Temporary Food Events

Forms

Application

Checklist

Information Packet

What is a Temporary Food Establishment?

A food establishment where food is served from the same location for a temporary time frame, not to exceed 14 consecutive days.

Examples include a hot dog booth at a fair, and any place where food is processed, stored, prepared, served, or offered for sale.  It can include, but is not limited to, the following:  

	Mobile restaurant
	Organizations serving the public
	Rental hall
	Catering kitchen

Food establishments do not include the following:  charitable, religious, or other nonprofit organizations serving or selling home prepared food or baked goods in connection with meetings or fund-raising events.
If you need to know if a temporary food license is required for your event, please call the Environmental Health Division at (989) 743-2250.

Temporary Food Licensing Requirements

If you or your organization plan to serve food, some important requirements must be met.  The following information is an overview of the requirements.  Click here to get the complete set of documents.

Food Source:

All food must come from approved sources and/or must be prepared on site in an approved facility.  Home canned and home-prepared foods are not permitted.

Person in Charge:

Must be the permit holder or designee.  The Person in Charge must be present during all hours of operation, and must be able to demonstrate required knowledge in accordance with the Michigan Food Law 2000.

Personnel:

	All employees must be free from open sores and skin infections, and maintain a high degree of personal cleanliness.
	Employees may not smoke, eat, or use any form of tobacco while on duty or near food or food service equipment.
	Food may only be touched with bare hands if it will be cooked after it is touched.
	Food employees must wear hair restraints, beard restraints, and clothing that covers body hair to effectively keep hair from contacting food, equipment, utensils, single service items, etc.

No Sick Employees:

Employees who are sick are very likely to spread disease while handling food.  Therefore, employees who have diarrhea, or are sneezing or coughing are not permitted to work.

Ready-to-eat Food:
Employees may not touch ready-to-eat food with their bare hands. Suitable utensils for handling ready-to-eat food include:

	Tongs
	Deli tissue
	Single-use disposable gloves
	Other types of dispensing equipment or handled utensils

Single Use Gloves must be:

	Worn when handling foods that will receive no further cooking
	Correctly sized to your hands
	Changed between handling raw foods and ready-to-eat foods
	Discarded when torn, contaminated, or removed for any reason
	Changed when interruptions occur in the operation
	Never immersed past the cuff
	Never reused under any circumstances

Cross Contamination:

Raw animal foods must be kept separate from ready-to-eat foods during storage, preparation, holding, and display.  After being used for raw animals foods, utensils and equipment must be cleaned and sanitized before being used for ready-to-eat foods.

Food Temperatures:

Cooking and Hot & Cold Holding: Cold food must be held at 41 degrees F or below. Hot food must be held at 140 degrees F or above.

To significantly reduce bacteria and pathogens on raw food, the following food must be cooked to safe internal temperatures:

  Poultry 165°F

  Stuffed products 165°F 

  Hamburger 155°F 

  Sausage 155°F

  Pork 145°F

  Beef 145°F

  Fish 145°F

Thermometers:

A metal stem thermometer must be provided to check internal temperatures of potentially hazardous hot and cold food.  It must have a range of 0-220° F, and be accurate to within +/- 2° F.

Each cold holding unit must have a numerically scaled thermometer accurate to within +/- 3° F.; 

Food equipment and utensils:

Bacteria can live and grow on forks, knives, spatulas, spoons, and other utensils that touch food.  To minimize the growth of bacteria and prevent contamination of food, utensils must be washed and sanitized at least every 4 hours.

Important tools and equipment:

Thermometer

Proper refrigeration and/or hot hold units

Disposable gloves

Fresh water, soap, and paper towels

Chlorine or other approved sanitizer

Sanitizer test strips

Extra utensils

Clean wiping cloths

Bucket for sanitizer

Information Needed for Application

Business/establishment name Owner's name and address

Owner's phone number

Location (address) of event

Dates of operation (no more than 14 consecutive days)

List of foods and beverages to be offered to the public

Time equipment will be set up and ready for inspection

Time food and beverages will start being served

Signature of applicant