Taylor's Maid-Rite is, perhaps more than any other single business, synonymous with Marshalltown.
The loose-meat sandwich shop featuring ground beef Maid-Rites, along with tasty shakes, malts and pies, has been on Third Avenue in downtown Marshalltown for more than 80 years.
It survived the Great Depression and is making it through the current economic hardship - what has been called the Great Recession. But it may not make it much longer.
The Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals is trying to force the Taylor's and many other older Maid-Rite shops around the state to come up with a new process of cooking the meat. After 80 years of doing it the same way with satisfied customers "Round the World," the state accuses Maid-Rite of being unsafe in its meat preparation.
"We believe that this decision is not based on factual data or historic precedent, as there are no reported incidents of food-borne illnesses from foods prepared with the traditional Maid-Rite cooker," said Don and Sandra Taylor Short in a letter to legislators.
The Times-Republican contacted the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals about the issue and asked a number of questions. Specifically, those questions were:
Why now, after 80 years?
Does the DIA know of anyone who has gotten sick from the current system?
A representative from the DIA have asked the owners of Taylor's to retract a letter sent to legislators. Is this true?
DIA Spokesperson David Werning said he could not answer specific questions because the case was still ongoing.
However, in a decision upholding the prohibition of the cooker, an administrative law judge did acknowledge that the DIA changed its position on the cooker.
In a 2006 letter, then-DIA Director Steve Young wrote, "It would be unfair (if not arbitrary) for the department to make a 180-degree shift in its longstanding interpretation without making some accommodation."
Young specifically allowed existing franchises to use the traditional cooker.
The judge further acknowledged that in the two years the case has been under appeal, no one has gotten sick from eating at Taylor's Maid-Rite.
However, when Gov. Chet Culver was elected, Young was let go, and the new administration, under Director Dean Lerner, decided the cookers had to be removed. The administrative law judge in the case, John Priester, said it was a reasonable reversal of policy.
The Shorts are in the process of appealing the decision from the Department of Inspections and Appeals, who want the Taylor's Maid-Rite and others to invest in new cookers, which Don Short said had a price tag of approximately $7,000 each.
Don Short said the cookers are wholly inadequate for Maid-Rite's operation, in which its current cooker can prepare hundreds of pounds of meats each hour.
"These new cookers can only prepare about 20 pounds of meat in an hour," he said. "There's no way. We'd need a whole lot of them to match the production we have now."
The Shorts believe that if their appeal is unsuccessful and the state will not change its mind, "Taylor's Maid-Rite, and many other small-town Maid-Rites, may be forced to close."
As it stands, Don Short said the traditional cookers do a great job of keeping the meat safe for everyone.
"E. coli is killed instantly at 160 degrees," he said. "No one has bothered to come by and see we cook our meat to 200 degrees."
In addition to the appeal, they also took advantage of the recent Marshalltown Area Chamber of Commerce Des Moines Summit and Legislative Day to make the issue known among legislators.
Many lawmakers stop by a table set up where they receive a complimentary Maid-Rite lunch. Those lunches included a letter explaining the current situation
"It just occurred to us that this is the audience we need to reach," Don Short said.
The Shorts said they were contacted Friday by a representative from the DIA, which asked them to retract the letter.
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Contact Ken Black at 641-753-6611 or kblack@timesrepublican.com
