SAN ANTONIO – It takes a team to ensure food on the grounds are safe for the thousands of daily visitors to the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo.
KSAT followed Metro Health as staff inspected some of this year’s rodeo food.
“We want to make sure people are washing their hands. The food is the proper temperature, both hot and cold,” Metro Health senior environmental health officer Kerzell Ramos said.
Metro Health inspectors visited different booths at the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo.
“We look for evidence of any insects or rodents,” Ramos said. “Which, in this case, we haven’t had any.”
One inspector comes in the morning and the other arrives in the afternoon.
Ramos said inspectors will also check if every piece of the equipment is working properly.
“We also have them check their coolers or the refrigerator units to make sure they are operating,” Ramos said. “Occasionally, what happens is a unit might go out overnight. And we want to make sure that food in that unit is still good to eat, to be served.”
There are 80 food booths this year at the rodeo, including Fajita Corral. So far, Metro Health said no health code issues have been found.
“We have to be ready for the inspectors at all times,” Fajita Corral manager Deborah Jaime said. “We have to have our sanitizers out. If it’s not up-to-date, then they let us know and we go back and we fix it. But it’s a daily routine.”
Although the rodeo isn’t finished, Metro Health is already preparing for future events. It said it is meeting with vendors participating in Fiesta, which kicks off in April.