The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) is starting an online food establishment inspection report system called MiSafe. Consumers can just type in the establishment name, street address, and city and see more than 19,000 inspection reports.
The reports cover grocery and convenience stores, food processors, and food warehouses. Those facilities are inspected every 6, 12, or 18 months, depending on the perceived food safety risks and complexity of food handling. These inspections will follow the updated food safety regulations that go into effect on October 1, 2012.
According to the government, violations of food safety laws are problems that can lead to foodborne illness, food contamination, or an environmental health hazard. Severe violations that aren’t corrected during an inspection usually require a follow-up inspection within ten days.
Restaurant inspection reports are not included on that site. But some of the local health departments that conduct restaurant, school, and hospital inspections do post them online; you can access them at the government pages for Barry-Eaton, Genessee, Kent, Macomb, and the group of Calhoun, Detroit, Ingham, Jackson, Kalamazoo, Livingston, Muskegon, Ottawa, Washtenaw, Wayne, and Western U.P. For more information, visit the Michigan Food Safety portal.
