Food Safety Resources

Health Department of Northwest Michigan

District Office 220 W. Garfield Ave. Charlevoix, MI 49720 | 800 432-4121

4-county Health Department with offices in Otsego, Charlevoix, Emmet and Antrim counties.

If you are building a new building or remodeling an existing establishment or structure, you can jump right in and begin the Plan Review process. If, however, you are buying an existing establishment and plan to run it “as is”, we recommend a call to the Health Department first. We have records on all existing food establishments under our jurisdiction, and can tell you before you buy if you would be inheriting any previously identified problems. Our sanitarians can be very helpful in pointing out potential pitfalls.

For information and resources on opening a permanent food service establishment, go to: http://www.nwhealth.org/food-rest.html
For information and resources on opening a temporary food service permit, go to: http://www.nwhealth.org/food-temp.html
Find a information on ServSafe classes here: http://www.nwhealth.org/pubs/CFM%20poster.pdf

Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development

PO Box 30017 Lansiing, MI 48909 | 800-292-3939

Food safety is MDARD’s top priority. Find links on their webpage for:

Commonly Used Food and Dairy Links
Hepatitis A : Food Recall and Public Health Alert
Manager Certification
Water Handout PDF icon
Farmers Market Information
Cottage Food Law
Food and Dairy Licenses
Food Safety Modernization Act
Michigan Food and Dairy Laws
Food Inspection Reports (MiSafe)
Michigan Farmers Safe Food Risk Assessment Program
Michigan’s Smoke Free Air Law
Receive and View Food Recalls
Michigan Food Safety Alliance

MSU Extension Community Food Systems

319 Court Street Sault Ste Marie, Michigan 49783 | 906-635-6368

MSU Extension supports the development of community food systems in Michigan by providing resources and programs to develop local food policy councils, farm-to-institutional purchasing, food hubs and farmers markets. Farmers, consumers and communities partner to create a local, self-reliant food economy that improves access to all community members to an adequate, affordable nutritious diet.

MSU Extension Agrifood Safety Workgroup

517-788-4292

Agrifood safety ensures to your buyers that you have thought about how your actions impact the safety of the food you grow. Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) Audits are how your buyers confirm agrifood safety on the farm.

The Agrifood Safety Minute is designed to highlight one small aspect of food safety on the farm every week or two.  You’ll find relevant guidance documents and blank templates for food safety logs in the resources box on this page. The focus is on teaching you how to make small changes that yield a significant impact, and allow you to get one step closer to GAP certification with every weekly lesson.

On-Farm Food Safety Project

7115 W. North Ave. #504 Oak Park, IL 60302 | 708-763-9920

Click here to download the On-Farm Food Safety Tool. This tool utilizes a number of decision trees that help you assess and address areas of food safety risk that are unique to your operation. Using this tool will help you develop a food safety plan and help prepare you for a food safety audit should you decide to pursue GAP certification.

To view a sample food safety plan, click here.

How to Use the Food Safety Tool:

Creating a food safety plan takes time. However, you can save your work and return at a later time. Begin by collecting all of your food safety information, documentation, and any training materials that you may already have. Some examples include your food safety policy, accredited laboratory test results, and employee training logs. These will come in handy when you are asked to enter information and attach certain documents.

Once you register to use this tool, you will be guided through a series of questions where you’ll answer Yes or No. The questions are divided into the following risk areas: General Requirements, Worker Health and Hygiene, Previous Land Use and Site Selection, Agricultural Water, Agricultural Chemicals, Animal and Pest Control, Soil Amendments and Manure, Field Harvesting, Transportation (Field to Packinghouse), Packinghouse Activities, and Final Product Transport. For a list of typical audit questions pertaining to the above risk areas, please visit our Resources section.

Servsafe

National Restaurant Assoc. 175 W. Jackson Blvd. Suite 1500 Chicago, IL 60604-2814 | 1-800-765-2122

The ServSafe Food Safety Training Program leads the way in providing current and comprehensive educational materials to the restaurant industry. More than 4 million foodservice professionals have been certified through the ServSafe Food Protection Manager Certification Exam, which is accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI)-Conference for Food Protection (CFP). ServSafe training and certification is recognized by more federal, state and local jurisdictions than any other food safety certification.

Tamarack Holdings

1610 Barlow St. Suite 201 Traverse City, MI 49686 | 248-765-8041

We’re a passionate group of professionals leading our family of businesses and other clients, to successfully reimagine the food and beverage business, one bite at a time.  We are strategists, land use planners, technologists, marketers, designers, engineers, and number crunchers.