Starting a Food Truck
So you want to start a food truck - where do you begin?
For starters, any time you are going to sell or even give food away to the public - you need to a have a retail food license. You can obtain this through your local environmental health office. Often times you can find the application online. In Gallatin County where Finley Food & Beverage is located, you can find the application on healthygallatin.org.
People always ask, “What do I need to do to start a food truck?” Well, it isn’t really all that straight forward, but there are a few basic requirements.
For one you must meet the requirements for sinks. You 100% need to have a 3-comparment sink for washing dishes. You also need to have a separate sink for washing hands. In an ideal world you would also have what is called a food prep sink, which is for washing produce, thawing frozen foods, and doing basically any food prep. You can sometimes get away with not having a food prep sink by indicating on your application that you are going to use your 3-compartment sink for food prep and that you are you going to keep the food safe by wash, rinsing, and sanitizing your 3-compartment sink between uses. This would be something to discuss with your local sanitarian. If you require a food prep sink, but are unable to install one on the truck, you may need to rent space in what is called a commissary or service kitchen. This would be another topic to discuss with one of our team members.
Another question people ask is how big does the 3-compartment sink need to be. It needs to be as big as your largest piece of equipment that needs to be washed. Some items can be cleaned in place, but as a general rule of thumb you need a sink big enough to wash your dishes. Simple enough.
Another important requirement for your truck is making sure you meet the size requirements for the fresh water and waste water tanks. You must have a minimum of 40 gallons in your fresh water tank and your wastewater tank must be 15% larger than you fresh water tank. Water must be obtained and dumped in an approved location. Gas stations often have places to dump water and some have places to obtain fresh water as well.
As far as the rest of the mobile unit, you really just need to have the equipment that is needed to cook and prepare the food you want to serve. You of course need adequate refrigeration space to keep foods below 41ºF. Each refrigeration unit that you have must have a thermometer inside to ensure that the unit is keeping foods cold enough.
When it comes to the entirety of the unit. Per the FDA 2013 Model Food Code, materials that are used in construction must be smooth, durable, and easily cleanable. This can be a variety of things including stainless steel, but also sealed paint. As long as the material meets those three criteria, it is allowable in the truck.
Depending on what kinds of foods you are using you may need to have a grease trap installed below your 3-compartment sink. You may want to check with your local health department to see if this is a requirement in your jurisdiction. Something that is required when it comes to 3-compartment sinks is that you must have an air gap installed underneath your 3-compartment sink. Air gaps are quite literally gaps in the plumbing that prevent backflow, which is when dirty water comes up in the food prep area or gets into the clean water.
All the requirements we have discussed thus far are a great starting point for envisioning and planning your food truck. Any specific questions you have you are more than welcome to reach out and discuss with one of our experts.
When you get passed the thought phase and are ready to start on your application, we are here ready to help out. Take the stress out of the application process and know that your application will be smooth sailing through the entire process. We are here to assist you - from the application to the pre-opening inspection - we got your back!