Updated 11/29/2011 06:51 PM
State Senator Wants Food Carts To Display Health Dept. Letter Grades
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Queens Senator Jose Peralta is introducing a bill so that food carts get letter grades from the city Department of Health, akin to those received by restaurants.
Peralta wants to require sidewalk food vendors to display those letter grades, which local Health Departments would have to implement.
His bill calls for fines for failing grades.
Sean Basinski, the director of the Street Vendor Project of the Urban Justice Center, is supporting the idea, saying, “Most mobile food vendors want letter grades, just like restaurants receive. The vast majority of them sell clean, delicious food and they want to be recognized for that.”
Right now, customers have no way to determine if a food cart vendor is following health standards, as even the city does not post inspection results online.