David Crabill
@david
active 1 day, 12 hours agoForum Replies Created
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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.
There are some counties that will not approve anything that isn’t explicitly on the approved list, and it sounds like you’re in one of those counties. In that case, you either need to adapt your products or go the commercial route.
MUCH MORE IMPORTANTLY, I would never recommend spending hundreds of dollars to get unvetted recipes approved. I can understand why the health dept is frustrated… although it is now their job to approve CFOs, their much bigger and more important job is to inspect the commercial facilities in the area.
I highly recommend cutting your menu back to just a dozen or two dozen recipes and giving those a shot so you can see what it’s like to run a business. Figure out what you think is most likely to sell and focus on those, and then add more things down the road if you’re successful.
Here’s the link: http://www.statefoodsafety.com/Cps?productType=Food+Handler
Since La Plata County isn’t listed under Colorado, my guess is that you can take the general one for the “State of Colorado”, though you should confirm with your health dept.
At the very least, you need a sales tax certificate and you may need to get other local permits.
http://forrager.com/law/louisiana/
http://forrager.com/faq/#startingSamantha, you may need licensing and you need to reach out to your county. You probably don’t need insurance unless a sales venue requires it.
http://forrager.com/faq/#starting
http://forrager.com/faq/#insuranceI’m not entirely sure why they haven’t yet approved chocolate-covered strawberries, but it may have something to do with their shelf life. It also may be because chocolate-covered fresh fruit typically falls under catering. You can sell whole, uncut strawberries without a license. http://forrager.com/faq/#commercial
I don’t know of any caveats. Actually it sounds like you’re exactly on the right track and doing everything you need to do! Good luck!
John, could you provide some references to back up your claim? It’s not about the requirements being “more” or “less” — it’s just that the requirements are different because they’re managed by a different dept. I wouldn’t be surprised if some states allow homemade pet food, but I haven’t yet confirmed that any do. Many states require animal feed to be produced in an approved, inspected facility.
Yes, fondant should be allowed.
Regarding the sales limit question from the original post, it’s not specifically “enforced”… it’s more of an honor roll thing. But it’s good to think of the cottage food law as an umbrella. If you stay within the rules and the law, you are under the umbrella and protected to a certain degree. If you don’t follow the rules and someone sues you, then you’re in a much more vulnerable position. You do have to report yearly business income but it’s not like the health dept will be checking it. If someone really didn’t care about staying legal and following the law, then they would just disregard it and sell food without any license, which is pretty common.
