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."