Moncton Market vendor shuts down over new licensing requirements

Customers won't be finding Wildcat Jerky at the Moncton Market this weekend because of a provincial change in licensing requirements for food vendors and operators.

Vendor Will Steeves said he was told by public health inspectors the provincial government considers his jerky a high-risk product and he needs a Class 5 license to sell it.

To get that licence, Steevesneeds a commercial-grade kitchen, which is something he said he can't afford to build unless he's still operating.

Expensive kitchen needed

Heasked the province if he can continue to operate until the spring, at which time he wouldbuild the new $50,000 kitchen, but hasn't heard back.

"All I'm asking for is just their assistance because the licensing was fairly new just their assistance in guiding me through this process and allowing us to have some time with these changes that are new to us,"said Steeves.

Wildcat Jerky'sclosure comes as the provincial Department of Health implements updated rules requiring foodvendors to have specific licences that depend on the nature of their business. Class 5 is the strictest of three possible licences.

As part of the ongoing rollout, inspectors also closed another beef jerky vendor last weekend, The Smoke Shop. Another 19 vendors were found to be violating thenew guidelines, but they're allowed to continue operating and will have up until theirnext pre-determined inspection date to make the necessary changes.

Steevessaidinspectors told him they would follow up with him Saturday to confirm he had relocated to a commercial-grade kitchen in order to get the Class 5 licence. He chose to closebecause they would have shut him down and/or confiscated his product.

Steeves said after nine years at the market, he didn't have a single inspection or complaint.

"I can see them [the inspectors]coming in and shutting me down like they did if there was a case of a food poisoning that I did," he said. "I can see that. I understand that. That's what they're there for."

Dates unclear

Steeves saidthe province didn't give specific dates about whenthe new rules would take effect in documentation it sent out last spring.

We've really been trying to work together with the market operators and vendors, and develop a partnership and relationships with them.- Dr.CristinMuecke

After receiving asecond letter in December 2016,Steevessaid he applied for a license in time for the Jan. 15, 2017 application deadline. However, he only applied for a Class 3 license, whichSteevessays was on the advice of an official he spoke to at a meeting months earlier.

This application was immediately denied.

Rollout timeline

The province began rolling out the guidelines in April 2016 and its efforts include communicating with food vendors and operators, providing copies of the guidelines and compliance timelines, and food safety education, said Dr. Cristin Muecke,the acting deputy chief medical officer of health.

She said with only 50 inspectors provincewide, theycan't contact every vendor at the same time. Inspectors are prioritizingto visit vendors that operate most frequently first.The goal is to have these vendors licensed by April 30, and to have the remaining vendorslicensed by the end of the year.

"We've really been trying to work together with the market operators and vendors, and develop a partnership and relationships with them," said Muecke. "I have to say in the vast majority of cases, the vendors and the operators have been very interested and very keen to be compliant with the new guidelines.

'The same goals that we do'

"They have many of the same goals that we do, which is to provide people with healthy food that's safe and that people will enjoy."

As for confusion surrounding the requirements and timelines, Muecke said while public health officials are accountable for providing information and answering questions, operators also need to be proactive.

"There's definitely some accountability with the operators and the vendors ...in terms of making their concerns and questions known to us and ensuring that they're proactively trying to meet the guidelines," she said.