Jill

Assuming your pudding has dairy and/or eggs in it, no, it would not be allowed under IL’s cottage food law. You’d need to produce it in a commercial kitchen. See the notes below the allowed foods list: https://forrager.com/law/illinois/#food

The only way to legally sell meat empanadas is to use a commercial kitchen and get licensed with the health dept. Most likely you would rent someone else’s at an hourly rate. Here’s some more info about finding a commercial kitchen: https://forrager.com/faq/#commercial-kitchen

Hi,
Thank you so much for getting back to me. Ok, so I understand that meat empanadas are not permitted. Is there a way to apply for a license/permit and have a kitchen inspection done in order to sell meat empanadas?
Thanks again!

Although she can’t sell meat empanadas from home, she should be able to sell homemade fruit empanadas.

From the “Cottage Food Guidance” PDF file available from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services website:

Can I make and sell foods with meat fillings such as empanadas?
No. Meat products or foods with meat fillings are not allowed.

Thus, she may NOT sell them from her home. The sale of meat-filled empanadas requires a…[Read more]

There is still the $1k limit if your county allows home kitchen operations and you’re selling outside of a farmers market. But as you mentioned, the law is changing and this limit is going away in 2022. If it were me, I’d probably fly under the radar for the next couple of months instead of going through the time and expense of setting up a…[Read more]

You should probably check with a lawyer or someone in Tallahassee, just in case, but, as far as I know, when you register the name of your LLC on Sunbiz, it’s already done, but a DBA is a separate thing if you are using a name other than your own without having an LLC (or Inc).

I don’t know if there’s any rule against using your LLC’s name…[Read more]