Dr David A French, thermal process authority

Hi! New here, but I’ve been also researching Virginia’s cottage food laws. Regarding buttercream – unlike the hard stance Virginia takes on cream cheese, the law doesn’t specifically address buttercream so it is a gray area. The key is whether you need to refrigerate it, which mostly depends on the exact ingredients you use and the proportions.…[Read more]

Jenn, usually the only way to find info about this is to call the govt dept directly.

Jay, I’m pretty sure that your equipment doesn’t need to follow commercial standards. You should call the ag dept to make sure.

Thanks so much for the info about that phone number now being invalid! I’ll remove it.

The list of requirements you’d need to go through sounds about right. For a tiny business, it’s not really worth it. The statement that most home food businesses don’t operate under the law also sounds right. And considering that you’re not willing to operate…[Read more]

By definition, a business intends to make a profit. That’s why the IRS will classify you as a hobby if you take a loss for too many years in a row. It is for that reason that I don’t think your gifts or donations could be deducted as a “loss” for your business. If you take the sales you’ve made and deduct the variable expenses for…[Read more]

Yes, that’s doable but usually quite expensive and complicated. It’s likely that the commercial kitchen would have to be separate from your primary kitchen. Unless NJ has very lenient standards, you can expect to pay thousands or tens of thousands of dollars for that remodel. I would personally recommend renting at first and proving your business…[Read more]

Setting aside the sales tax question temporarily, I just want to make sure that you’ve gone through the steps to make sure you’re running your business legally. Are you sure that your county doesn’t require you to get a business license for your chocolate business? More general info: http://forrager.com/faq/#starting

From what I understand, a…[Read more]

No, NY isn’t really setup for a custom food business, since they only allow sales at events and stores. The law is intended for a home cook who makes items and then brings them to an event and sells them there, or sells them to a store for resale. You should contact your health dept: http://forrager.com/faq/#commercial

Yes, as long as you’re using a commercial kitchen and have the appropriate licenses from the health dept and county, you can sell your hot sauce. You need to call your health dept learn about the steps to become a commercial food processor.

Although kombucha isn’t allowed under VA’s cottage food law, you should still talk to your health dept to see if there’s a way you can bottle it at home and sell it. Otherwise, you’ll need to use a commercial kitchen.

I don’t know if it will be legal. The requirements for being a personal chef vary greatly among areas… you should contact your health dept to get accurate advice.

Yes, usually handwritten labels are allowed as long as they’re legible.

No matter how small your business, you still need to go through all of the proper licensing procedures. If you can operate under the cottage food law, you wouldn’t need a permit from the ag dept, but you may need other permits. http://forrager.com/faq/#starting

Chocolate should be allowed under Ohio’s cottage food law. The only thing that could…[Read more]

I’m not sure if MD’s cottage food law allows spices, but I do know that you can’t sell online, nor could you sell interstate. To do those things, you need to use a commercial kitchen: http://forrager.com/faq/#commercial

I’m not sure about VA, but here’s some general info: http://forrager.com/faq/#pet-food

I don’t believe food swaps fall under any regulation, since there is no money trading hands and people aren’t engaging in commerce. California has some extremely strict rules, but I know that food swaps happen in the Bay Area all the time and I haven’t heard of one getting shut down. I assume it would be less strict in MD.

However, the food swaps…[Read more]

You should be able to, but there are strict standards to abide by. What I’ve heard from the ag dept is overviewed in the limitations section: http://forrager.com/law/pennsylvania/#limitations