Bronson Announces Destruction Of 2 ½ Tons Of Food Following Three-Day Safety Sweep In Dade County
For Information, Contact:
Terence McElroy
(850) 488-3022
March 13, 2008
TALLAHASSEE – Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles H. Bronson announced today that nearly 5,000 pounds of questionable food was seized and destroyed by state food safety inspectors during a three-day blitz of lunch truck vendors, caterers and bakeries in northern Dade County.
The inspections, which took place earlier this week, involved both food safety and law enforcement officers from Bronson’s department, inspectors from USDA and Hialeah police.
The effort was launched because of continuing problems with unlicensed food vendors in that part of the state, and the food safety risk involved in some of the products they sell.
"It is critical that all food establishments be permitted by the state, so that we can review the sanitation of their food preparation, and the cleanliness of the store or vehicle from which they are selling these products through our normal inspection process,” Bronson said. “Anything less jeopardizes the safety of the consumers who purchase and eat those products.”
Highlights of the blitz include:
- The detection and destruction of 5,000 pounds of food produced or prepared in unlicensed facilities from lunch truck vendors, caterers and bakeries. Among those items were more than 2,500 pounds of meat and more than 1,000 pounds of rice.
- More than 300 lunch trucks were inspected, and 43 of the trucks were found to be operating without food permits.
- Various food products, ranging from an assortment of items made in a home kitchen to unlabeled honey from an unapproved source, were detected and destroyed.
Bronson said that similar efforts will be launched throughout Florida in the future.
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