Raw meat, vegetables, even baby sharks: Illegal vending plaguing SF Chinatown

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Raw meats, produce, and even baby sharks are all sold illegally on the streets of San Francisco's Chinatown. Merchants say this has been causing many problems for the community. They are fed up and voicing their frustrations at a meeting with the mayor's office, Department of Public Health and Department of Public Works on Wednesday.

Edward Siu of the Chinatown United Merchants Association, which represents 175 businesses, has been at odds with for years.

"We have a lot of merchants who have paid for rental, insurance, license, and everything. The illegal street vendors don't have to pay for anything," said Siu.

But that's just the beginning. Siu says food is sometimes picked from the trash and resold. He shared a tale of a woman, caught picking pig skins from the trash. When questioned about what she was going to do with the discarded meat, she said she'd make sticky rice and sell it for 50 cents each.

"If someone eats it, they'll get stomach flu," exclaimed Siu.

Merchants along Stockton Street say the illegal vending also causes them to lose business.

MORE: SF health dept. launches campaign against unpermitted food vendors citing 'unsanitary conditions'

"They usually block the street - even when I ask them, they refuse to leave." said Peter Lo, who has owned Wellman's Pharmacy for nearly four decades.

Business owners say what's left behind by illegal vendors breeds vermin and keeps tourists away.

"The Chinatown image is no good because it's a lot of garbage right here," points Mei Zhu, who owns a small grocery shop.

The Merchants Association says they last met with the city, public health and public works in the spring but nothing has changed since.

"The city knows about it. The health department knows about it. Why don't they stop them?" said Zhu.

ABC7 News spotted Department of Public Works employees asking vendors to seek a $450 permit for the year. We witnessed them pack up and leave. Then an hour later, the vendors were back, except in full force. Multiple vendors and shoppers congregating at Pacific and Stockton.

MORE: Alcohol being illegally sold outside SF Oracle Park despite enforcement, I-Team uncovers

"Look at the one on the corner, they don't care," says Siu.

Some shoppers in the area expressed sympathy for them.

"They're not the criminals, they're just trying to make a living," said one woman who said the city has bigger issues to worry about.

But merchants say there these aren't just elderly residents trying to make a buck.

"They already have Social Security. We find some street vendors get food from the food bank, also from food stamps. That is totally not right."

ABC7 News anchor Dion Lim reached out out to the Department of Public Health Wednesday for specifics about the situation in Chinatown and have yet to hear back.

The mayor's office tells her they encourage the agencies to work together with Chinatown, and urge illegal vendors to get permitted.

After our report, the Department of Public Health released this statement:

For clarification, SFDPH conducts regular unpermitted street vending inspections and enforcement in Chinatown with our vending enforcement task force agency partners at least twice per week in addition to special operations based on observations and community feedback. Inspection and enforcement days can vary each week and include issuing notice of violation and impounding unsafe food and/or equipment. In addition, recently the SFDPH contacted and partnered with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) based on community concerns of whole raw seafood street vending in Chinatown. DFW staff have already successfully cited three individuals for unpermitted sales of fish, shark and seafood caught in the San Francisco Bay.