MDARD outlines food-safety and animal-disease response; bird-flu figures limited by confidentiality

LANSING — Officials from the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) briefed the House Appropriations Subcommittee on “Appropriations - Agriculture and Rural Development and Natural Resources” on their Bureau of Food Safety and Animal Health operations, including the department’s recent work on highly pathogenic avian influenza and retail food safety.

MDARD legislative liaison Mikayla Heffernan and Tim Slowinski, director of the Bureau of Food Safety and Animal Health, described the bureau’s mission to protect food safety, agricultural production and Michigan’s economy, and outlined responses to recent product and animal-disease incidents.

The presentation emphasized rapid response and prevention. Slowinski said MDARD staff removed an apple-sauce product with elevated lead levels from “over 325 locations that the product was known to be distributed to to make sure that product was off the shelves.” He also described a targeted retail sampling effort that identified contaminated cucumbers and helped trace the source to an out-of-state operator, working with the Ohio Department of Agriculture to remove affected products.

Slowinski told the committee MDARD has focused substantial effort on highly pathogenic avian influenza in the last year, saying the bureau has managed multiple large outbreaks and worked with affected operators to contain the virus and support recovery. He also described the department’s bovine tuberculosis (TB) work: after a TB-positive wild deer detection, MDARD identified and tested dairy and beef farms within a 10-mile radius; those tests came back negative and thus did not expand testing requirements statewide. Slowinski noted Michigan’s “split state” TB status, with a four-county modified accredited zone distinct from the rest of the state.

Committee members pressed for more data about avian influenza impacts. Representative Matt DeSena said he had difficulty finding counts of birds that died from the disease versus those euthanized. Slowinski said MDARD does not have a consolidated public total readily available, explaining that “there are confidentiality things” under federal rules and Michigan’s PA 466 of 1988 that can limit the release of location-identifying information. He added, “we do try to be as transparent as possible, as transparent as as the law allows us to be,” and offered to follow up with members’ offices. He pointed legislators to MDARD’s public page for case information: michigan.gov/birdflu.

On baby and children’s products, Slowinski said MDARD conducts inspections and partners with federal agencies on baby formula and other products targeted to children. He told Representative Andrew McKinney that federal inspections for formula can be more detailed and that MDARD coordinates testing with federal partners.

Slowinski also described operational supports for animal-incident response: five emergency response trailers staged statewide to help local responders contain livestock after road accidents; the dairy program that allows Michigan producers to participate in the Interstate Milk Shippers Program; roughly 2,500 consultations per year with new or expanding food businesses; and preparedness exercises for threats such as African swine fever.

The subcommittee requested an updated MDARD organizational chart following a department reorganization. Slowinski and other MDARD staff said they would provide follow-up information to legislators.

Votes and formal subcommittee procedure during the meeting were limited to approving minutes and excusing absent members; those procedural actions are recorded separately.