What do produce, French-style cheeses, Coney dogs, and baby formula have in common? The answer is all have been featured in news stories this year about Michigan-based food producers or restaurants that were the focus of food safety investigations, closures, and recalls by local, state, and federal authorities.¹

According to estimates by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 1 in 6 Americans suffers from foodborne illnesses annually, with approximately 130,000 hospitalized and 3,000 dying from contaminated food products.² Knowing where to find information about food-based disease outbreaks, product recalls, and food laws is important not just for attorneys representing restaurants, food producers, or those injured by tainted food products, but also for anyone interested in health matters.

STARTING YOUR RESEARCH

It is often best to start your research with official state and/or federal government websites to find regulations and statutes on food law and safety. Among the most important Michigan laws are the Michigan Food Law, passed in 2000 and substantially updated in 2015,³ and the 2012 Michigan Modified Food Code, an amended version of the federal Food & Drug Administration 2009 Food Code.⁴ Additionally, Michigan’s current food and dairy laws, recent food code changes, and updated fact sheets are all available on the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development website.⁵ At the federal level, Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations and Title 21 of the United States Code deal with food and drug regulations.⁶ The United Nations’ Codex Alimentarius works to develop international food standards, which may be most useful for attorneys representing clients who import or export food items.⁷

RESEARCHING OUTBREAKS AND RECALLS

One way to get started is to use terms like “track food outbreak Michigan 2022” in Google to find news stories on outbreaks and related state and federal laws. Another good source is looking for terms such as “food,” “restaurant,” or the specific food product type within the same sentence as illness (/s ill!) in Westlaw’s American Law Reports or the news, law journals, and law review databases in either LexisNexis or Westlaw.

Foodborne outbreak information and reports of specific incidents can be researched on county, state, and federal government websites. At the federal level, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) maintains several useful websites including the National Outbreak Reporting System.⁸ Among the most useful is the CDC List of Multistate Foodborne Outbreak Notices, which gives detailed information on the types of illnesses, product brand names and retailers, actions consumers can take, details about investigations, and states affected by outbreaks.⁹ The CDC also maintains an Active Investigations of Multistate Foodborne Outbreaks website, which is updated every Wednesday¹⁰ and includes a list of multiple food- and water-based disease monitoring projects around the country on its Surveillance and Data Systems page.¹¹ For scientific investigations into recent outbreaks, the CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports on Foodborne Illness and Outbreaks is a good resource for papers from public health experts.¹²

After investigating outbreaks and determining that specific food products have harmed people, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service take action, generally in the form of mandatory or voluntary product recalls or product withdrawals.¹³ Current information is found on the FDA Recalls, Market Withdrawals, and Safety Alerts and the USDA Recalls and Public Health Alerts websites.¹⁴ For attorneys working with food producers, the FDA Industry Guidance for Recalls provides information on recalls, relevant Code of Federal Regulations sections, definitions, and model press releases.¹⁵ In Michigan, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Foodborne Illness, Food Security, and Recalls website allows individuals to submit requests for investigation and learn about active food recalls statewide.¹⁶ Consumers can also report illnesses through many Michigan counties’ health department websites; some also have links to state and CDC websites for additional reporting.¹⁷

PREPARING SAFE FOODS FOR SALE

In addition to the Michigan and federal food laws previously mentioned, there are additional authorities to consult regarding the safe preparation of food for sale.¹⁸ Much of this regulation is done at the local level in municipal ordinances, and many of these local codes and ordinances on food service operations are available on Municode’s Michigan page listed A-Z by municipality.¹⁹ The Michigan Restaurant and Lodging Association MichiganFoodSafety.com website has information on safe food handling techniques and relevant laws for businesses and the public.²⁰ Finally, individuals preparing food in home kitchens for sale can refer to the Michigan Cottage Food Law, which provides guidance for production facilities and preparation methods that should keep customers safe.²¹

CONCLUSION

Legal professionals who need to research food safety laws, product recalls, or submit reports of harm to individuals have a variety of very good, free resources to use as a starting point. It may be most helpful to work with local, state, and federal websites to research a case to make a more accurate determination if a local foodborne illness might be statewide or national in scope.