Dirty Dining Fair Edition: Health inspector visits vendors at Arizona State Fair

PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) - There are always lots of choices when it comes to food at the Arizona State Fair. Nachos, hot Cheetos, tater tots, how about some pizza? “The turkey leg is my favorite,” said Cindi Ahert. “I like the roasted corn,” said Melanie Thomas of Phoenix.

With so many vendors and food booths, fairgoers must know all these savory and sweet treats are safe to eat. That’s where Maricopa County Health Inspector Starletta Brown comes in.

Arizona’s Family followed along Friday as the health inspector stopped in unannounced at several food booths. She says the inspections are just like the ones they do at restaurants.

They even get a certificate posted on the window. “We’re coming in to make sure everybody is washing hands properly and making sure things are where they need to be,’ said Brown. “We make sure the food is cold and make sure it is hot enough. We want to make sure everyone is operating safely.”

All 88 vendors are inspected before the fair opens and then receive a surprise inspection a few weeks later.

One vendor was not washing his hands properly. According to Brown, he needed to use soap and wash for at least 20 seconds. Another vendor was told she couldn’t use latex gloves while making candy apples, and another vendor was given a perfect score with no health code violations spotted on site.

Brown said if a vendor is doing something wrong, they’ll work with them to ensure they do it right. The goal is for every operator to avoid any health code violations to provide peace of mind to the public. “The vendors at the state fair, for the most part, do a really good job,” said Brown. “They’ve been doing this for a long time, so they do have practices down.”

So far, no food booth has been shut down or cited for multiple violations.

See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it.

Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send it to us here with a brief description.

Copyright 2023 KTVK/KPHO. All rights reserved.