Temporary Food Information

Forms

• Application  (Must be received at least 10 days prior to the event)
• Application Instructions
• Information Booklet

For Existing Licensed Food Trailers/Special Transitory Food Units (STFUs): Notification of Intent to Operate STFU

What is a Temporary Food Establishment?

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) 743-2341.

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:

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