The 100th anniversary of the Indianapolis 500 will take place May 29 and involves a significant Marion County Public Health Department presence in the days leading up to and including the race itself.
What is often called “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” could also be called the “Greatest Spectacle in Eating.” During the 2010 race, Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) concessions stands served more than 1.1 million hot dogs. Also last year, IMS concessions stands served more than 2 tons of Track Fries, 16,000 gallons of soda, cooked more than 10,000 Brickyard Burgers and fried an excess of 2,000 lbs of chicken tenders. More than 14,000 gallons of beer was served and 300,000 pounds of ice are used. In 2010, guests at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway used more than 550 gallons of ketchup during the month of May.
Ten to 12 Marion County Public Health Department Food Safety Specialists inspect the food establishments at the 2-½ mile track several times during the event. All food establishments are licensed and inspected three or more times during the month of May. IMS holds 46 permanently licensed Food Service Establishments and 13 Temporary Food Service Establishment licenses. These establishments are all run by more than 1,700 volunteers from different not-for-profit groups such as band boosters, churches and little leagues. There are an additional 15 third party vendors operating at as many as 125 separate locations inside the track. This includes caterers that prepare and serve all the food for the 120 corporate suites. The third party vendors are permitted to serve items not prepared by the Motor Speedway including ice cream, lemonade, pretzels, walking tacos, Philly cheese steak, sausage sandwich, BBQ ribs and chicken, turkey legs, smoothies, ribeye steak and pork chop sandwiches, corn on the cob, pork on a stick, egg rolls, pizza, biscuits and gravy, cookies, cinnamon rolls, gourmet coffee, apple dumplings and fried dough. There are more than 200 licensed food establishments operating inside the track on race day.
In order to serve food at the Motor Speedway, permission must first be obtained from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Concession Department. Then to operate, the food must come from an approved source and the food vendor must operate from or in conjunction with a fully equipped concession trailer. Each trailer must be equipped with a handsink, three-compartment utensil sink, water under pressure, water heater, liquid wastewater retention tank and adequate mechanical refrigeration. The three- compartment sink must be large enough to submerge the largest piece of dishware or utensil. A handsink is also required in each location the vendor sets up inside the Motor Speedway.
Each vendor is responsible for obtaining their own license and must operate under the guidelines of the Marion County Public Health Department.
Outside the Indianapolis Motor Speedway there are an additional 45 vendors set up along 16th Street and Georgetown Road. These vendors are licensed and inspected by Marion County food and consumer safety specialists and have to meet the same guidelines as the vendors inside the track. These vendors have to rent space from the landowner, as well as obtain a peddler’s license from the Town of Speedway.
