David Crabill
@david
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Although cottage food operations cannot sell items that require refrigeration, I believe that almost any gluten item that would be allowed under the law would also be allowed if produced gluten-free. Gluten-free items may not have as long of a shelf life and refrigerating them may help preserve them, but they probably wouldn’t become potentially hazardous if left unrefrigerated. If they simply become moldy, then they aren’t hazardous, despite being undesirable. Cottage food products can be refrigerated, but they just cannot require refrigeration, like meats do. A lot of CFOs across the country do sell gluten-free baked goods.
You cannot ship to other states.
I hope that helps, and let me know if you have more questions.
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 I’ve heard of are purely volunteer events, and it sounds like you’re trying to collect money from people to setup there, so you’d essentially be a market, I think. If you are collecting money from people for the space, then you’d probably need to talk to some dept, and there may be a license for you to get.
You would not be able to use the cottage food law. You would have to get a commercial license and rent a commercial kitchen.
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
No — you can only sell at your home, markets, roadside stands, and via delivery to event venues.
Hummus wouldn’t be allowed since it requires refrigeration. http://forrager.com/faq/#commercial
It is legal to sell online in some states, but it’s almost always illegal to sell interstate. The cottage food laws are all state-implemented (not in federal food code), and Pennsylvania is the only state I’m aware of that allows interstate sales. Even then, other states could prohibit sales from PA CFOs. Production from a home kitchen isn’t generally a viable option if interstate sales are part of your business plan.
Even in the states that allow in-state online sales, the product usually cannot be shipped.
Roger, it’s likely that you actually haven’t been offering the hot chocolate under any kind of legal structure in the past, so there probably isn’t a legal way you can continue what you’ve been doing. Two ideas:
1. Provide the hot chocolate dry with hot water available for people to mix their own. This may still not be allowed, but it would be more likely to be approved by the health dept.
2. Inquire with the ag or health dept about whether there is a special permit for hot drinks. Sometimes items like coffee, tea, and maybe hot chocolate don’t require the extensive licensing that other food items do. It helps that you’re offering commercially-produced hot chocolate mix. However, the scale of what you’re doing would still likely result in it being quite a hassle.By the way, that’s amazing that you spend thousands of dollars on hot chocolate every year — that’s quite the donation!
I don’t think you have to have liability insurance, though some venues (eg farmers markets) may require it.
I think you could use that code, but a more accurate one may be 44529, because likely you will be selling your products outside your home.
That would all be illegal as far as I know. I’m not sure how strict central Kentucky is about following the laws though.
