Denver health officials defended an inspector’s decision to pour bleach into an unlicensed taco vendor’s food over the weekend, after a video of the incident spread on social media.
Two Denver health inspectors approached a table operated by Tacos Tacolorado near the intersection of Evans Avenue and Colorado Boulevard on Saturday evening. Health officials had previously cited the vendor and thrown out its food for failing to follow various food safety rules, according to inspection reports reviewed by JS. When inspectors approached Saturday and asked that the food be destroyed, the vendor placed some food into the back of a truck, prompting one health inspector to pour bleach into the remaining food, according to Emily Williams, spokeswoman for the Denver Department of Public Health and Environment.
The incident was caught on video, showing the inspector dumping the chemical into plastic containers of food on a tablecloth-covered table.
Though uncommon, using bleach to intentionally contaminate food is a tool inspectors use to ensure food can’t be served, said Danica Lee, Denver’s director of public health investigations.
“It is a tool that we use not really often, because we prefer to use different methods, but from time to time, it is necessary,” she said.
The health department also provided images from the Saturday inspection showing a thermometer stuck into meat that showed a temperature of 54 degrees.
She said inspectors had previously approached Tacolorado’s staff twice, both in late October. The vendor was given two cease-and-desist letters, and inspection reports show it was dinged for failing to have handwashing stations, for improper sanitation and for temperature concerns, among other alleged issues. The food was also being prepared in a residential, rather than commercial, kitchen, which carries further risk, Lee said.
More than 145 pounds of meat and food were disposed over during those two interactions, the agency said, and the vendor’s staff cooperated with inspectors. Tacolorado has also received multiple cease-and-desist letters and administrative citations.
But when inspectors arrived Saturday night, staff began moving food into a locked truck, which prompted the inspectors to use bleach to contaminate the remaining food.
A message sent to Tacolorado through its social media page was not immediately returned. A California taco vendor listed in the company’s business filings also did not immediately return a social media message seeking comment.
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