[John Brown]

Would you know if you must be licensed in Florida if you are giving hot/cold food away – that is serving food at a business location to your customers? ie, Can a retail store or theatre serving hot dogs, deli items, popcorn, drinks, or anything served to cumtomers, if you are not charging money for it? I know this counds crazy, but if I sell a cumtomer a book or a pair of pants, can I then offer them a sandwich & coffee as a cumtomer thank you in my shoppe? I have seearched high and low on line and cannot find anything on this idea. Thanks much.

[David CrabillKeymaster]

John, I know it’s hard to find this info, but it’s not that crazy! (you’re not the first person to ask about this on here)

Generally speaking, unless you fall under a special exemption (which it sounds like you wouldn’t given the circumstances you’re describing), then you need a license to even give away your goodies. It doesn’t really matter if you’re profiting from it or not: the laws are built in large part to ensure the safety of food. I can’t find a Florida-specific article about this, but I believe that’s generally the case in all states.

If you are willing to restrict the type of food that you want to give away, you could fairly easily setup a cottage food operation, as long as you don’t live in Miami-Dade county.

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