Rhode Island Can you legally sell food from home in Rhode Island?
Cottage Food Law
In 2022, Rhode Island passed H 7123, becoming the last state to allow all residents to sell homemade food. Prior to 2022, Rhode Island only had their Farm Home Food Manufacture law, which 99.8% of residents couldn’t use.
This law allows anyone (not just farmers) to register as a “cottage food manufacturer”, which costs $65 per year.
Unlike most states, Rhode Island only allows manufacturers to sell nonperishable baked goods, and limits sales to $50,000 per year.
Manufacturers can sell directly anywhere within the state, including selling online and shipping products within the state.
Farmers that sell at least $2,500 of agricultural products per year can also use the Farm Home Food Manufacturer law, which has no sales limit and allows other types of products.
Selling Where can you sell homemade food products?
Allowed Foods What food products can you sell from home?
If you sell at least $2,500 of agricultural products per year, you can use the Farm Home Food Manufacturer law, which allows all types of nonperishable foods.
Limitations How will your home food business be restricted?
Your pets must ALWAYS be kept out of your kitchen and other food prep areas (even when not preparing food).
Business What do you need to do to sell food from home?
Before registering, you must take an approved food safety training course, such as Learn2Serve’s Food Handler Training course, which costs $8 and takes about 2 hours to complete online.
Before you can sell your food products, you must register with the health department, which costs $65 per year.
To complete your registration, you must:
- Fill out the application form
- Sign and notarize the affidavit of compliance
- Complete other requirements listed in this section
- Create a sketch of your kitchen on your property
- Verify your SSN or EIN
- Pay the $65 fee
When you register, you must attach labels for all of the products that you will sell in your business.
If the home is on private water supply, the water supply must be tested once per year.
When you register, you must include the location of your water source and septic system (if applicable) on the sketch of your property.
Labeling How do you label cottage food products?
"Made by a Cottage Food Business Registrant that is not Subject to Routine Government Food Safety Inspection" (10-point type)
Forrager Cookie Company
123 Chewy Way, Cookietown, RI 73531
Phone: (123) 456-7890
Ingredients: enriched flour (wheat flour, malted barley flour, niacin, iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), butter (cream, salt), semi-sweet chocolate (sugar, chocolate, cocoa butter, milkfat, soy lecithin, natural flavors), brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs, vanilla extract (vanilla bean extract, alcohol, sugar), baking soda, salt (salt, calcium silicate)
Contains: milk, eggs, wheat, soy
If you prepare a product in a commercial kitchen, you do not need to include the above statement on your label.
Workplace Are there any home kitchen requirements?
You must have all of your recipes (with ingredients, quantities, processing times, & procedures) available in your kitchen for review by an inspector.
If you use a commercial kitchen to produce your products, you must maintain a record of the dates that you used the commercial kitchen.
You must either have a 2-compartment sink or a dishwasher with a sanitizing function that reaches 150 degrees Fahrenheit.
There are many other workplace requirements that you can find in Section 21-27-6.2(1 & 2) of the law.
Resources Where can you find more information about this law?
- Department
- Rhode Island Department of Health
- Telephone
- (401) 222-2749
Center for Food Protection
- November 2022
- H 7123
Preet
Jaklyn Travis