By Aaron Allen, The Seattle Medium
Whether enjoying a community festival, pregame tailgate, or grabbing lunch on a construction site, food trucks have become synonymous with accessible, flavorful cuisine. As their popularity grows, King County Public Health is reinforcing efforts to ensure that meals from mobile vendors are not only delicious but also safe to eat.
As of January 1, 2025, all food trucks and other mobile vendors operating in King County are required to display food safety rating placards. The King County Board of Health approved the policy to extend the county’s existing food safety rating system—which currently applies to restaurants, coffee shops, and delis—to include mobile food vendors.
The regulation, supported by the Washington Food Truck Association and the Washington Hospitality Association, is designed to enhance transparency and increase public confidence in food safety.
“Food trucks are a great business model—we want people to enjoy it safely,” said Greg McKnight, food safety inspector with Public Health – Seattle & King County. “We do a lot of work to actually inspect all the food trucks that are permitted under King County. There’s quite a bit of work that goes into making sure the food trucks are operating safely.”
Public Health views mobile vendors as a vital component of the hospitality industry. Officials say that properly permitted and inspected food trucks are essential to ensuring food safety and preventing foodborne illness.
“Keeping yourself safe from foodborne illness, which for a young healthy person may just be a stomachache, but for folks who are pregnant, for young children, for people who are immune compromised, it can lead to really serious illness, hospitalization, sometimes even death,” said McKnight.
“If there’s any doubt as to the permit status of a food truck, I would suggest not eating there, that would be a great takeaway, I think, for the public,” he added. “The other reason is to help support those food vendors that are following the rules, following safe practices, playing by the book.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that roughly 48 million Americans experience foodborne illness annually. These illnesses are often caused by common pathogens such as Salmonella, Listeria, E. coli, norovirus, and hepatitis A. Despite their severity, foodborne illnesses are largely preventable with proper food handling, hygiene, and oversight.
That’s where Public Health inspectors come in. They ensure that vendors meet key criteria—such as proper refrigeration, sanitary food preparation, and access to handwashing stations—before awarding a green safety placard.
“The work that our food inspectors do with these food trucks or with food stands is really much more about public safety,” said Kate Cole, Public Health information officer. “They’re going in there and making sure that all the employees have a place to wash their hands. They’re making sure that the refrigerators are kept at the right temperature to prevent illness. They’re making sure that where the food is prepared is a proper commissary kitchen.”
“So, when people go to a permitted food truck or food stand with that green sign from us, they know that it’s been signed off on by Public Health—that we’ve said, yep, they’re washing their hands, they’re using proper practices and safe practices for preparing food,” Cole added.
Although brick-and-mortar establishments are easier to track in cases of reported illness, mobile vendors present a unique challenge due to their mobility.
“We keep track of everyone who gets sick,” said McKnight. “To date though, we have not had any folks get sick from a food truck.”
Still, McKnight noted the challenges in tracing foodborne illness to mobile vendors.
“Now, there are a lot of in-between factors, primarily it’s reporting from the public,” he said. “So, most folks will not call and tell us that they got sick from a food truck. It’s probably easier to go brick and mortar, right? You remember the location, it’s still there. But a food truck or unpermitted mobile vendor can just move, and that’s why it’s a little bit difficult.”
Food truck operators themselves recognize the importance of maintaining health standards. Jose, a local food truck manager, said following the rules is about more than just meeting requirements—it’s about protecting customers and the wider food vendor community.
“In my opinion, I feel like it’s important that we remain safe because you are handling people’s food,” said Jose. “Everything that I do here has an impact, such as temperature of the food. If I’m cooking food that is not properly held up to temperatures, somebody can get sick.”
“It’s not only bad for business, because we are a small business, but I feel like it is bad for other food vendors because you can get a negative mentality in that people will not support our businesses because we are not handling food properly or safely. Washing hands, all of this is important,” he said.
