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| CONTACT: | Press
Office (518) 474-4015 |
FOR RELEASE: |
Immediately December 18, 2003 |
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STATE AUDIT FINDS LAX OVERSIGHT OF STREET FOOD VENDORS The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) took nearly five months to investigate a food vendor who reportedly sold a bagel with cream cheese that contained parts of cockroaches and more than three months to look into a complaint that an unlicensed food vendor was selling spoiled chicken on moldy bread, according to an audit released today by State Comptroller Alan G. Hevesi. “It is part of life in New York City to buy your morning coffee and bagel from the corner coffee cart or pick up a hot dog for a quick lunch, and New Yorkers and visitors expect that there is an effective system in place to make sure that these vendors maintain sanitary conditions,” Hevesi said. “But we found that many vendors rarely or never face unannounced inspections, vendors with violations rarely lose their permits, and complaints about vendors from the public are not prioritized to protect public health.” Auditors looked at the system for oversight of mobile food vendors and found serious weaknesses in the department’s practices for inspecting and investigating complaints regarding the vendors and for taking action against those vendors who commit critical violations. While pre-operation inspections for new vendors are scheduled by appointment, further inspections are unannounced. Inspectors target specific areas and inspect all vendors in the given area, but they do not have a system to ensure that all vendors are inspected at least once a year. Of the vendors who were inspected, auditors noted that 177 were cited for four or more critical violations on four or more occasions, including 44 that were cited for ten or more violations and one vendor was cited for 29 violations in 16 inspections over two years – but not one of these vendors had a license or permit suspended, revoked or marked for non-renewal. Auditors also found that DOHMH failed to follow up on complaints regarding vendors in a timely manner, due to misclassification of complaint calls. Over nearly three years, the department received more than 100 complaints such as spoiled or contaminated food or children sickened by food but failed to categorize any of these as “priority 1” immediate public health hazards to be investigated within 24 hours. Even after 30 days, 31 of these complaints had not been followed up. In its written response to the audit, included as part of the audit document, DOHMH stated that it would “continue to explore new technologies and procedures that will make its practices more efficient, particularly at a time when our resources are stretched thin.” The agency emphasized the difficulty of locating vendors for inspection, noting that “…our experience tells us that tracking down specific vendors who require an operational inspection is not practical or an efficient use of resources.” The response stated that only 55% of mobile food vendor complaint inspections result in a finding, but agreed that “the system for tracking the complaint inspections could be strengthened.” In addition to the DOHMH permits for each mobile unit, food vendors must also obtain a license from the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA). In a separate state audit released in September, auditors reported that DCA was not obtaining required documents from applicants, potentially resulting in licenses issued to individuals who were not authorized to be mobile food vendors or had not paid taxes or fines for vending operations. To improve the licensing process, auditors made several recommendations to DCA, and the agency agreed with the recommendations. ### Click here for a copy of the Comptroller's Audit.
Albany Phone: (518) 474-4015 Fax:(518)
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