General Hot Dog Cart Food Service Guidelines

In this line of business, either you yourself or your employee would be the one at the hot dog cart to serve your hungry clientele. It is highly recommended that a hot dog cart operator or employee take a foodhandling course before beginning to operate his or her business. There are those offered online but for certification purposes, it is best that you take classroom sessions by your local department of health office. These courses do not cost very much and are usually conducted or sponsored by the local or state health department. In fact, taking such a course is often a mandatory requirement in obtaining an operating permit for a new food vendor. Check the local city or health department website for details on these courses.

It is also highly recommended that you check with your local city or county health department for the exact local codes pertaining to vendor carts in your area as they do vary from place to place. Being knowledgeable of these ordinances would surely help you keep within the bounds of the law. For instance, some health departments will not allow hotdog carts to serve dairy based condiments such as mayonnaise, grated cheese or even squeeze bottle cheese. Many will not allow mobile food vendors to cook raw meats. This is because these foods are considered hazardous under the conditions present in a food concessionaire setting. They are prone to rapid bacterial growth when improperly stored or cooked as they rapidly deteriorate and spoil if nit refrigerated. Such hazardous foods include meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, dairy products, garlic-in-oil mixtures, cooked rice and cooked potatoes.

The guidelines included in this manual are generally universal in nature and are designed to keep you, your cart, and your food safe and appealing. We have basically tried to select the best information from all the various federal, state and county health organizations. The material is presented in a format that is intended to be easy to understand and put into practice. Keep in mind that as a hotdog vendor you are considered a food handler by the health department officials and therefore must operate under their specific guidelines. Failure to comply will endanger the health of your customers, likely result in the loss of your operations permit and incur fines, aside from being exposed to lawsuit.