Question: Are food trucks inspected by the Health Department? I have looked for “pass” signs on the wagons but haven’t seen one yet. Sitting in the sun for hours seems to be an invitation to spoilage.
Answer: Yes, food trucks are included in the state Department of Health’s inspection program for Hawaii eating establishments, which issues color-coded placards based on compliance with the state’s food-safety code. Green “pass” placards are the best designation, indicating that the eatery had no more than one critical violation, which was corrected or mitigated at the time of inspection.
Although the department’s Sanitation Branch inspected virtually all of Hawaii’s 10,000 food establishments under the placard system by the end of last year, there may be a few food trucks that it has yet to inspect, confirmed Peter Oshiro, who oversees the program.
Customers who notice that a food truck or other eatery lacks a placard should call 586-8000 to alert the Health Department.
The color-coded inspection system, launched in July 2014, applies to restaurants, hotels, caterers, food warehouses, markets, convenience stores, lunch wagons (also known as food trucks), push carts and institutional kitchens for health care facilities, preschools, elementary schools, adult and child day care centers and prisons, according to the Health Department.
Food establishments are supposed to display placards prominently for customers to see. Besides the green placards, health inspectors may issue yellow placards (conditional pass), which means two or more risk-factor violations for food-borne illnesses were found and a follow-up inspection is required, even if the business immediately fixed the violations. A red placard (order to close) indicates an immediate health threat and shuts the place down, at least temporarily.
Q: What’s the number to call about the Bumble Bee tuna recall? I heard about it on the news, but missed the number.
A: Consumers may call Bumble Bee Foods at 888-820-1947 between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, or 3 a.m. to noon Hawaii time, seven days a week.
Readers with online access may prefer to check bumblebee.com/ recall- march-2016, which lists the production codes and best-buy dates visible on the labels of the affected products.
The company explains on the website that it has voluntarily recalled specific batches of 5-ounce canned Chunk Light Tuna in water or oil due to processing deviations that occurred in a “co-pack facility” it neither owns nor operates.
“These deviations were part of the commercial sterilization process and could result in contamination by spoilage organisms or pathogens, which could lead to life-threatening illness if consumed. It is important to note that there have been no reports of illness associated with these products to date,” according to Bumble Bee Foods LLC.
Bumble Bee initiated the recall “out of an abundance of caution due to the possible under-processing of the affected products discovered by the co-packer during its routine quality audit,” according to the website.
A total of 31,579 cases of tuna that were produced in February and distributed nationwide are included in the recall.
The recall removed the affected products from store shelves. Consumers who confirm, by calling or checking the website, that they purchased canned tuna that has been recalled are advised to throw the product away — but keep the label if they intend to seek a refund.
Mahalo
I got into an accident last month; my car was totaled on the freeway near the 6th Avenue ramp. While waiting for assistance a nice gentleman in a truck approached us. While talking, my son mentioned his daughter’s softball equipment that we were taking to her for her game that day. This gentleman offered his truck so my son could deliver it. My son refused, so he offered to deliver it himself. I never got his name. I wanted to thank him. It was very generous of him. — Ernie
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