DENVER (KDVR) – A video that went viral earlier this week showed a Denver Department of Public Health and Environment employee pouring bleach on street vendors’ food in what officials say was a “necessary” move.
The city’s health department has been monitoring the vendor, called Tacolorado, for several weeks “due to serious public health concerns” after they opened without a business license and “repeatedly failed to follow essential food safety practices,” DDPHE public information officer Amber Campbell told FOX31 in an email.
“Our public health research team has worked with this vendor multiple times in various Denver locations, offering education, bilingual resources and guidance to help them comply,” Campbell said. “Despite these efforts, the vendor continued to operate illegally and unsafely.”
Campbell said investigators found the vendor using unsanitary food storage and preparation without a reliable method to keep food at a safe temperature, as well as unsafe use of propane.
The situation came to a head Saturday when an inspector at 2110 S. Colorado Blvd. poured bleach on a vendor’s food, the incident was caught on camera.
Here’s what Campbell had to say about the incident:
In this case, our team was forced to destroy the food on site because the vendor did not have a trash can, and the volume of food made it impractical to quickly remove it ourselves. In previous meetings, the vendor quickly packed up and moved to another county before we could safely dispose of the food. Using bleach to denature food is standard public health practice – although we rarely use it – to ensure it is not oversold and potentially harmful to consumers. Such actions are taken only when necessary to prevent disease and ensure public safety.
During Saturday’s meeting, Campbell said the vendor “took approximately 100 pounds of pork and several pounds of chorizo into a locked truck and did not unlock the truck for investigators” when they asked to dispose of the food, which led to the use of bleach on the remaining food before it was also unavailable.
This was not the seller’s first contact with health officials, and in fact, the seller was served with a third cease-and-desist order that day, according to Campbell’s timeline of events.
Health officials contacted the seller for the first time on October 28. near Evans Avenue and Colorado Boulevard, where investigators gave the vendor the first order to cease operations and destroy about 120 pounds of meat.
A few days later, health officials on October 31 encountered the vendor again, this time at 10th Avenue and Sheridan Boulevard, where they threw away about 25 pounds of food and issued a second cease and desist order.
Officials sent the seller an administrative citation on Nov. 5, but served it in person during contact Saturday when bleach was used.
“We recognize that many street vendors work hard to support themselves and their families,” Campbell said. “We are committed to continuing education and outreach to help vendors understand the regulations and connect them with resources to obtain a license and operate legally.”
Campbell said a second administrative citation was sent Monday, and officials are already working on a third citation.
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