| The Environmental Health Division of the Barry-Eaton District Health Department, under the authority of the Michigan Food Law of 2000, regulates all known food service establishments and public food service events subject to licensure within the jurisdiction of Barry and Eaton Counties. | |
The mission of the Environmental Health
Division as it relates to food safety is to promote and maintain food-safe
measures and sanitary conditions at all licensed food service
establishments and events, which lowers the risk potential and occurrence
for foodborne disease.
Program Objectives and Goals |
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 | To conduct risk-based audits of food service establishments, which evaluate control measures for the five food code interventions for food safety: |
- Demonstration of knowledge
- Implementation of employee health policies
- Hands as a vehicle of contamination
- Time/temperature relationships
- Consumer Advisory
| To Ensure that the operator has effective control over the five foodborne illness risk factors: |
- Poor personal hygiene
- Food from unsafe sources
- Inadequate cooking
- Improper holding temperatures
Contaminated equipment
| To rapidly respond to any know or suspected illnesses, incidents, or
foodborne outbreaks for the measures of public health intervention.
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The Environmental Health Division oversees licensing and audits of all restaurants, school kitchens, mobile food wagons and their commissaries, catering kitchens, concession stands, certain types of food vending machines and temporary food events that require licensure within Barry and Eaton Counties. With the exception of vending machines and temporary food events, audits are unannounced and generally occur two times a year unless additional audits are required due to non-compliance with the FDA Food Code or in response to complaints.
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A Food Service Establishment Audit Report is generated at
the end of an audit. This report details for the person in charge any
observed violations and the correction schedule for them.
An establishment’s 13 month history of audit reports (excluding temporary food, vending machine, and STFU audits) is available by clicking here. |
INTERPRETING AUDIT REPORTS
The audit report will include the following:
| Name of facility |
| Address |
| Audit date |
| Type of audit (i.e. routine, follow-up, enforcement follow-up) |
| Rule number and name |
| Evaluator’s observations |
| If the violation was critical, what actions were taken to correct it. |
Right hand column:
Critical
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If there is a "yes" next to "Critical", this means that the violation is considered to pose an increased risk for foodborne illness. |
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When possible, critical violations are to be corrected at the time of the audit; otherwise they shall be corrected within 10 days of the audit date. |
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If there is a "no" next to "Critical", the violation is considered non-critical and is subject to correction within a maximum of 90 days from the date cited. |
Repeat (Yes)
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"Repeat Yes" indicates that the violation was a critical violation that was observed and documented during the previous routine audit, was corrected, and was found at the current routine audit. |
Corrected (Yes)
| "Corrected Yes" indicates the violation was corrected during the audit. |
Note: When interpreting a report, try not to focus on the number of violations cited, but on the violations themselves. Keeping in mind that critical violations are violations that may increase the risk for foodborne illness.
Who needs a food service license?Any person or facility doing the following:
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| Fixed – Annual, Seasonal, and Limited |
| Special Transitory Food Unit (STFU) |
| Temporary |
| Mobile |
| Vending |
The license year is from May 1 – April 30th of the following year for all licenses, except temporary licenses. Temporary licenses are good for 14 consecutive days at a single location. Please contact the Environmental Health Division for additional information on temporary license requirements or for information on obtaining a license in the middle of a licensing year at (269) 945-9516, x. 3,5 in Barry County and at (517) 541-2580 in Eaton County.
The license applications and additional information can be found on the Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA) web page. Please read the Temporary Food Checklist prior to submitting a temporary food license application.
FOOD SERVICE PLAN REVIEW |
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| The Michigan Food Law of 2000 requires review and approval of plans, specifications, and standard operating procedures (SOPs) for all new construction, change of ownership or remodeling of foodservice establishments prior to beginning construction to: |
| Ensure compliance with the foodservice sanitation and construction code requirements. |
| Provide an assessment of the proposed project as to the design layout for employee accessibility and function in relation to the proposed food menu and the population being served. |
| Prevent any misunderstanding by the operator as to what is currently required. |
| Prevent construction errors which could lead to operational problems and/or additional financial cost to the operator. |
| Assure that all foodservice operations as they relate to food safety and sanitation can realistically be met through a set of written SOPs provided by the operator. |
The plan review process involves a review of the following areas of design, function, and operation:
| Facility layout |
| Food equipment and specifications |
| Menu |
| SOPs |
| Food safety knowledge and training of employees |
The Environmental Health Division currently has three (3) food service license categories that would require a plan review:
A Fixed Food Service Establishment plan review is required for the following:
| New food service facilities |
| Extensive remodeling of a current food service establishment |
| Change in type of a food service establishment (Example: Facility is
changing from a Chinese restaurant to a deli.) |
A Fixed Limited Food Service Establishment plan review is required for the following:
| An existing non-food service establishment (i.e., church) that plans to
hold 4 – 12 licensable meals per year. The license will be
"limited" to the type and number of meals served. |
A STFU Food Service Establishment plan review is required for all facilities that meet the following definition: "a temporary food establishment that is licensed to operate throughout the state without the 14-day limits or a mobile food establishment that is not required to return to a commissary."
A Mobile Food Service Establishment plan review will follow the criteria for a STFU plan review.
Please use the following links to obtain plan review information:
| Plan Review Guidance Manual (72 pages) |
| Plan Review Packet |
Please be aware that if you are thinking of building, remodeling, or purchasing a facility in which plan review is required, no construction or changes can be made until written approval of the plans has been issued by the environmental health division.
FOOD SERVICE EDUCATION |
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| The Environmental Health Division of the Barry-Eaton District Health Department, in outreach to our food service operators and the local communities served, provides free educational materials, consultation, and group talks on issues of food safety. In addition, the Environmental Health Division provides and/or hosts training opportunities throughout the year for individuals interested in furthering their food safety education. |
| Barry County - August 3 & 5, 2010 |
| Eaton County - September 28 & 30, 2010 |
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Food Safety Management Principles |
An accredited food safety and management certification course that provides one day of instruction. The course covers the principles and science of food safety through learned activities, class instruction, and testing.
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Barry-Eaton Food Safety Media Library |
VHS videos are available to rent free-of-charge on such topics as Chinese Restaurant Food Safety, Effective Handwashing, Four Steps to Food Safety, HACCP: Charting a Safer Course (6-part series), ServSafe Introduction to Food Safety (4-part series), and others.
For further information on any of the above training opportunities and the media library, contact the Environmental Health Division at (269) 945-9516, x. 5 in Barry County or at (517) 541-2615 in Eaton County.
| Cooking for Groups - A Volunteer's Guide to Food Safety |
A 40-page color guide book published by the USDA Food Safety and Audit Service that walks consumers though the steps necessary to safely plan and serve food for a large group or event.
| Behind the Counter |
A bi-annual food service newsletter published by the Environmental Health Division that covers a variety of food safety issues/concerns, State regulations, and topics of interest within the food service industry.
| Handwashing Highlights |
A brochure published by the Environmental Health Division on the importance, frequency, and proper technique of handwashing.
| Do I Have a Foodborne Illness? |
A brochure published by the Environmental Health Division that defines foodborne illness, common symptoms, associated risks, and prevention measures.
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A foodborne illness is an infection or intoxication resulting from the ingestion of food/water that is either biologically or chemically contaminated. Biological contaminants may include harmful bacteria, viruses, single-celled microorganisms, or parasites. Chemical contaminants may include heavy metal leachates, pesticides, cleaning chemicals, etc. | ||||||||||
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Most foodborne illnesses are associated with one or more symptoms of nausea, vomiting, fever, abdominal cramps or diarrhea and typically last only a few days. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has estimated that 76 million individuals in the United States suffer from a foodborne illness each year and that an estimated 5,000 deaths occur per year due to foodborne illness. The Michigan Department of Agriculture defines a foodborne disease outbreak as an incident where:
Who is at risk of a foodborne illness?Everyone is at risk for a foodborne illness. Certain risk factors such as age (the very young and elderly), predisposed medical conditions, individuals with compromised immune systems, and/or pregnancy may greatly increase your susceptibility for contracting a foodborne illness as well as the severity of a foodborne illness. What are the most common causes of foodborne illness?
What should you do if you think you have a foodborne illness?First, seek medical attention if your illness is perceived to be severe or prolonged (symptomatic for more than 24 hours). Second, contact the Environmental Health Division to report a foodborne incident and preserve (do not freeze) any suspect food leftovers for possible laboratory analysis. In Barry County, call (269) 945-9516, x. 3,5, and in Eaton County call (517) 541-2580. CONSUMER COMPLAINTSIf you do not have a foodborne illness, but wish to express concern with regards to the practices or cleanliness of a particular food service establishment, then you may contact the Environmental Health Division and report your findings. |
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