Aila Hazelwood

It depends on what state you live in, but in almost all states, cheese cannot be an ingredient in any cottage food item. Baking dried tomatoes into bread will probably be allowed. Jalapenos are less likely, but possible if they’re baked in the bread.

It is true that some states allow you to withhold an address on a label if you are listed in a phone book. While I understand that it may be annoying for customers to show up uninvited, it’s worth noting that I haven’t heard of this becoming an safety issue for anyone. The “by appt only” sign is a good idea.

Here’s a blog post I wrote about pricing: http://forrager.com/2016/05/the-price-is-wrong/

I do not think that any cottage food law is sophisticated enough to specify bartering transactions as monetary transactions that count against your sales limit. If it were me, I’d only count monetary transactions against the sales limit, and I’d be highly surprised if ignoring bartering transactions were illegal.

This website has the most comprehensive statewide directory available: http://forrager.com/cfos/?regions=california

There isn’t any statewide, govt initiative to list all CFOs, but there are a few health depts that have lists of CFOs in their counties. Off the top of my head, I think Sacramento, LA, San Bernardino, Orange, and a few others have a list.