Tacos Don Rafa food truck on U. campus closed due to health violations

Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

SALT LAKE CITY — The Tacos Don Rafa food truck on the University of Utah campus was closed this week due to multiple health violations, according to the Salt Lake County Health Department website.

The food truck, also known as Tacos Don Rafa: The White Truck, was shut down Tuesday after health officials found six violations, according to a health department report.

Health department inspectors visit each restaurant in Salt Lake County at least once a year to conduct routine inspections, according to health department spokesman Nicholas Rupp. The health department shuts down an average of one restaurant a week due to violations, according to Rupp.

Health officials found that the Tacos Don Rafa truck did not have a valid food service permit on file with the Salt Lake County Health Department, according to the report. They also found that the truck did not have a working hand-washing sink.

The commissary for the food truck also did not have a working sink and was not clean, according to the report.

A commissary refers to a non-mobile facility where food truck and cart workers can store food and do prep work for food later served at the truck or cart. All mobile food establishments in Salt Lake County are required to have a commissary in order to be granted a food service permit.

At the Tacos Don Rafa commissary, health inspectors found that raw meats were being stored at room temperature, according to the report. A food worker at the commissary also was “caring for a young child in diapers,” the report states.

The food truck hasn’t been reopened as of Friday, according to the health department website. The truck operators will need to apply for a health department permit and go through the permitting process before the truck is reopened, Rupp said in an email. As of Friday morning, the truck operators had not applied for a permit, Rupp said.

Food establishments that are closed due to violations typically reopen after health inspectors conduct follow-up visits and confirm that the issues have been addressed.