MILWAUKEE — Before the first customers lined up for food at the first Milwaukee Night Market of the year Wednesday, city health inspectors were already making their rounds.
Inspectors checked some of the 50 food vendors before the event opened, reviewing licenses, taking food temperatures, and making sure vendors had handwashing stations and other food safety measures in place.
Watch: Health inspectors check food safety at Milwaukee Night Market
"We start with paperwork. Do they have a license to be here?" said Carly Hegarty, the Milwaukee Health Department's director of consumer environmental health.
"Beyond that, it's food safety."
With thermometers in hand, inspectors Mike Starks and Jennifer Burany stopped at booth after booth, checking temperatures, watching food handling practices and answering vendors' questions.
For Junior's Barbeque co-owner Allison Trice, the inspection came after a day that started at 5 a.m.
"Most of the meat came right off the smoker today," Trice said. "Started at five in the morning."
Trice said she welcomes the inspections.
"I'm really thankful they do come because there are people not preparing safely, and that's what they're here for," she said.
If inspectors find an issue that can be corrected immediately, vendors are allowed to fix it before serving food, Hegarty said. A vendor without a working handwashing station, for example, cannot continue serving until the problem is resolved.
Summer festival season is the Health Department's busiest time of year for temporary food inspections.
Last year, inspectors completed more than 500 temporary food inspections at 133 festivals and special events across Milwaukee, according to the department.
For Night Market attendee Valerie Benton, the inspections offer reassurance.
"I'm trusting that everyone is properly licensed and passed inspection, and we're going to enjoy this food," Benton said.
The inspections also come as national health officials continue tracking recent Cyclospora cases.
"We can't check for Cyclospora itself, so we do work with state partners and federal partners to monitor the recalls that are happening," Hegarty said.
"If we get a recall notice, we work with vendors who may be selling that product, making sure they're not using that product," Hegarty said.
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