Countywide : Food Festival Rules Leave a Bitter Taste

A campaign to ensure that Orange County’s popular food festivals meet state health regulations has some event organizers worried that the cost of complying with the rules could drive smaller festivals out of business.

While the success of such events as A Taste of Orange County has inspired Chamber of Commerce officials throughout the area to stage similar festivals, county health officials have begun a crackdown that could stem that tide of smaller events.

A $50 inspection fee per booth has cut into the profits of all events since April, but even more daunting are the structural regulations that will be enforced beginning in January, organizers said. Those requirements, which demand that every booth be fully enclosed and have access to hot and cold running water, are too much to ask, some chamber officials said.

“We didn’t really know what we were running into, but we did work it out,” said Donna Myers, office manager of the La Habra Chamber of Commerce and an organizer of Taste of La Habra. “I don’t know how it’s going to affect us or if we can even plan to do it next year.”

At last month’s Taste of Brea, organizers had to quickly shuffle booths around to meet the newly enforced regulation that says no stand could have grass underfoot. They also had to pay out half of their $4,000 in profits to meet inspection fees and pay for last-minute compliance measures, said chamber official Emily Keller.

“We’re frustrated because it just takes away the incentive for the restaurants to even participate,” Keller said. “We can’t afford it. Next year it wouldn’t be feasible.”

The state regulations, while hardly new, were enforced in Orange County after an opinion earlier this year by county attorneys that the events did not qualify for the nonprofit exemption given to civic and religious organizations.

“These events started popping up, and it was unclear whether they had to follow these guidelines. There was no clear black line separating them,” said Jim Huston, environmental health assistant director. “I know the short notice created some problems with some of the organizers, but nothing is perfect. I do think it’s heading in a positive direction.”

Huston said that because the festivals almost exclusively feature commercial restaurants, they should be held to the higher standard. But in a July letter to health officials, Yorba Linda Chamber of Commerce President Michael Duvall said that’s an unfair distinction.

“The difference in rules for nonprofit and commercial (events) makes little sense if these regulations are to omit insects, sneezing, etc., on food,” Duvall wrote.