Market coordinators measure the temperature of these foods every 4 hours.Īnd when county inspectors like Byrne come by, they use an official temperature probe to ensure the food is indeed cold enough.Ī final concern at any market is employee hand washing, which is crucial in preventing the spread of fecal matter or any other potentially contaminated substances onto produce. We don’t want anyone to get sick.”Īnother thing market supervisors are serious about is that cheese, fruit juice and other chilled items stay cold enough to keep bacteria at bay. “We try to wash everything before we sample it out,” says Nick Dayaran, a manager at one of the market’s year-round produce stands. “It was a little bit of a challenge for us to get people to do that signage and what we had to do a couple of times was just say, ‘OK, pack up, I guess you’re not selling,'” says Wheeler, “and then they realized that we were serious about it.”Īnd vendors themselves testify that they don’t take sampling regulations lightly. ![]() That’s why the Market initiated a policy requiring farmers to put out a “No Sampling” sign if they are not willing to take the proper precautions for handing out samples, so that consumers will know not to grab berries out of crates or cherries from stems. In the past, she says, “What we found was they’d say ‘We’re not sampling,’ and then we’d leave and they’d sample.” The Pike Place Market is dotted with sellers, a glove on one hand and a knife in the other, cutting fresh samples from peaches or apples for passers-by to taste.īut it hasn’t always looked this way, says Terry Wheeler, manager of Farm and Food Programs at the Market and head of the Washington State Farmers Market Association. “There are a number of rules that they need to follow,” Byrne explains - all fruits and vegetables intended for sampling must first be washed and vendors must keep a barrier, such as a glove, tongs, tissues or utensils, between their hands and the food. In Seattle, vendors who want to hand out taste tests must fill out an exemption form. ![]() For fresh produce stands this means samples, which can pose a health risk if handled with bare hands or left sitting out when they should be chilled or heated. To mark the occasion, Food Safety News visited Seattle’s Pike Place Market – one of the country’s oldest, permanent farmers markets – to find out how vendors at this “Sanitary Public Market” keep produce clean for their 10 million yearly visitors – and what consumers can look for at farm stands to make sure food has been properly handled.Īccording to Rosemary Byrne, a King County Health Investigator, the most immediate safety concerns at a market are ready-to-eat foods handed to consumers on the spot. More than 1,000 new venues were established this past year, Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Kathleen Merrigan announced last week in what was celebrated as the third annual Farmers Market Week. In honor of National Farmers Market Week, Food Safety News went behind the scenes at the country’s most iconic year-round farmers market to see how it keeps shoppers safe.Īcross the country, farmers markets are flourishing.
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