• Hot dogs are a popular vending cart staple.hot dog image by dinostock from Fotolia.com
  
  The state of New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services defines a retail food establishment as any operation that vends or otherwise provides food for human consumption. This definition encompasses restaurants as well as mobile operations including carts, vans, trucks, bicycles, trailers and watercraft. Of particular interest to the vending cart operator are regulations pertaining to the safe preparation and handling of food, provision of water and removal of waste and establishment construction.
  
  

Food Preparation

• Vending carts must comply with safe food storage and handling procedures in accordance with New Jersey Department of Health regulations. Food must be purchased from approved sources and stored in a temperature-controlled and sanitary environment. This pertains to the food stored and handled by the mobile establishment as well as any food stored or prepared in a servicing environment, such as a restaurant or commercial kitchen where the cart is restocked before moving to its retail location. Refrigerated items should be stored at a temperature of 41°F or less. Frozen foods should remain frozen. Raw food should be prepared in a sanitary manner to avoid cross-contamination. Meat, fish and eggs should be cooked to heat all parts of the food to internal temperatures of 145-165°F depending on the health authority requirements for that particular food. Fruits and vegetables should be cooked to a temperature of 135°F.
  
  

Water and Waste

• Water for use by a vending cart must come from a commercially bottled supply, one or more closed portable containers, an enclosed vehicular water tank or piping, tubing or hoses connected to an adjacent approved source. Water tank and hose materials must be safe, durable, corrosion-resistant and easily cleanable. Water tanks must be able to be fully drained. Sewage tanks must have a capacity 15 percent larger than the capacity of the water tank. They must be sloped to drain or equipped with a shut-off valve. Sewage tanks must be emptied at an approved waste servicing area or by a sewage transport vehicle so a public health hazard or nuisance is not created.
  
  

Construction

• The New Jersey Department of Health requires that the interior surfaces of retail food establishments, including vending carts, be smooth, durable and easily cleanable. The exterior of the vending cart must be constructed using a weather-resistant material. The servicing area for the vending cart must comply with health department regulations as well, including the construction of food preparation and storage areas, sufficient hand-washing stations and ware-washing facilities.