January 20, 2003 Mardi Gras Food Vendors Must Have Permit

BATON ROUGE, Jan 20, 2003 - All itinerant food vendors participating in Mardi Gras parades and activities must be permitted by the Department of Health and Hospitals, Office of Public Health. In advance of the parades, all vendors, including stands, pushcarts and mobile units, must pass a LDH sanitary inspection, and must prominently display their LDH Mardi Gras Food Vendor Permit.

Public health sanitarians will be checking the temperatures of potentially hazardous food, 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 the nearest parish health unit to obtain their 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

Baton Rouge
OPH Region II Office
1772 Wooddale Boulevard
Baton Rouge, LA 70806
225-925-722

Lafayette
OPH Region IV
Office Brandywine 3, Suite 100
825 Kaliste Saloom Road1
Lafayette, LA 70508
337-262-5607

New Orleans-Area Health Units
Orleans Parish Sanitarian Services
Tidewater Place, Suite 1700
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
and
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
and
21454 Koop Drive, Suite 2C
Mandeville, LA 70471
504-893-6296

Regional Sanitarian Offices

New Orleans Metro Region I
(Jefferson, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard)
Jo McLean
504-599-0113

Baton Rouge Region II
(Ascension, E. Baton Rouge, E. Feliciana, Iberville,
Pt. Coupee, W. Baton Rouge, W. Feliciana)
Ron Nettles
225-925-7221

Houma/Thibodaux Region III
(Assumption, Lafourche, St. Charles, St. James,
St. John, St. Mary, Terrebonne)
Teda Boudreaux
985-449-5007

Lafayette Region IV
(Acadia, Evangeline, Iberia, Lafayette, St. Landry,
St. Martin,Vermilion)
Steve Tate
337-262-5607

Lake Charles Region V
(Allen, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron, Jefferson Davis)
Rick Mahaffey
337-491-2039

Alexandria Region VI
(Avoyelles, Catahoula, Concordia, Grant, LaSalle,
Rapides, Vernon, Winn)
Randy Ducote
318-487-5265

Sheveport/Bossier Region VII
(Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Claiborne, DeSoto,
Natchitotches, Red River,
Sabine,Webster)
Ron King
318-676-7439

Monroe Region VIII
(Caldwell, E. Carroll, Franklin, Jackson, Lincoln, Madison,
Morehouse, Ouachita, Richland, Tensas, Union, W. Carroll)
Greg Hill
318-362-5224

St. Tammany Region IX
(Livingston, St. Helena, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Washington)
Bill Hathaway
985-871-1300