Wynne Oglageo

In Florida, cottage foods cannot require refrigeration, so ice creams aren’t allowed (even non-dairy ones). I also would not expect the ag dept to allow non-dairy creamers. In both cases, the water activity level (aW) of the product would be high and probably potentially hazardous (cottage foods are non-PHFs).

Betsy, the vinegar wouldn’t be a problem, but I am almost sure that your health dept won’t allow a mustard containing egg. In that case, I don’t think tests are going to help you. If you want to sell a mustard without egg, then you probably won’t need to get it lab tested.

The USDA says that you can still use the word to identify “organic sugar” or other organic products on your ingredients list only, as long as you do the following:

Prevent commingling with non-organic products and contact with prohibited substances.
Meet the USDA organic labeling requirements.
Maintain records for at least three years that…[Read more]

That label wouldn’t be legal. You might be able to use the word “organic” in your ingredients list, if you meet certain requirements. Here’s an overview about organic labeling: http://forrager.com/faq/#organic

The map links to the law page for NY: http://forrager.com/law/new-york/

That page gives a fairly detailed overview of the law and should answer many of your questions. You cannot start an online business from your home kitchen, and if you wanted to start a CFO, you would need to get registered by the ag dept. To start an online food business,…[Read more]

Lauren, I’m sorry you had so many problems! I sent you an email about this.

Hi there,
Had a technical error when trying to build my new CFO page. The loading was failing for registering my region and then when I tried to register my business anyway, I received an Internal Server Error message. I also got a delivery failure when I tried to email your webmaster.

Yes, you would need to use a commercial kitchen. http://forrager.com/faq/#commercial

You cannot do that type of business from home. Instead, you need to use a commercial kitchen. http://forrager.com/faq/#commercial

Sharon, I see that you signed up for the email lists, which are actually separate from the user accounts on the site. That way, you can have a user account (with community/forum access, CFO creation, etc.) without being signed up to the newsletter or blog email lists.

To change your email settings, click the link in the bottom of any newsletter…[Read more]

Geani, probably the best thing would be to create two labels for the different types of cupcakes. If you are selling a package that contains both kinds, then I think it’s okay for you to merge them into one label, but not as useful for the consumer. From what I’ve seen in the grocery store, usually the ingredient lists are separated when a package…[Read more]

I’m not sure about buttercream. Florida’s ag dept has said that it prohibits “milk & dairy products”, but they might allow milk and/or butter in a frosting.