I Love Food Truck Fries, Not Food Truck Fires

I remember as a young kid my dad stopping at the side of the road after hockey practise and getting us kids french fries from “the chip truck”. These hand cut chips were the best fries I ever had. Today, “Chip Trucks” or “Mobile Catering Trucks” are the new rave. Today the food truck is no longer selling just french fries, but rather gourmet meals catering to all cultural favourites from Greek kebobs to Jamaican jerk chicken to Polish pierogi and homemade Argentinian choripans.

One wouldn’t think that a food truck out in the middle of a parking lot or at the side of the road could be dangerous, but tragically an incident changed all that. The Guelph Mercury reported that on July 6, 2015 at around 3 p.m., the Guelph Fire Department responded to a fire at Dad’s Mobile Food Service. A grease fire has caused an estimated $20,000 in damage to a south-end food truck eatery. The Guelph Fire Department’s Gary McDonald said the fire was caused by “the ignition of combustible grease products,” likely by some sort of smoker appliance.

To date, NFPA 96 does not have any specific codes or standards for “Food trucks”, but that is changing. Committees and focus groups are compiling recommendations and they will be reviewed and considered for upcoming editions.

Our professional cleaning services can prevent food truck grease fires. Ensure you get regular inspections and cleaning of your cooking equipment and exhaust hoods, if installed.  We sell hood filters if you need to replace your broken baffle filters.  We also sell disposable Safety Shield filters that can be installed over your baffle filters to prevent grease from entering your exhaust system.  Remember, your safety standards affect your customers’ safety. Call or visit us today to inquire about all our food truck cleaning services.