Food trucks operating in Los Angeles may soon have to submit to the same health department regulations as fixed foodservice establishments, including the posting of letter food inspection grades, reports the New York Times. There are an estimated 9,500 mobile food vendors operating in the city, and until now their regulatory requirements have been limited largely to where and for how long they set up shop.
Other big cities have various forms of regulation. New York only issues a set number of permits (3,100, plus another 1,000 seasonal permits) and those holding them are subject to annual inspections. Chicago does not allow cooking in mobile venues, which restricts sales to prepackaged items. In Austin, TX, operators must file their routes with the city.