Dunedin City Council Environmental Health team leader Ros MacGill said the expo at Sammys in Cumberland St was visited by a health officer on Saturday, as the agency had been unable to speak to organisers earlier to ensure they complied fully with all health by-laws.
Expo organiser South Murdoch could not be contacted yesterday for comment.
Following concerns raised with the Otago Daily Times by a member of the public who said she was disappointed she could not see live tattooing displays at the event, Ms MacGill said last night Environmental Health "did not shut down the expo".
"We visited to be assured organisers had registered tattooists, as required by the by-laws," she said.
Ms MacGill said it was discovered an unregistered Dunedin man was there to give tattoos.
The Environmental Health officer spent an hour with him to ensure he was fully compliant with all the necessary sterile procedures, making some minor suggestions, and the tattooist was then "left to it".
She added Environmental Health was unaware of how much live tattooing took place during the reminder of the day and had asked for copies of all customers' tattoo consent forms in order to gauge the number of clients there were.
It was understood, but not confirmed, that some registered tattooists were unable to attend the expo because of other commitments.
