Thao Yang

Buttercream frosting is almost always safe, but some states and health depts still don’t allow it. Usually this is because they prohibit all uncooked dairy products in cottage foods, even though butter is perfectly safe when left unrefrigerated. So in this instance, I’d say it’s not a matter of whether or not it is perishable, but rather that it…[Read more]

If you are taking a commercially-produced food item and altering it in any way, you are then processing it, which must be done in a commercial kitchen. You can resell some types of commercially-prepackaged items without needing a commercial kitchen, but that doesn’t sound like it would apply in this case. http://forrager.com/faq/#commercial

You need to use a commercial kitchen. You can build one in your home, but that can be very expensive. You will need to talk to the health dept about the requirements for commercial kitchens. http://forrager.com/faq/#commercial

You should contact the ag dept about selling the teas and syrups… I don’t think you can sell them from your office. I believe you can only sell them at certain public markets and stores, so you might need to produce them in a commercial kitchen to sell them at your office.

I’m not familiar with the laws for selling deodorant, and you can try…[Read more]

Usually the two factors working against cottage food laws are health depts and existing businesses. Many health depts don’t like them because they consider food produced in an unregulated (home) environment to be a potential hazard to the public health that they can’t control. Existing businesses obviously lobby against them for fear of increased…[Read more]

I’d recommend contacting the sales tax division in Pueblo to see what you should be charging. Here’s some generic info about sales tax: http://forrager.com/faq/#sales-tax

Here is some basic info about starting your business: http://forrager.com/faq/#starting

My “advice”, if you will, is to start out small and don’t get too caught up in trying to…[Read more]

Sorry I didn’t see this sooner, Wanda! Try entering “Spiro, OK”, and that should work.

That wouldn’t fall under a cottage food law since you’re not selling it. I think that, technically, you would need to use a commercial kitchen, but most of the people who do this type of charity, like the Burrito Riders, don’t bother.

CO’s health dept has chosen not to include donuts on their allowed list, which means they’re probably not allowed unless they’re baked donuts. I don’t think jam, jelly, or frosting would be an issue… I believe that anything fried would not be allowed. http://forrager.com/faq/#commercial

Usually truffles are made using cream, and therefore they are more likely to be considered a potentially hazardous food. Some states don’t allow them.

Technically both states’ laws could govern the sale. At the very least, the laws for your state will come into play, which means that you wouldn’t be able to sell any homemade food, even if it was sold out-of-state.

Some states disallow sales of homemade food from other states, even though they allow their own citizens to sell homemade food in…[Read more]

The cottage food laws are only if you want to use your home kitchen. You could use the cottage food law to sell your seasoning, but you’d have to adhere to the restrictions listed under the law.

If you want to ship and/or sell out-of-state, you’ll need to use a commercial kitchen and get the appropriate license from the health dept. It will…[Read more]