FEARING outbreaks of salmonella, health inspectors have banned the sale of unrefrigerated eggs at Baltimore's popular downtown Farmers' Market.
Is this going too far? We don't think so. As new virulent strains of salmonella have appeared, prudence requires that particularly the vulnerable - infants, children and old people - are protected against the preventable dangers of food poisoning.
Some patrons and vendors are upset at the crackdown, which has effectively eliminated egg sellers from the Sunday morning market. But authorities predict stepped-up enforcement of health regulations not only in the city but throughout Maryland.
"Nobody likes new regulations. But every time there is a food scare, that registers very strongly in the people," explains Tony Evans, who coordinates farmers' markets for the state Department of Agriculture.
In its 23 years, the city Farmers' Market has become a tradition that draws hundreds of patrons each Sunday to a parking lot beneath the Jones Falls Expressway, near Holliday Street. Some 40 local venders there offer a cornucopia of wares - fruits, vegetables and meats; prepared foods, baked goods and plants - in a convivial but scruffy atmosphere that recalls the open-air markets of Eastern Europe.
The number of outdoor farmers' markets has steadily shot up elsewhere in Maryland, too. Some 65 now operate at various locations from the western reaches of the state to the Eastern Shore. Yet demand is bigger than supply.
State regulations are clear on the storage and preparation of "hazardous" foods like eggs: They should be stored, displayed and transported at temperatures below 45 degrees Fahrenheit.
Because of concerns about salmonella outbreaks in the summer heat, city health inspectors cracked down on egg vendors at the Farmers' Market a few Sundays ago. "We are seeing more salmonella here in Baltimore and around the country, and we are far more strict on the enforcement of egg requirements," city Health Commissioner Peter Beilenson explained.
Because enforcement is up to local officials, it is uneven around the state. But Baltimore and Harford counties are among jurisdictions that are toughening attitudes toward outdoor vendors selling "hazardous" foods.
Farmers' markets should be recognized for what they are - one-day outdoor events that cannot match the storage or sale conditions of permanent stores. Inspectors should not victimize them for that.
But neither should patrons at those markets be deprived of reasonable safeguards that attempt to protect them from unhealthy food.
