Tracy Mason

No, cooked potatoes and cheese would not be allowed in cottage food items. You’ll need to use a commercial kitchen. http://forrager.com/faq/#commercial

Certain cottage foods cannot be sampled in their prepared state, such as dip mixes. The ability to sell roasted coffee does not include prepared coffee, but some states do allow the sale of coffee and tea because those are low-risk items. You should contact the ag dept to learn about the rules for selling prepared coffee.

It is true that some states allow you to withhold an address on a label if you are listed in a phone book. While I understand that it may be annoying for customers to show up uninvited, it’s worth noting that I haven’t heard of this becoming an safety issue for anyone. The “by appt only” sign is a good idea.

It’s true that lobbying plays a big part in the strictness of Texas. However, when it comes to canned goods, botulism is a major concern.

Thanks for letting me know. I’m looking into the problem, but for now, I just disabled reCAPTCHA, so it should work. Thanks for your persistence and patience!

Taylor, you can find business in any way you want, including using Facebook in a variety of ways. You can sell cakes as long as you follow all of the rules for Florida’s cottage food law: http://forrager.com/law/florida/

You won’t be able to use the cottage food law, since you are not baking the dough at home. Instead, it sounds like you will have to produce the dough in a commercial kitchen.

You would need to use a commercial kitchen and go through a much different, and much more complicated, process of getting a license. Instead of searching for how to sell tea, simply search for how to start a food business in Texas. The rules are similar for all food businesses. You should also talk to your health dept about what you need.

Ed, as far as I know, you would need to use a commercial kitchen to do this. I know it seems impractical but it is the same process that other companies that produce fermented foods use.

Christian, if you are a Class B CFO, then you can sell to commercial businesses, and it is my understanding that they can sell your product by the same means that they sell their own. So assuming that the farmers market vendor is a commercial food business (and not simply a farmer that sells produce), then I would think that they could resell your…[Read more]

Michelle, I’m not surprised that they wouldn’t allow canal water. Usually private water allowances are in regards to underground wells that are not in proximity to animals, waste, etc. Private wells are allowed after they have been tested. Perhaps you could offer to have your water tested, though they might still not allow it because there are too…[Read more]

Juan, I still haven’t heard about any changes in Miami Dade’s policy, but you should contact their health dept to ask if they allow CFOs now. It would be the same with the other counties you mentioned, but I will say that you must use the laws of whichever county your primary residence is in. You can’t just use any county’s law, unless you move there.

I do not know for sure if peanut butter would be allowed, but I assume that it would.

The process for getting setup can be pretty complicated, and is largely dependent on your town or county. The fastest way to get info about how to start this kind of business is to talk to the health inspector in your area. When I tried to setup a business in…[Read more]

First of all, I just want to clarify that the Home Kitchen Operation law is only in a select few counties. If your county is one of the ones that allows homemade baked goods to be sold under that law, then I’d assume that you would still have to package and label the product. The reasons for packaging and labeling are based on health and safety…[Read more]