David Crabill
@david
active 10 hours, 46 minutes agoForum Replies Created
- Posts
Because this was posted in the Q&A forum, rather than a state’s forum, I was giving a very generic answer about how usually herbal tinctures and medicines are approved by the health dept. Typically, even the ingestible products would not be considered cottage food products due to the claims made on them.
But there isn’t a blanket answer to this, which is why you should check with your local health dept to see what is or is not allowed in your area.
I am going to be building a labeling system into this website, but that won’t be available for at least a few months. I know there are companies that will take over printing your labels, but I don’t know any that will also figure out how to arrange the label. You could hire a designer to make your labels, but that would probably be expensive.
A lot of CFOs make their labels in Microsoft Word and use a standard Avery label to print them out. If you don’t want to do it yourself, I’d recommend finding someone nearby — perhaps someone young with time on their hands — to make your labels this way.
Dry tea is allowed in some states: http://forrager.com/laws/
You need a commercial license, which will free you from almost all of the limitations you’re concerned about: http://forrager.com/faq/#commercial
You do need to talk to your health dept and I think Etsy is a good place to start online. However, local sales are usually an easier starting point for getting a food business off the ground.
Commercial food processing laws are fairly complicated and often county-specific. You should direct your questions to your local health dept. Once you get your business setup, you will be able to sell in most places with relatively few restrictions.
Yes, you always have to pay yearly income taxes.
I don’t think there’s any exemption — perhaps the ag dept will allow you to hand out labels separately from the item, or possibly hand out the ingredient list separately.
If you look at some products in stores (like candy bars), you can see that a lot of info can be fit onto a small package. It’s also possible to use some creativity to attach the label in various ways, such as with a tag that connects to the item with a ribbon.
I would also personally recommend trying to whittle down your ingredient list! This isn’t always possible, but with some experimentation, I’ve been surprised at how much better a product can be with some simplification. For instance, I replaced store-bought marshmallow creme (8 ingredients) with corn syrup — it improved my fudge and removed an allergen from my product. Try whole wheat flour instead of other flour types. Short, simple ingredient lists also happen to be what increasing numbers of buyers are looking for. This can be a competitive advantage for you.
You will probably still need a business license if your county requires it. However, using the cottage food law will help you bypass a lot of the strict requirements from the health dept, like inspections. I’m not entirely sure if they will allow buttercream frosting, though… check with your ag dept.
It’s probably allowed, but you need to test the product first before you can sell it. http://foodsciencehumannutrition.umaine.edu/food-technology/process-and-product-reviews/
