Michael Dutcher, DVM, Acting Deputy Associate Commissioner for Food Products
Michael Dutcher, DVM, is the Acting Deputy Associate Commissioner for Food Products in the Office of Inspections and Investigations (OII). He leads the Food Products Inspectorates, which includes the Office of Human Food Inspectorate (OHFI) and the Office of Animal Food Inspectorate (OAFI). OHFI includes 13 human food field divisions and OAFI includes 2 animal food field divisions.
Dr. Dutcher directs the FDA's Food Products Inspectorate staff responsible for conducting domestic and foreign inspections, investigations and product sample collections at human and animal food manufacturers and on farms covered by the Produce Safety Rule.
Most recently, Dr. Dutcher served as the Acting Assistant Commissioner for Human and Animal Food Operations and the OHAFO Deputy Director. Previously, Dr. Dutcher was the Director of the Minneapolis District Office in ORA, where he oversaw inspections, investigations, and other field work in four states, and Division Director for human and animal food. At the Minneapolis District, he collaborated with states and the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine to develop a risk ranking process for animal food firms that preceded CVM's current animal food risk algorithm, piloted one of the FDA’s first mutual reliance agreements with the State of Wisconsin, and established the first partnership agreement that included strategic goals for both human and animal food.
Dr. Dutcher has more than 20 years in federal service including national, regional, and local level roles at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and the New York National Guard, where he was commissioned with the rank of captain. At USDA, he oversaw the bovine tuberculosis eradication program, took part in international program audits in Australia and Mexico, served on incident management teams for multiple outbreaks including bovine tuberculosis, contagious equine metritis and exotic Newcastle disease, and worked with the Wisconsin Veterinary Medical Association to develop a new approach to drug residue prevention with veterinarians and producers.
Dr. Dutcher received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan and a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Michigan State University. He performed post-graduate work in pathology at the University of Illinois and epidemiology at the University of Maryland.