Santa Ana : D.A. Files Complaint Against Food Vendor
The Orange County district attorney’s office Monday filed a complaint against a Santa Ana-based sandwich vendor for selling “potentially hazardous food” from which at least six persons allegedly became ill last summer.
The action, which names Lori’s Kitchen and its owners, Eric, Jeff and Charlene Johnson, all of Costa Mesa, seeks damages for selling certain foods which were kept at temperatures above the 45 degrees mandated by state law.
Deputy Dist. Atty. Wendy Brough said those foods included dairy products, meats, chicken, turkey and tuna, as well as macaroni salad and salad dressings. When held at temperatures above 45 degrees, Brough said, these foods are capable of supporting the growth of infectious microorganisms.
The firm’s vendors circulate through such areas as the Santa Ana Civic Center, the City Center office complex in Orange and business centers in Newport Beach during lunch.
“This has been an ongoing problem,” Brough said, explaining that the most recent temperature violation was reported at the end of February and that Eric Johnson had been convicted of a similar violation in 1977.
Representatives of the firm could not be reached for comment.
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