Advertisement

ELLSWORTH - A health inspector came to the township hall to field questions and give explanations for the seeming increase in enforcement for temporary food establishment licensing over the past summer.

A crowd of around 50, hungry for information, listened and asked questions to Brad Smith, health inspector for Ellsworth, Atwood and Charlevoix County.

People came to find out why all the sudden it seemed so difficult to hold church picnics, street fairs and community fund-raisers without getting slapped with fines.

Smith felt it was important for everybody to have a clear understanding of the rules and the reasons behind them and was happy the Ellsworth Lionesses put on the meeting. He said, "You can beat people over the head with a rulebook but if you don't explain it, what are you really doing?"

Though Smith works mostly with Charlevoix County, more than half the audience was from Antrim County, where community events have been disrupted by health violations.

Smith listened intently to questions and answered them all as tactfully as possible without embarrassing his department. He said his main goal is to keep the public safe and in every case he looks to determine the public health significance.

"I don't want to be a policeman,"Smith said. "I'm supposed to have the luxury to be a public educator."

Audience members had questions from the minute Smith began talking as many seemed to have personal encounters with the health department this summer.

"We've done food events for many years then, all the sudden, this year, it changed with no prewarning,"said Karen Endlein who lives in Charlevoix but works in Bellaire. "If this law's been in effect so many years, where was it? It has upset our community a lot."

According to Smith, there was no change in law recently; rather, they've been on the books for 30 years but because of a change of the guard this year, things are only now being heavily enforced.

Other people feel that the change is because the department wants more money.

Smith explained where the health department comes from and when it has to get involved.

Smith noted the health department regulates only events or activities involving the general public. One way to determine a public event is if signs or advertisements announce it.

Private events, such as ones requiring an invitation like weddings, funerals and graduation parties, need not be regulated, according to Smith.

One major cause of fines has been preparation of food on-site without a license. At any outdoor event, like the harvest festival or bass festival, food served must be either cooked elsewhere or the server must have a temporary license.

But on-site food preparation encompasses more than making sandwiches, roasting chicken or boiling noodles. Even cutting meat, piling olives on crackers or grilling hot dogs is considered food preparation. When food is brought in ready to go, it is catered and the health department allows that.

Most in the audience seemed to be involved in their churches or in civic organizations, of which there are many in these parts. Smith explained those organizations or groups can hold potlucks and bake sales for the general public, because those are homemade and not prepared on-site. At all other public events, food can only be prepared and served in a licensed kitchen.

Smith said he understands the difficulty of this and is willing to work with people to keep costs down. He cited an example of a hot chocolate competition coming up in Charlevoix. He suggested the contestants rearrange the tents and the set-up so not as many licenses need to be issued.

Smith also encouraged people to work closely with their health inspector to communicate what needs to happen. He advised letting the inspectors know what is being planned to work on solutions together. Of top concern was that these regulations are hurting the small town communities that hold all sorts of fund-raisers and activities to encourage togetherness and service.

"If you live in the city, you wouldn't have as many issues because you aren't as social,"said Sue Tillotson of Ellsworth. "We are, in a small town, active in the church and we feed our seniors, and that's what makes our community what it is."

Hadley Robinson can be reached at hrobinson@michigannewspapers.com or by calling 231-533-8523.