Floyd County Health Department Uses Bank Street Brewhouse to set 'Foodborne Diseases' Photo Shoot

Last week the Floyd County Health Department updated its website with the above photo, showing one of its trucks in front of the NABC Bank Street Brewhouse. Under the photo, runs this blog entry:

"Each year, 1 in 6 Americans gets sick from, and 3,000 die of foodborne diseases. Reducing foodborne illness by just 10% would keep 5 million Americans from getting sick each year. Preventing a single fatal case of E. coli O157 infection would save an estimated $7 million. - From the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention"

Was the backdrop a coincidence?

NABC co-owner Roger Baylor doesn't think so. In June, the Floyd County Health Department issued Baylor's business a citation for dispensing beer without a temporary food permit at a outdoor concert at Bicentennial Park, The Evening News and The Tribune reports. Baylor is appealing it, telling the News and Tribune, his "company 'can find no coherent precedent' for requiring alcohol vendors to obtain a temporary food permit." Baylor's also been blogging prolifically about the case.

As for the photo, Baylor writes, "The health department's photo implies [that his restaurants have had health issues], and as such, it's reprehensible. As you think about this, bear in mind that the FCHD is a government agency."

"I'm pretty sure that was an accident," said Dr. Tom Harris, Floyd County Health Officer, pointing out that the picture was labeled "stock photo." When told that an NABC Bank Street Brewhouse employee witnessed the photo shoot the Wednesday before it was posted, and asked how many restaurant pics the Floyd County Health Department's photo archive contained and that Floyd County is 148 square miles, was it really an accident that its most recent website photo was taken in the 10 feet in front of the NABC Bank Street Brewhouse, Dr. Harris said that it was his department's prerogative to post what it wants on its website.
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[Photo: Courtesy Floyd County Health Department]