Health department sets standards for nonprofit groups selling food
By Sylvie Belmond belmond@theacorn.com

To prevent food poisoning at local outdoor events, Ventura County has increased inspections of vendors who sell refreshments at fundraisers hosted by nonprofit groups. Anyone selling food to the public must obtain a permit and comply with health and sanitation rules, said Elizabeth Huff, manager of community services for the Ventura County Environmental Health Division.

Restaurants and markets, as well as nonprofit groups that sell food to the public on weekends, must use adequate sanitation measures to prevent food-borne illnesses. "The county regulates all retail food sales in the county, no matter who is doing it," Huff said.

Nonprofit vendors are also subject to a permit fee of $58 per booth per day, but the fee will be waived if at least one person who will be manning the booth takes a free food safety course offered one Monday a month in Ventura, Huff said.

Local organizations host events and serve foods that are prone to spoiling and contamination, so they need to be monitored as well, Huff said.

The County Environmental Health Division issued 39 temporary food facilities permits in 1999; that number went up to 326 in 2007, according to Huff.

Food safety laws have existed since the 1980s, but until 2002 the focus of the county was on large events rather than small fundraisers.

The food safety course was set up in 2002 to educate volunteers who don't normally handle food preparation in large volume at temporary outdoor facilities. Food must be stored at adequate temperatures; surfaces must be sanitized, and hands must be washed often so no one gets sick, Huff said.

Almost 350 people took the class in 2007, and 211 of them renewed their certification online this year.

The county may consider onsite training for large events involving multiple groups, she said.

"The course is well-worth the time and effort," said Mark Van Dam, a member of the Moorpark Kiwanis and a local official. "The nice thing about the class is that once you have taken it, you can renew online," he said.

However, county health requirements pose challenges for groups that rely on volunteers to operate.

"Many venues don't have a threecompartment sink available, and many of the food vendors don't need it based on what they are serving," said Van Dam, who also volunteers at snack bars for youth activities. Renting a portable sink is too expensive for one-day events for most groups, he said.

Others have concerns that extra demands on volunteers may discourage participation.

Traveling to the city of Ventura on a weekday is not convenient for many volunteers in the East County, limiting the number of people who can help during fundraising events that include food sales, said Ed Troupe, a longtime member of the Kiwanis Club of Thousand Oaks, which operates a barbecue wagon to raise funds for local charities and to help other nonprofits when they host events. "It certainly puts a cramp on them," Troupe said.

In the past, the county provided food safety courses in the East County to accommodate residents in those cities, but those classes are no longer offered, Troupe said.

Besides taking the food safety course, volunteers also need to learn to fill out paperwork, and they must be available to meet the county inspector when he or she visits the booth or wagon at the event.

"The process is not difficult; it just takes a lot of steps that must be followed," said Troupe, who attended the county-offered class to minimize expenses for his organization.

All events involving food are inspected. Organizers must register with the county at least two weeks in advance.

"We're busy every weekend, mostly from spring through fall, and on July Fourth we had 18 events to inspect," Huff said. The county has 14 restaurant inspectors and two women who do most of the weekend work when temporary food booths are set up.

When restaurants or commercial businesses operate a food booth, they can also take the class to get a 50 percent reduction on the fee, Huff said.