Baton Rouge – Vendors who wish to sell food along parade routes during the upcoming Mardi Gras season first must obtain a permit from the Department of Health - Office of Public Health.
In order to obtain a Mardi Gras Food Vendor Permit, vendors must pass a LDH sanitary inspection. Once a vendor has received a permit, he or she must display that permit prominently while selling food at Mardi Gras events.
Public health sanitarians will check the temperatures of potentially hazardous food, as well as the food handling and hygienic practices of the food service workers. Pushcart vendors or stands selling only packaged food products will be checked for properly labeled food products from approved manufacturers. Any food products found to be adulterated, misbranded or unlabeled will be seized, and regulatory enforcement action will be taken against the owner/operator.
Food vendors should contact their nearest parish health unit to obtain the LDH Mardi Gras Food Vendor Permit. There is a $10 per month of operation permit fee for retail food vendor pushcarts, stands and mobile units.
Wholesale food manufacturers and distributors should contact the State Food and Drug Control Unit for information concerning licensing, registration and label approval of food products and permit fees.
State Food and Drug Control Units
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Baton Rouge |
Lafayette OPH Region IV Office Brandywine 3, Suite 100 825 Kaliste Saloom Road Lafayette, LA 70508 337-262-5607 |
New Orleans-Area Health Units
| Orleans Parish Sanitarian Services 1010 Common, Suite 750 New Orleans, LA 70112 504-568-7970 |
Jefferson Parish Environmental Health 111 North Causeway Blvd. Metairie, LA 70001 504-838-5140 |
| Jefferson Parish Environmental Health 1855 Ames Blvd. Marrero, LA 70072 504-349-8802, ext. 1 |
St. Bernard Parish Health Unit 2712 Palmisano Blvd., Building C Chalmette, LA 70043 504-278-7410, ext. 211 |
| St. Tammany Environmental Health 520 Old Spanish Trail Slidell, LA 70459 985-646-6448 |
Terrebonne Parish Health Unit 600 Polk Street Houma, LA 70360 (985) 857-3770 Fax: (985) 857-3774 |
| St. Tammany Environmental Health 21454 Koop Drive, Suite 2C Mandeville, LA 70471 985-893-6296 |
Regional Sanitarian Offices
| New Orleans Metro Region I Jo McLean 504-599-0113 (Jefferson, Orleans, Plaquemines and St. Bernard) |
Alexandria Region VI Randy Ducote 318-484-2163 (Avoyelles, Catahoula, Concordia, Grant, LaSalle, Rapides, Vernon and Winn) |
| Baton Rouge Region II Ron Nettles 225-925-7221 (Ascension, E. Baton Rouge, E. Feliciana, Iberville, Pt. Coupee, W. Baton Rouge and W. Feliciana) |
Shreveport/Bossier Region VII Ron King 318-676-7439 (Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Claiborne, DeSoto, Natchitotches, Red River, Sabine and Webster) |
| Houma/Thibodaux Region III Kathy LeBlanc 985-857-3770 (Assumption, Lafourche, St. Charles, St. James, St. John, St. Mary and Terrebonne) |
Monroe Region VIII Greg Hill 318-361-7201 (Caldwell, E. Carroll, Franklin, Jackson, Lincoln, Madison, Morehouse, Ouachita, Richland, Tensas, Union and W. Carroll) |
| Lafayette Region IV Steve Tate 337-262-5607 (Acadia, Evangeline, Iberia, Lafayette, St. Landry, St. Martin and Vermilion) |
St. Tammany Region IX Bill Hathaway 985-871-1300 (Livingston, St. Helena, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa and Washington) |
| Lake Charles Region V Rick Mahaffey 337-475-3200 (Allen, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron and Jefferson Davis) |