A stomach-churning tale of hot dog carts gone bad (yes, there are mice involved)

Street meat lovers may want to rethink their devotion to hot dogs thanks to a seriously gross Toronto Star article on vending cart health violations. The newspaper found that 55 carts in the city received warnings about health infractions in the past four years. The standout, however, was Elisaveta Moskova, who has been selling sausages with her husband for over 20 years and has held up to a dozen licences. In November, inspectors found five dead mice and about 150 mouse droppings in her cart at Queen and Simcoe. That cart was shut down, and when Moskova tried to get a new vehicle licence, her case went before the Toronto Licensing Tribunal. The city asked the tribunal to review another six of her current “non-motorized refreshment vehicle licenses” because of poor inspection results. Moskova defended herself by saying the infractions occurred when she wasn’t working at the carts. In the end, the tribunal said only two of her carts were bad enough: the dead-mouse cart was denied a licence, and a second licence was put on probation. Even more unnerving, DineSafe only provides inspection info for 120 fixed location carts—and not the other 366 mobile hot dog purveyors. Yipes. [Toronto Star]