For a Michigan transitory food unit (TFU) that serves in more than one county, start with the unit’s license number, then identify both the office that processes its license and the local health department for the event location. The event area receives the unit’s notice and may evaluate it while operating; the state’s current intent form tells the operator to send copies of all evaluation reports to the local health department that processes the license within 30 days after receipt. One county’s event file is therefore only part of the trail.
| Record to match | First office to ask | Identifiers that prevent a wrong match |
|---|---|---|
| Unit license and plan-review history | Licensing office identified on the unit record; confirm whether it is a local health department or MDARD | Unit name, license number, operator and business address |
| Notice for a particular stop | Local health department where food was served | Event name, dates and hours, specific site address, city and county |
| Evaluation during that stop | Department that evaluated the operating unit; also ask the licensing department for the copy it received | Same unit license number, evaluation date and event site |
Confirm that the unit is a TFU
Michigan’s food-service licensing page calls a TFU a permanently licensed, nonfixed food operation formerly known as a Special Transitory Food Unit (STFU). That older label remains on the 2026 intent form. A mobile food establishment is a different license category that returns to a licensed commissary at least once a day; the local-regulator licensing resources specify servicing and maintenance at least once every 24 hours. Do not use a TFU event-notice trail for a unit identified only as mobile until its license type is confirmed.
Food trucks serving food for immediate consumption generally fall under food-service licensing through local health departments, as the state licensing page explains. A business primarily selling, storing or manufacturing retail food follows a different MDARD food-establishment route. A truck’s appearance at a fair or market does not by itself tell you which category or office holds its file. The site’s Michigan inspection-record guide covers the broader local-health-versus-state lookup; here the question is how to connect one traveling unit’s records across stops.
Use the event notice to locate the visit
The MDARD plan-reviewer resources page links the current Notification of Intent to Operate form and says it is not a plan-review form. Before serving in a local health department’s jurisdiction, the license holder must notify that department in writing of each location and the dates and hours of service. The form updated June 4, 2026 says the notice must reach the destination department at least four business days before service.
The form asks for the unit name and license number, operator, business address, event name, start and end dates, operating hours, exact site address, city and county. It also asks which local health department licenses the unit, or the licensing county if MDARD licensed it, and whether a paid evaluation is requested. These fields give a practical search key: “the truck at the September fair” is less precise than license number + event site + dates. The form’s back page lists agency contacts; check the current directory before sending a request.
Bring the evaluation back to the licensing file
The 2026 form says that, while the TFU is in operation, its license holder must request and receive two evaluations per licensing year, spaced generally across the operating season. Both evaluations must take place while the unit is operating at an event. It says copies of all evaluation reports go to the local health department that processes the license within 30 days after receipt. That makes the evaluation date and the licensing office important even when a different department performed the event visit. Ask the event department for its report and the licensing department for the copy and associated license record. If one office cannot locate a report, give it the other office’s name and the unit’s license number; an empty search result does not prove no evaluation occurred.
Keep the plan-review resources separate from event notices and operating evaluations. The intent form expressly says it is not completed during plan review. If you need the approved unit plan or later changes, ask the licensing authority for that file by unit and license number rather than assuming an event notice approves equipment or menu changes. For a wider food-truck record check, the site’s food-truck inspection guide explains why a dated inspection and a current operating claim should be kept apart.
Sources checked September 29, 2026. The form and agency pages explain where to look; they do not establish any particular truck’s current license, compliance or food safety. Obtain the dated license and evaluation records before treating a missing online entry as a clean history.