Earlier in the week, a video went viral showing a health inspector pouring bleach on a taco stand’s food.
The video, which is less than a minute long, shows a city worker wearing a blue shirt and a lanyard. She is pouring bleach all over the ingredients at the Denver-based Tacos Tacolorado.
“The vendor was supposedly cited for a violation (details fuzzy, like maybe no temp logs or permit hiccup during the event), but instead of just fining or shutting down, the inspector went full scorched-earth to render it inedible,” reads one post about the video, in part.
Seeing this clip, people became incensed. But was there more to the story?
People Say The Inspector Went Too Far
Immediately, the action was met with condemnation across the internet. People voiced their support for the Tacos Tacolorado, with voices coming out from across the political spectrum to voice their support for the stand.
In some cases, people argued that this event was the result of government overreach. Republican former West Virginia House of Delegates member and January 6th attendee Derrick Evans said the event was simply the result of the stand owner “[refusing] to pay the fee.” Right-leaning outlet The Daily Caller wrote an article about the incident, saying that the health inspector engaged in an act of “Bleach-Soaked Tyranny.”
Others saw this as a punishment being unfairly doled out on a Latino-focused business. A few even specifically accused the health inspector of harboring racial resentment. “Guaranteed she’s a bigot and a racist,” wrote a user on X. Another user on X compared the incident to the St. Augustine Swim-In, when Black people protesting for racial justice swam in a Whites Only pool, only for a man to pour acid in the water.
After a few hours of anger, however, more details emerged. So, what really happened?
Why Did This Health Inspector Pour Bleach On This Taco Stand?
According to 9NEWS, the city did not want to pour bleach on the taco stand. Rather, it did so as a last resort, as the stand had been caught violating rules multiple times.
“This kind of enforcement is never our first step,” said Denver Department of Public Health & Environment spokeswoman Emily Williams. “It does look extreme, but the situation itself is extreme.”
Williams says that the city has long tried to work with Tacos Tacolorado to resolve ongoing issues over “several weeks.” The stand had been repeatedly cited for operating without a license and for violating food safety rules.
At the time of the bleach pouring, public health officials found several major health issues with the stand. First, the stand was keeping cooked meat at 54°F and 82°F; health and safety rules require cooked meat to be at a minimum of 135°F.
Other meat was also improperly stored. For example, the stand’s raw meat was not in cold storage; instead, it was in a cardboard box under the table. When inspectors asked the stand to remove the unsafe food, they proceeded to take “approximately 100 pounds of pork and several pounds of chorizo into a locked box truck,” which they then refused to unlock for investigators.
There were also cleanliness issues. To offer another example, the stand had no sink. Instead, it had a trash can full of contaminated water.
The Owner Responds
Isidro Garcia Barrientos, who identified himself as the food stand’s owner, told 9NEWS that he was working on getting permits to operate the stand legally. He also denied that he had been previously contacted by health inspectors, saying that when the inspectors did actually arrive, they did so without identifying themselves.
Williams contests this claim. First, badges showing identification and accreditation can be seen in the now-viral video—indicating that the inspectors did, in fact, identify themselves.
Second, Williams says that their inspectors had repeatedly told staff about the issues with the stand. They also managed to get the owners’ contact information and forward the information onto them. Williams provided evidence of these interactions to 9NEWS. Additionally, Williams clarified that such communications were made in Spanish, the owners’ native language, to ensure there was no miscommunication.
A statement further clarifying the incident was posted to the DDPHE website.
“It feels extreme,” Williams says of the bleach incident, “but also the violations in this case were extreme.”
BroBible reached out to Tacos Tacolorado via Instagram direct message and the DDPHE via email.