Rajesh Anandakrishnan

Salads do not fall under the cottage food law… you need a commercial license: http://forrager.com/faq/#commercial

You need a commercial (and catering, I believe) license, and you need to cook your foods in a commercial kitchen: http://forrager.com/faq/#commercial

You can’t do this from your home kitchen. You can build another kitchen onto your home, but this can be really pricey. http://forrager.com/faq/#commercial

You don’t need a license from the ag dept. You may need a business license, depending on where you live.

The reason they are not on the list is because I couldn’t find any firm info online that verified that candy is allowed in MD. However, I also couldn’t find any evidence to suggest that they are not allowed. So I really don’t know, and you’ll need to call the health dept to find out.

Usually restaurants and grocery stores are more lucrative if you can get them to carry your products. Most startups just do whatever they can get their hands on, or whatever they have the time for. Selling to individuals takes less time and effort, and can be more rewarding because you develop relationships with your customers. But it just depends…[Read more]

You would need to make the muffins and cookies in a commercial kitchen. As far as I know, it isn’t possible to do at home. http://forrager.com/faq/#commercial

Colorado actually doesn’t specifically say in their online resources that shipping is disallowed, but if you asked the health dept, I’m 95% sure they would say no to shipping. You can interpret it however you want, but interstate sales are definitely not allowed.

I don’t think those are allowed under the cottage food law.

I know someone in San Francisco (Cookie Dough Cookies) that was approved to sell cookie dough made with pasteurized eggs. He doesn’t freeze it but that doesn’t matter. Even still, your county might not allow it, but it’s definitely possible.

Yes, it is beyond the cottage food law, so there is no way to do that kind of business from home. http://forrager.com/faq/#commercial

I know you need a business license and you need to file taxes every month. I don’t know if they require you to get an EIN… usually you only get one if you are an employer of others, but sometimes it’s necessary for other reasons. You should ask about that when you apply for your business license.

No — no drink items are allowed.

This is not a cottage food business since you are not preparing the food. I believe you’d just need to get a seller’s permit or something, and I think the health dept issues them.

You could attach a tag or you could have the ingredients separate. The most important thing is that all the info is attached in some way.

Yes you can advertise online — you just can’t sell online.

The difference is that you are not meeting the end consumers like you would be at a farmers market, so it’s not allowed, as far as I know. Also, it’s not entirely clear what is an allowed food in Maryland, but tortillas are probably not allowed because they’re not baked.