Los Angeles (April 25, 2008) – Selling bacon-wrapped hot dogs in Los Angeles can land you in jail. Seriously. Last year, licensed hot dog vendor Elizabeth Palacios got 45 days in County Jail for ‘health code violations’ stemming from the sale of her bacon-wrapped hot dogs. In order to stay out of jail, Palacios now sells plain hot dogs.
The newest Drew Carey Reason.tv video examines Los Angeles’ over-the-top regulation of hot dog vendors (Palacios needs three permits just to sell hot dogs) and catches the cops protecting and serving LA’s citizens with a vital bacon-dog bust.
The Reason.tv report details how Palacios’ business has suffered since she was forced to stop selling these famous downtown delicacies. It turns out there are plenty of unlicensed vendors more than happy to meet the high customer demand for bacon-wrapped hot dogs.
The government’s solution to this crime wave? If Palacios buys a government-approved cart that is much more expensive than her current cart, the health department will sanction the sale of bacon dogs. If she doesn’t upgrade, more fines and jail time await Palacios.
Full Video Online
The full Reason.tv Drew Carey video, Food Fight: Battle of the Bacon Dogs, is online at: http://reason.tv/video/show/392.html.
An archive of Drew Carey’s Reason.tv videos is here: http://reason.tv/featuredvids/.
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