Michigan Officials Worry About Food Safety Due To Vending Machine Inspection Changes

A change in Michigan state law has some local health officials in Coldwater, MI, worried about the safety of food sold in area vending machines. According to The Daily Reporter, Republican Senator Joe Hune sponsored a bill to change all inspections to the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) because local health departments have different inspection, licensing and fee structures for vending machine locations, which are inconsistent, making it a challenge to comply with them all for operators with machines in multiple jurisdictions.

Opponents to the law say that the MDARD doesn’t have the staff to get inspections done at the facilities in their jurisdiction currently. One opponent claimed that it was his understanding that MDARD would not inspect all vending machine, only the commissaries, to which he pointed out that there could be temperature violations at the machine level, etc.

Vending companies at the hearing reportedly complained that health departments “did not do a good job,” and that the MDARD would be a better solution, the source reports.

MDARD claimed that most machines would be inspected every three years, with some inspected on a five-year cycle.