The people who are preparing corn dogs, curly fries and other foods at area Labor Day festivals this weekend have been given a stamp of approval by the Vermilion County Health Department. Jana Messmore, Food Program Supervisor for the Department, was checking vendors at the National Sweet Corn Festival in Hoopeston when we caught up with her…
{‘’Basically we come up here and check all the stands to make sure that the food they are serving is safe for the general public. We check temperatures, personal hygiene, general cleanliness, and talk to them about food safety,’’ said Messmore.}
Messmore was asked what the inspectors usually find when they check the vendors….
{Usually it’s the same vendors every year. So, especially with sweet corn, most of the time the vendors have been here year after year, and they kind of know our expectations,’’ said Messmore. ‘’And they go around to different counties, so they deal with lots of different health departments. So we usually don’t have many issues.’’}
The inspections are done to keep the general public safe. And Messmore says once the inspections are done the Health Department usually does not go back to a vendor unless somebody files a complaint.