A mystery sign stating that the city and county are not properly regulating food vendors at Balboa Park popped up recently and no one knows how or who put it there.
The sign also says there have been cases of people getting sick after eating food from some vendors.
NBC 7 reached out to the city and county to check if any of the claims were true.
The county said they have not received any food-borne illness complaints linked to food trucks selling food in Balboa Park.
The city replied saying, all food trucks and food vendors operating at Balboa Park must possess proper health permits from the county.
The mystery sign really upset some of the vendors who say they work hard and follow all the rules.
Raul Escobar of Kiko’s Seafood Lunch Truck says he takes pride in running his business the right way.
Balboa Park Rangers monitor all vendors operating inside the park and can ask for permits if they don’t recognize a vendor.
David Allen was surprised when he saw the warning sign while strolling through the park Friday.
“The ones that show up in here are really high end and they are really good food. And I didn’t even give it a thought, like, ‘Oh maybe this is questionable,’ so I don’t have any fears at all,” he said.
Permitted food vendors can be identified by their San Diego County Health Department decal or grade card. Another way to determine if a food cart or food truck is permitted is to visit www.sdfoodinfo.org and search for the food vendor by name.
The entire sign reads:
“PUBLIC NOTICE HEALTH ADVISORY
Be aware that the city and county are not properly regulating the food vendors in Balboa Park. Some food vendors are not following food safety preparation and hygienic serving guidelines. Issues, problems, concerns, complaints and questions regarding the status of proper food handling and certification of vendors aren’t being addressed adequately to ensure the public safety. As a consequence there have been cases of people becoming sick after eating food from some vendors. Be advised and take precautions.
July 2019 CFHHB”
