Jahan Ranjbor has been feeding hungry passersby in the financial district for 14 years.

He’s built up a following of regular customers who visit his King St. W. stand each day for hot dogs and Italian, Polish and German sausages.

Ranjbor is now allowed to expand his menu beyond hot dogs and sausages. But he doesn’t want to.

“A lot of people, they know me . . . I don’t want to change it now.”

City council unanimously approved a new policy Thursday that will allow food cart vendors to sell several new items, including soup, coffee, tea and a number of precooked and prepackaged items, in addition to hot dogs and sausages.

The changes come into effect once the current council meeting ends.

Some vendors interviewed by the Star are hesitant to change their menus, citing a lack of money to expand and a worry that customers won’t bite at the new offerings.

Peter Karopoulos works at a stand at Queen St. W. and Bay St. He used to own a cart, but said he went out of business after being kicked out of his Yorkville spot.

When customers aren’t ordering from the cart — he said business is slower at Queen and Bay — he meticulously tidies containers of hot dog and sausage toppings.

He likes the idea of giving customers more choice but said many vendors can’t afford to expand.

Adding more items will also slow down the selling process, he said.

“People want (food) in 30 seconds delivered. Customers will get fed up eventually.”

Other vendors, like Saied Sharafinik, plan to take advantage of the new policy. He’ll probably add precooked veggie burgers and soup to his menu.

A lack of water supply to his cart, which is only steps from Nathan Phillips Square, makes offering coffee or tea more difficult.

“We need (a lot of) power for that.”

Sharafinik is disappointed the new list doesn’t include French fries. But he still may be able to add the treat to his menu.

The rules allow vendors to apply to Toronto Public Health for permission to sell items that aren’t on the list.

After they receive a request, health officials will inspect the vendor’s cart to ensure they can safely offer the item, said Toronto Public Health quality assurance manager Sylvanus Thompson.

“Depending on what they have, we might make some suggestions to them about what additional modifications they might need before they get the approval,” he said.

Street food advocate Darcy Higgins thinks council is moving in the right direction.

Some vendors will stick with tried-and-true hot dogs and sausages, but he said many in the food cart business are eager to add culturally diverse offerings.

“We’re . . . pretty confident that public health will allow lots of different types of foods to finally be sold.”

Allowing current vendors to expand instead of creating a new system is a departure from the a la Cart program, introduced under former mayor David Miller.

The program was supposed to add healthy and culturally diverse items to food cart menus but was largely a failure, tangled up in regulations and costs, Higgins said.

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Thursday’s move indicates council has an appetite to further liberalize street food rules.

Higgins and the rest of the Street Food Vending Working Group plan to propose further changes to the city in November.

Lifting a moratorium on permits for new food carts downtown is at the top of the group’s wish list.

With files from Daniel Dale.

New Menu offerings

Prepackaged cut fruits and vegetables using only vinaigrette dips

Whole fruits and vegetables, including corn on the cob

Prepackaged fruit salad

Bagels with individual serving containers of butter, margarine, peanut butter or jam

Prepackaged nuts and seeds

Prepackaged salads containing only vegetables and/or fruits with all dressings to be prepackaged and not requiring refrigeration

Prepackaged tabbouleh salad and pita bread

Soups

Precooked veggie burgers

Coffees and teas