BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- Street food vendors call him "El Diablo Blanco." In English, he's "The White Devil." That's because he tickets vendors without a permit and confiscates their food. He's Forrest Harrison, one of Kern County's health inspectors. He may be a villain to some, but he's a protector of health to the public, targeting unpermitted street food vendors who often prepare their food in filthy conditions that can make you sick and even kill you. "It's a serious problem and a serious health hazard," said Harrison.

Within minutes of hitting the road, ABC 23 spotted several vendors selling corn and fried chips, which Harrison says are usually cooked in galvanized trash cans in their garage or yards.

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"The zinc and lead leech out of the container and go into the food," said Harrison.

If eaten, the lead can lead to lead poisoning, learning disabilities in kids, and other health problems. We stopped Juan Flores, who admitted this is the second time he's been caught for selling food without a permit, but that's all he can do since losing his job as a fieldworker. "There's no other way or job. It's something or nothing. This is something. I need to pay the bills," said Flores. "I understand his situation, he needs to feed his family. We understand that, but he needs to find another way to make a living," said Harrison.

Flores got a notice to stop selling. If he had his ID on him, he'd be ticketed and sent to court to face hundreds of dollars in fines. Instead, Harrison confiscated the food so that it would not be sold again.

"It's not fair, but you need to obey the law, I guess. Not all of us work cleanly, so [Harrison's] just doing his job," said Flores.

Next up, was stopping fruit vendors on the side of the road, whom Harrison says often use the field or ditch behind them as restrooms. "And after urinating and defecating in that field, they come back and start fixing your food for you or putting the lime on," said Harrison.

Harrison says doing so can easily spread e-coli, E. coli, salmonella and even polio. We tried to stop a vendor who fled into a nearby business. But when we asked the owner to pull her out, he kicked us off his property.

"People who are defending the vendors may think they are being good samaritans but they are just making the problem worse," said Harrison.

Vendors and their defenders have nicknamed Harrison "El Diablo Blanco" or the "White Devil."

"I might be 'El Diablo Blanco' to the people on the street. But just like how you don't get a hug from the policeman giving you a ticket, I'm really just doing my job, and at the end of the day, we're just trying to protect the health of the public," said Harrison.

Our final stop was at a home where neighbors complained the owners were selling food out of their backyard. What we discovered was a full-on restaurant with food sitting next to an open tool shed, among trash and plenty of flies.

"The young man says they sell to less than a 100 people a day. Just Saturday and Sunday," said Harrison.

The police were called in to keep the peace as Harrison gave the notice to the owner and confiscated the food.

"Unfortunately people turn to extreme ways to make a living in today's economy and this is just one way but it's against the law," said Harrison.

He says his job is an uphill battle because even though the vendors are given notices and their food confiscated, "They're back on the streets the next day," said Harrison.