Food safety top priority at K-Days

EDMONTON- From the traditional midway food like corn dogs and mini donuts, to the more adventurous items like jalapeno fudge and chocolate caramel-dipped bacon apples, there’s no shortage of food at the K-Days midway. But how do you know what you’re eating is safe?

Many of the vendors down at the fair grounds travel from city to city, serving people at fairs across the country.

“We have to follow strict rules from each stop. They have their own health board and we have to follow their rules. So, everything is done to government standard,” said Tibor Robbins, who has been serving up corn dogs at Libbertts Concessions for nine years.

“Safety is our number one priority and that includes food vendors,” explained Jennifer Sheehan, public relations manager with Northlands. “All of our food vendors are checked out and all the staff have to go through intense training before they can even operate here on site.”

Alberta Health Services (AHS) is in charge of the inspection process at K-Days. Environmental health officers do a thorough inspection of each vendor on day one of the festival, before they can open and start serving up their cuisine.

“We go through and make sure that all the food vendors are following the minimum requirements of the food regulation and just also general education about food safety,” explained Ambrose Law, an environmental health officer with AHS.

“It’s about hand washing,” he said, “power, water, temperature controls, how to properly handle food, what kind of temperatures they’re expected to (use) for cooking (and storing) food items, where they’re going to be disposing their waste.”

After the initial inspection, up to four inspectors will make the rounds at K-Days on a daily basis, keeping a close eye on the hundreds of food vendors at the festival.

“They can be expected to be inspected once every two days,” Law explained. “It’s all surprises.”

And if vendors don’t meet the requirements, they run the risk of being shut down. Although Law says officers work with vendors in hopes that doesn’t happen.

“We don’t want to close them down, that’s the last thing we want to do. We want to work and make sure they can actually open and be ready. But at the same time, we also want to make sure the food is being prepared and served safe.”

Food safety is always top of mind for Robbins, who takes pride in what he does and says the people he serves are what make his job such a great experience.

“You’re paying a bit of money for, hopefully, a good quality product,” he said. “I like the customers, plus the people you work with. It’s all fun. I find it fun. That’s why I’ve been doing it for so long.”

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With files from Shannon Greer, Global News.