Mobile Food Services NAICS 722330

May 14, 2025 - Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

• While food trucks typically use propane tanks to fuel their cooking equipment, they may also rely on portable generators to provide temporary power for lighting, refrigeration, point-of-sale systems, Wi-Fi, and more, according to Catersource. To reduce noise, food trucks may use generator sheds alongside their trucks – an unsafe and dangerous practice, according to the Portable Generator Manufacturers’ Association (PGMA), which does not recommend their use. The Consumer Product Safety Commission advises never to use generator sheds because they can concentrate deadly carbon monoxide (CO) gas. Symptoms of CO poisoning include headache, dizziness, nausea, fatigue, and disorientation. The PGMA also encourages the purchase and use of portable generators that meet ANSI/PGMA G300-2018 or later safety standard requirements, which include built-in CO shut-off systems to protect against dangerous carbon monoxide levels. Food trucks should also have a secondary CO detector inside for added protection.
• Restaurants added a net 16,600 jobs in April, according to preliminary data from US Bureau of Labor Statistics. The job gains came despite rising uncertainty that have kept consumers from visiting restaurants as frequently. (In April, industry bellwether McDonald’s reported a 3.6% year-over-year decline in first quarter same-store sales, citing reduced spending by low-income consumers.) April marked the second straight month for restaurant job gains, following about 30,000 new jobs added in March, and a rebound from a job loss of 28,300 in February and 27,000 in January — the weakest two-month period for the industry in more than four years, according to the National Restaurant Association. Limited-service restaurants continue to post the strongest job growth, led by coffee and snack concepts, up more than 20% versus March 2020. Quick-service and fast-casual concepts are about 2.4% above pre-pandemic readings.

• Mobile Cuisine polled over 500 food truck and concession vendors to ask what they consider an acceptable wait time for their customers. How long is too long to wait for a food truck meal? While acceptable wait times varied, the survey showed patrons are more patient than might be expected. While about a quarter of those surveyed (26%) said nothing less than 5 minutes was acceptable, the sweet spot was 5-8 minutes with 41% of respondents in agreement. Of those polled 13% said 8-10 minutes was acceptable, while 9% agreed on 10-15 minutes. Surprisingly, 11% said more than 15 minutes was an OK time to wait for orders. To make longer waits pass more quickly, Mobile Cuisine suggests using beepers or text messages to notify customers when their orders are ready, allowing them to step away from the line.
• Food carts in New York City are feeling the pain of “egg-flation,” The New York Post reports. Maria Chuqui, a cook at the Mexican Food and Breakfast cart in upper Manhattan, said that a box of roughly 240 eggs that cost $90 two months ago now costs $217. "I have never paid so much for eggs," Chuqui told the Post, adding "People don't want to pay more for eggs, but I will have to raise prices soon. I sell an egg and cheese for $4 and an egg, bacon and cheese for $5. I will have to raise prices by $1." Inflation, labor shortages, and bird flu are to blame. The average price of a dozen grade-A eggs hit $4.95 nationally in January, exceeding the previous record of $4.82 reached in January 2023, and nearly twice what a dozen eggs cost a year earlier, according to BLS data.