ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – A lot of traffic moves through the Coors and Rio Bravo intersection. So it’s no surprise that pop-up vendors sometimes set up shop, even though they’re not supposed to.

“Yeah, there’d be food vendors out there, and you should approach them cautiously,” said Kell Platero, a Bernalillo County Health protection manager. 

Platero, says those vendors could put your health at risk. The county recently shut down two pop-up food vendors operating at Coors and Rio Bravo, and Coors and Isleta. 

They say these vendors didn’t have the proper permits, and weren’t following safety practices. 

“We look at the food handling, you know, are they wearing gloves? Are they doing no bare hand contact with foods? Is there safe temperatures? You know, are the cold foods cold or the hot foods hot?” said Platero. 

Photos show some of the issues inspectors found. For example, hot meat stored at temperatures below the CDC’s recommended 140 degrees or hotter. And cheese temperatures measured at 60 degrees, 20 degrees higher than the CDC recommendation which is even printed on the packaging. 

Platero says conditions like this create the potential for people to get sick. 

“The CDC, they estimate about 48 million foodborne illnesses per year, 128,000 hospitalizations, and they estimate about 3,000 deaths per year just with foodborne illnesses,” said Platero. 

So what can you do to make sure you’re buying food that’s safe? First check for a permit and sticker. A green sticker means that restaurant, or vendor, received a passing grade from the county. A red sticker means the place needs to clean up its act. 

“For temporary booths, they’ll have a yellow permit posted, and they will also have the most recent inspection there. If you ask, they should provide that as well,” Platero said. 

Platero says vendors that operate outside the rules just hurt everybody.

“So, you know, you got vendors that are not getting permits or licenses, but you also have a community of food establishments in the South Valley that do have permits, and that’s not fair to them,” said Platero.