Denver’s Rapid Food Truck Growth: Managing Change and Focusing on Safety

Rocky Mountain Food Safety ConferenceTuesday, May 8th, 2018Presented by: Maggie Staab & Grace Nelson

• With DPHE ~4 years• BS and BA from Ohio

University• Mobile Program

Supervisor• Specialize in FBI

investigations

Grace Nelson

• With DPHE 3.5 years• BSBA from DU • Former lead food truck

investigator• Mobile Program

Supervisor

Maggie Staab

The Mile High City

Denver at a Glance

• Population: 704,621 (2017)

• Average 300 days of sunshine per year

• Host to one of the largest rodeos in the US, National Western Stock Show

“Home Rule”

• Denver became a City and County in 1902

• Ability to enact regulation through the Board of Health

Growing Industry

• Nearly 300% growth in # of licensed food trucks in Denver

• $2.7 billion in revenue in 2017 in the U.S. vs. in 2008 when the market was virtually nonexistent 

Denver Department of Public Health

and Environment

Empowering Denver’s communities to live

better, longer.

• Office of the Medical Examiner

• Denver Animal Protection

• Environmental Quality

• Community Health

• Public Health Inspections

5 DIVISIONS OF DPHE5 DIVISIONS OF DPHE

Public Health Inspections Division

• Healthy Families, Healthy Homes

• Food Safety & Marijuana

• ~50 employees• 10+ regulation

sets/codes

• Food Service• Child care facilities• Residential health• Noise• Lead• Body art

establishments• Pools• Boarding homes• Homeless shelters

Division: Regulated Establishments:

Empowering Denver’s communities to live better, longer

Mobile InspectionsRegulate using:

• Chapter 23 of D.R.M.C.

16 district investigators

Mobiles work group• Program development• Late night inspections• Plan reviews

1 Lead mobile investigator

Food Truck Growth in the City and County of Denver

Plus 75 pending 

applications

349

517

717

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

2015 2016 2017

Number of Routine Inspections

Growth: Licensing Process

U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Food Truck Nation Report

• #1 for obtaining permits and licenses

• #2 overall for food truck regulations

Working with other Agencies

o Food Truck Nation highlights how we work closely with other CCD agencieso Denver Fireo Excise and Licenses

o Routinely collaborate for:o Quarterly meetingso Licensing inspectionso Field inspections

Plan Review: Addressing Safety Before it Gets on the Road 

Safety

Food trucks certainly have the same considerations for food safety as other brick and mortar facilities, however there are other safety concerns outside of foodborne illness risk factors…

Philadelphia food truck incident, 2014

Indianapolis food truck fire, 2015

Aurora food truck fire, 2017

Working with DFD

• Propane on the exterior• 2‐40lb tanks max

• Propane on the interior• Moving gas lines to the exterior • Installing fire suppression systems

• Natural gas powered equipment vs. Propane powered equipment

• Hot water heater incident

Addressing Safety in the Field• Gas meter training for all

staff members

• Your nose is your best friend

• Contacting the Fire Department

More traditional safety concerns for a local public health department

16.91%

18.18%

14.92%

0.00% 2.00% 4.00% 6.00% 8.00% 10.00% 12.00% 14.00% 16.00% 18.00% 20.00%

2015

2016

2017

% of Imminent Health Hazards (IHHs) to Routine Inspections

Educational Approach

Quarterly Newsletter

2018 Denver

Food Truck Symposium

• 120 attendees• Goal: Provide resources for success to both 

new and existing truck operators • Highlights:

• All agencies that regulate food trucks in Denver present

• 3 additional Local County Health Agencies in attendance

• Basic Food Safety class taught in English and Spanish

• Veteran of the industry spoke • Multiple vendors, including 

fabricators, truck organization and commissaries 

Additional Education

• Basic Food Safety Class (BFS) specifically for mobile operators

• Provide additional handouts during licensing

• Provide educational materials in Spanish, include BFS

Other Safety Areas

• Licensing inspections• Operating from a home• Late night field inspections

Licensing Inspection Safety

• Partner with Risk Management office to evaluate safety hazards

• Development of traffic flow procedures at licensing inspections

Partnering with DPD

• Community resource officers/Field inspectors

• Home visits, complaints of non‐permitted home operations

• Late night inspections in LoDo

How Do We Find Trucks? • Finding more trucks to conduct more inspections, thus

protecting the safety and health of our communities in Denver

• Use of breweries (calendars)

• Social media posts• Twitter• Facebook• Instagram

• Large outdoor events

• New mobile app being developed by Denver Tech Services

• Only licensed units can be approved via us in PocketGov• Positive for operator (Reaching 50K users, reminder for license 

renewal, etc.)• Positive for us, so we can regulate them

Future of Food Trucks in Denver• Not going away anytime soon

• We have taken an approach in the City to embrace the industry and focus on safety and customer service

• Inter-agency group continues to work on emerging issues related to food trucks

Questions?

Public Health Inspections Divisionphicomments@denvergov.org, 720‐913‐1311

Maggie StaabMaggie.staab@denvergov.org, 720‐865‐5508

Grace NelsonGrace.nelson@denvergov.org, 720‐865‐5379