Health officials crack down on illegal pop-up food stands in Tri-Cities and WA

The Benton Franklin Health District is seeing a sharp rise in nighttime pop-up street food vendors that can attract large crowds and operate without basic food safety measures.

The pop-up stands appear to be connected or organized, possibly having common ownership, and similar operations have been reported across the state, said Erin Hockaday, the district’s senior manager of surveillance and investigation.

They have been reported in spots around the Tri-Cities, Prosser, Benton City and near the Benton and Grant county line near Vernite, north of the Hanford site, with some pop-ups in grocery store, gas station or other parking lots.

Others have been reported in Yakima, Walla Walla, Spokane, Seattle/King County and Tacoma/Pierce County, Clark County, Snohomish and Thurston counties.

“These vendors refuse to comply with inspector directives, reappear under new names and at times act aggressively toward staff, making them difficult to track and control,” said a report given to Tri-Cities health district board members.

The menus are largely the same, include selling al pastor, a traditional Mexican pork dish that is often roasted on a vertical rod then sliced and served on tortillas.

Hockaday told board members last week that typically a van will pull up in a parking lot or other open area in the evening. Food and equipment will be unloaded and then a brightly lit stand, often with a tent, will be set up.

“It’s all identical across the state,” she said, but officials don’t know if they come from a central hub or there are copycat operations. Workers have told them various accounts, including that the food is hauled from places ranging from Seattle to “down the street.”

Vendors typically arrive 7 to 10 p.m. and then serve food into the early hours of the morning, sometimes until 3 a.m.

Food safety issues

Health district inspectors have found the same consistent food safety hazards at the stands. Workers have no water available for handwashing or washing produce, do not wear gloves, serve undercooked meats and have no refrigeration.

No measures are taken to keep cold food cold, such as using ice in coolers with meat, that are unloaded from vans and served to customers, Hockaday said. Some also do not have equipment to keep hot food hot enough to discourage bacteria growth.

“We’ve always dealt with unlicensed food vendors here and there, but what we’re seeing and what we have seen in the last year is very different that what I’ve seen over years past,” Hockaday said at a health district board meeting.

The district has received 120 complaints about unlicensed food vendors this year. That’s up 75% from 2023.

In the past, inspectors have worked with vendors who didn’t know they needed a permit or didn’t get one but were willing to work with the district, she said. In the case of these pop-up stands at night, owners are not present and workers may say they don’t know who the owners are, which creates an enforcement problem, Hockaday said.

The district can enforce permits with fines and fees, but for unpermitted vendors, prosecution of owners is the available enforcement method.

After the pop-ups are shut down by health district inspectors, they may be back the next week with a different name and banner. But the operations remain the same with the same workers, Hockaday said.

The health district is concerned that the food will sicken customers, but it is also hearing from legitimate businesses that pay for their permit and pass inspections that unlicensed pop-ups are hurting their business.

And they contend if there is a food illness outbreak tied to the pop-ups, it could undermine trust in eating out at licensed businesses.

The district may get six or seven complaints in a day and then spend as long as three hours to close down a food operation.

Inspectors want police backup

“We’re out-resourced, and we’re at the point where we’re just sending inspectors out to close the same people week in, week out,” Hockaday said.

The district is asking for law enforcement to be present when they respond to some pop-up stands.

“Sometimes the operators get very challenging for the inspectors,” said Alea Jensen, the health districts food safety supervisor. “… Also, some of the customers could get really upset and aggressive with the inspectors.”

It can be difficult to get vendors to discard food that is not safe and even when the vendors are closed down, they may set up again after inspectors leave, she said.

“When you have no handwashing, when you have no temperature control, we cannot allow that,” Hockaday said.

The Washington state Department of Health is aware of the problem statewide and is working with the Office of the Attorney General to get legal advice and information on how to handle the issue.

Other counties and cities are using a variety of methods to deal with the issue, some of which could be implemented in Benton and Franklin counties, Hockaday said.

Nighttime pop-ups across WA

Spokane Regional Health is sending legal cease-and-desist notices to the owners of the vehicles associated with the stands.

In Yakima County, the health district has worked with law enforcement, including having them on site during inspections, and unpermitted food business owners have been investigated on the suspicion that the hub of many of the unpermitted food pop-ups is in the county.

The city of Selah in Yakima County passed an emergency ordinance giving police and code enforcement personnel the authority to take action that include penalties, equipment or vehicle confiscation, and sanctions for operating without a business license, according to Tri-Cities health officials. Those actions can be taken without the owner present.

Counties and cities would need to work together on similar ordinances, said some health board members.

Clark County Health has pursued payment of overtime for deputies to support enforcement.

Seattle/King County and Tacoma/Pierce County health departments are publishing closure notices to provide public information about the issue.

The Benton Franklin Health District already releases weekly results of inspections of permitted food sellers, but the list does not include closures of unlicensed food sellers.

Snohomish, Clark, Thurston and Walla Walla counties have had public media campaigns to raise awareness of unlicensed food vendors.

Health district officials do not want any campaign against unpermitted vendors to harm permitted food trucks and other mobile sellers of food.

It is reminding those with permits that they need to post the permit where the public can easily see it to confirm they are a legitimate operation undergoing regular food safety inspections.