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Unpermitted food businesses
Public Health urges you not to purchase food from unpermitted food vendors: only buy food from businesses that have a food safety rating sign (green smiley face sign)
Short URL: kingcounty.gov/health/unpermitted-food
What are unpermitted food businesses?
Unpermitted food businesses operate without a food permit from Public Health—Seattle & King County. Eating food from these vendors could make you sick.
Unpermitted food vendors do not handle food safely, and they unfairly compete with the permitted food vendors who work to follow the rules and safely serve food.
Typical unpermitted mobile food businesses
There's been a large increase in unpermitted food trucks, carts, and stands operating in King County and across the country.
Common unpermitted vending operations include:
- Red push-carts selling hotdogs.
- Carts selling cut fruit, often with a rainbow-style umbrella.
- Tables with a pop-up tent that often serve tacos al pastor and other items.
- Operations directly out of someone's personal vehicle.
Do not buy food from vendors without a food safety rating sign
Red push-cart selling hotdogs
Cart selling cut fruit
Pop-up tent selling tacos al pastor
Why does it matter if a vendor has a food permit?
A food permit is not just a piece of paper. Through the permitting process, Public Health makes sure businesses handle food safely, undergo regular inspections, and have proper food safety training.
Eating food from an unpermitted food vendor could make you sick because the vendors don't handle food safely. They often:
- Do not have handwashing or clean water
- Do not have ways to keep food hot and cold safely
- Do not have a clean place to use the restroom (and wash hands)
- Prepare food in unapproved facilities
- Do not make sure that staff stay home when sick
- Have unsafe heat sources that could cause fires or explosions
Anyone can get food poisoning, but certain groups of people are at higher risk for developing a severe illness from foodborne illness. Higher risk groups include people who are aged 65 or older, children under the age of 5 years, people with weakened immune systems, and pregnant people.
What can the public do about this issue?
- Protect your health! Look for Public Health’s food safety rating sign. If a vendor does not have a permit, do not purchase food from them.
- Submit a question, comment, or complaint online if you see a food vendor who you believe doesn't have a permit and/or isn’t following proper health protocols on our complaint webpage.
- Spread the word! Make sure your friends and family know about the risks of eating food from unpermitted food businesses.
What is Public Health doing about this issue?
We follow up on every report we receive of unpermitted mobile food vendors by directing vendors to cease operations and educating unpermitted vendors about how to obtain a permit. We are eager to help vendors who want to obtain a food permit, including by:
- Providing more options for food vendors to get help with permits (in-language assistance is available). Vendors can schedule one-on-one help over the phone (call 206-263-9566 or 206-477-8050). Vendors can also attend an in-person help session. Learn more on our food business permits webpage.
- Partnering with community organizations for outreach. We're providing funding to several community-based organizations to help vendors navigate the permitting process with culturally and linguistically relevant strategies.
- Increasing accessibility and access to resources. We offer interpretation in all languages. We have developed a commissary kitchen dashboard to help people looking to get into mobile food vending find a commissary kitchen . We also offer financial assistance for new street vendors to access commissary kitchens.
Public Health is one of several entities that can regulate mobile food vendors, and this growing issue is not unique to King County. We are working together with our agency partners, including the Washington State Department of Health, to better clarify compliance requirements, improve coordination, and bolster enforcement across our region and the state.