Kim Krukowski

I don’t see anything in the Illinois Cottage Food Law relating hand washing and packaging.
The hand washing is for food sampling which is a separate issue from packaging. The sampling rules mention
“pre-packaged” food items that will be used for sampling, but again, that is a separate issue from what I am asking about.

Often you are exempt from having to charge state sales tax, but you may need to charge local sales tax. It also depends on where you are selling (may have to charge it at a fair, for instance). http://forrager.com/faq/#sales-tax

Maple syrup isn’t specifically mentioned in VA’s cottage food law, so I’m not sure if you’re exempt from inspection, though you may be. You can sell your maple syrup as a home food processing operation, but that requires an inspection. You should contact the ag dept about this.