and cold storage. Foods that require refrigeration must be cooled to 40 degrees F as quickly as possible, and held at that temperature until ready to serve. To cool foods down quickly, use an ice water bath (60% ice to 40% water), stirring the product frequently, or place the food in shallow pans no more than 4 inches deep and refrigerate. Pans should not be stored one atop the other and lids should be off or ajar until the food is completely cooled. Check the temperature periodically, to see if the food is cooling properly.
Allowing hazardous foods to remain unrefrigerated for too long has been the cause of many episodes of food poisoning.
7.	Transportation. If food needs to be transported from one location to another, keep it well covered and provide adequate temperature controls. Use refrigerated trucks or insulated containers to keep hot foods hot (above 140 degrees F) and cold foods cold (below 40 degrees F).
8.	Hand Washing. Provisions must be made for an adequate hand washing facility. In a pinch, a large container full of water with a spigot, a soap dispenser, a roll of paper towels, and a bucket to collect waste water may do the trick.
The use of disposal gloves can provide an additional barrier to contamination, but gloves are no substitute for hand washing. Frequent and thorough hand washing remains the first line of defense in preventing foodborne disease. Dump waste water down indoor plumbing only! Not on the ground!
9.	Health and Hygiene. Only healthy workers should prepare and serve food. Any who show symptoms of disease -- cramps, nausea, fever, vomiting, diarrhea, jaundice, etc. -- or who have open sores or infected cuts on the hands should not be allowed in the food booth. Workers should wear clean outer garments and should not smoke in the booth. They must wear shoes.
Ill or unclean personnel is a frequent cause of foodborne diseases. , Smoking or chewing tobacco, besides being unhealthy and aesthetically unappealing in food preparation, contributes to the contanimation of workers' hands.
10.	Food Handling. Avoid hand contact with raw, ready-to-serve foods and food contact surfaces. Use disposable gloves, tongs, napkins, or other tools to handle food.
Touching food with bare hands transfers germs to foods.
11.	Dish Washing. Use disposable utensils for food service. Keep your hands away from food contact surfaces, and never reuse disposable ware. Wash equipment and utensils in a 4-step sanitizing process: washing in hot, soapy water, rinsing in hot water; chemical sanitizing, and air drying. You must have test strips in your booth.
12.	Ice. Ice used to cool cans and bottles may not be used in beverges and should be stored separately. Use a scoop to dispense ice, never the hands.
Ice can become contaminated and cause illness. The ice scoop handle must never touch ice. Keep it in a separate container.
13.	Wiping cloths. Rinse and store your wiping cloths in a bucket of sanitizer (for example, 1 capful of bleach in 2 gallons of water). Change the solution every 2 hours. No more than 100 ppm.
Well sanitized work surfaces prevent cross contamination and discourage flies.
14.	Insect Control and Wastes. Keep foods covered to protect them from insects. Store pesticides away from foods when you apply them. Follow the label directions, avoiding contamination of food, equipment or other food contact surfaces. Place garbage and paper wastes in a refuse container with a tight-fitting lid.
Flies and other insects are carriers of food borne illness.* The chemicals used to kill them can be toxic to humans.*
15.	Food Handlers Permits. At least one person in the booth must have a food handlers permit at all times. (View the Food Handler Permit Regulations.)
16.	Hair Control. Either wear a hat or hair must be tied back. Aprons are required.
17.	Garbage Disposal. Bring garbage bags for trash in the booth.

Clean hands for Clean Foods!

Since the staff at temporary food service events may not be professional food workers, it is important that they are thoroughly instructed in the proper method of washing their hands. The following may serve as a guide:

	Use soap and water.
	Rub your hands vigorously as you wash them.
	Wash ALL surfaces, including back of hands, wrists, between fingers, under fingernails, using a good brush.
	Rinse your hands well.
	Dry hands with a paper towel.
	Turn off water using a paper towel instead of your bare hands.
	Wash your hands in this fashion before you begin work and frequently during the day, especially after performing any of these activities: ~~Using the toilet ~~Handling raw food ~~Coughing or sneezing ~~Touching hair, face, or body ~~Smoking ~~Handling soiled items ~~Scraping tableware ~~Disposing of garbage

Tooele County Health Department Environmental Health
151 North Main Street • Tooele, Utah • 84074
(435) 277-2440 • (435) 277-2444 Fax
"Protecting Your Future"