Hi there,
Last week, Arizona's governor signed HB 2042, Arizona's new food freedom law!
As you might recall, just a year ago, Arizona looked like it was about to get a food freedom law, but their governor vetoed their bill. It was rare and shocking and sent ripples through the news.
In fact, I'm not sure she realized the kind of backlash that she'd receive for vetoing the popular bill. Perhaps that's why she signed it this year? It's hard to know.
But one thing we do know is that this year's bill is almost exactly the same as last year's.
The only significant change is that this year's bill prevents perishable foods from being sold through "third-party food delivery platforms" (DoorDash, Grubhub, etc). There were also a few other very minor changes, but all-in-all, they were extremely minimal concessions if you ask me.
As a result, when this bill goes into effect later this year (likely September or October), it will turn Arizona's already good law into a great one!
Most importantly, their new law will allow many types of perishable foods to be sold directly to consumers, even including foods made with meat in some instances (similar to Iowa's law).
Their new law will also effectively eliminate Arizona's "buttercream ban". Despite having a good law overall, their health department has always prohibited frostings that include dairy. Now, Arizona bakers will be able to use almost any kind of frosting on their baked goods (assuming they are sold directly to the consumer).
Kudos to lawmakers for sticking with it (I know the Institute for Justice played a big role), keeping the pressure on, and finding a way to get this passed!
Forraging ahead,
David