Fee

  • Food hazards found at Seattle-area farmers markets

    Posted: September 9th, 2011 - 10:16pm by Doug Powell

     Heading out to the farmer’s market Saturday morning for some tasty wares?

    King County health officials (that’s the Seattle area) have found so many hazardous food practices at farmers markets this year, ranging from poor hand-washing to unsafe food temperatures, that they're proposing a five-fold increase in permitting fees.

    Vanessa Ho of Seattlepi.com reports that in 265 routine inspections of farmers markets this year, health officials found 252 violations, of which 189 were considered "red critical." The inspections covered an eight-month period of roughly 40 markets.

    To deal with the number and severity of risks, Public Health - Seattle & King County has proposed hiking a market's annual permitting fee from $100 to $502.

    "On the one hand, it's a big jump in cost," Chris Curtis, director of the Neighborhood Farmers Market Alliance in Seattle, said Friday.

    "But on the other hand, I think we're coming up with better compliance."

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    Restaurant Inspection  |  2 Comments
    farmers market, fee, food safety, inspection, king county, Seattle
  • Snake on subway makes for costly salmonella cleanup

    Posted: February 23rd, 2011 - 1:21am by Doug Powell

    Don’t take your snake on the subway.

    That’s what Melissa Moorhouse of Allston, Mass. discovered after her three-foot boa slithered away from under her scarf and around her neck on the Red Line between the Broadway and Andrew stations in Boston.

    Penelope the snake was discovered two weeks later in a subway car at the JFK/UMass station.

    The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority decided it had to do a special sanitizing of the car to reduce the risk of salmonella, and then sent Moorhouse a cleaning bill of $650.
     

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    Salmonella  |  1 Comment
    Bill, Boston, Cleanup, fee, food safety, salmonella, Snake