Serving Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk, and other towns of the North Carolina High Country
Founded 05-05-05
May 8, 2008 issue
Warm weather in the High Country brings about wonderful festivals, fairs and street fests, and one of the best aspects of a community event is often the interesting array of local foods available to the public. To help reduce the possibility of food-related illnesses, the Appalachian District Health Department’s Environmental Health Program provides these tips for following North Carolina public health guidelines.
First, event organizers need to submit an application to have food available at their public event 30 days prior to the event. In addition, you must submit samples of the water supply at the event no less than 30 days before the event.
Each food vendor must submit an application to the health department at least 15 days prior to the event. As of July 1, 2008, vendors must pay a $50 application fee. To protect the health of the public, food vendors whose applications are not received within the specified time frame will not be allowed to serve food at the event.
To expedite the process of inspecting food vendors, event organizers should present a schedule with times requested for vendor inspection 15 days prior to the event to the health department. Event organizers will be responsible for ensuring food vendors are available for permitting inspections at the time they requested.
Groups interested in hosting an event can contact Wendell Fox at the Appalachian District Health Department at 828-264-4995 or wfox@apphealth.com with any questions or to receive more information about the special event permitting process.