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Which Ohio law takes precedence?

This topic contains 2 replies, has 0 voices, and was last updated by  Jack Beacham 7 years ago.

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  • October 5, 2017 at 11:18 am #39578

    Jack Beacham

    We make pastries for wholesale delivery in our home kitchen, operating under Ohio’s cottage food law.

    We have an opportunity with prospective customer that would require us to have a separate kitchen–primarily oven–that is exclusively used to make gluten-free pastries. They also require an inspection.

    My reading of the home bakery requirements — http://forrager.com/law/ohio-home-bakery/ — tells me that we would not qualify as a home bakery if we were to install a second kitchen (with either commercial or residential class equipment).

    Would constructing a second, exclusive-use kitchen on our home, put us out of the cottage food AND home bakery categories? Would we be liable to the same rules and regs as a commercial bakery? If so, could anyone direct me to what those might be?

    Best regards

    Jack

    P.S. TIA!

    October 10, 2017 at 7:08 am #39639

    FlexChef

    While definition of Home Bakery and Cottage Food Law says:
    A “Home Bakery” is defined in Chapter 911 of the Ohio Revised Code to mean, “Any person who owns or operates a home bakery with only one oven, in a stove of ordinary home kitchen design and located in a home, used for baking of baked goods to be sold.” “Home” means the primary residence occupied by the residence’s owner, on the condition that the residence contains only one stove or oven used for cooking, which may be a double oven, designed for common residence usage and not for a commercial usage, and that the stove or oven be operated in an ordinary kitchen within the residence.

    I am, however, not sure why a second kitchen in the home would restrict you from this. Anyways, as opposed to Cottage Law, the home bakery requires you to have a license and be inspected by the Food Safety Specialist for a fee of $10. I’d apply for home bakery and let me come inspect and say if that’s not feasible. The contact is below:

    contact:
    Ohio Department of Agriculture, Division of Food Safety
    1-800-282-1955 Ext 4366

    October 15, 2017 at 10:49 am #39678

    Jack Beacham

    Thank you for your reply. My confusion is trying to square the language – “on the condition that the residence contains only one stove or oven” with the idea of constructing a second kitchen which would have its own, second oven. It seems irreconcilable.

    In any case, the cottage food law is working for us now. It would do us no good to have the existing kitchen inspected as the prospective is not concerned with it. They are only interested if we have a second, exclusive-use kitchen already operating. We don’t want to incur all that expense (debt!) in hopes that the business will somehow work out (a second set of questions surrounds the local zoning aspects of all of this).

    Thanks again for your insights and suggestion. I think we’ll sit tight until we can get things sorted out.

    Sincerely,

    Jack

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