Zenith

Sorry, I don’t know either. I would think that it would be allowed, but I can’t verify that. You will need to call your health dept for the answer.

I don’t think that’s allowed, but you could call the health dept to see if the exemption for donated baked goods extends to online sales.

You will need to use a commercial kitchen to start your business. http://forrager.com/faq/#commercial

I’m not sure if MD’s cottage food law allows spices, but I do know that you can’t sell online, nor could you sell interstate. To do those things, you need to use a commercial kitchen: http://forrager.com/faq/#commercial

Although cottage food operations cannot sell items that require refrigeration, I believe that almost any gluten item that would be allowed under the law would also be allowed if produced gluten-free. Gluten-free items may not have as long of a shelf life and refrigerating them may help preserve them, but they probably wouldn’t become potentially…[Read more]

I don’t believe food swaps fall under any regulation, since there is no money trading hands and people aren’t engaging in commerce. California has some extremely strict rules, but I know that food swaps happen in the Bay Area all the time and I haven’t heard of one getting shut down. I assume it would be less strict in MD.

However, the food swaps…[Read more]

That sentence actually refers to licensing requirements from a health or ag dept, which you don’t need. You always need to abide by any local or general business requirements, which could be explained better on the site. Here’s some info about that: http://forrager.com/faq/#starting

You must follow Maryland’s laws, and I don’t think they will allow you to sell in PA.

I’d recommend a sole-proprietorship. Please see here: http://forrager.com/groups/california/forum/topic/can-you-expand-answer-on-llc/

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.

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.

Yes, that’s correct. Generally, starting a cottage food operation is the cheapest way possible for you to start a food business legally. In terms of the last question, you might want to check out the book “Cooking Up A Business”, by Rachel Hofstetter: http://bestmomproducts.com/top-3-foodie-entrepreneur-tips/
http://forrager.com/faq/#starting

In Georgia, it’s fine if you produce your own tea from dried herbs (you can dry them yourself), and it’s also okay if you start with commercial bulk tea as a base. If you’re just reselling commercial tea in smaller amounts (reselling individual unopened packets), you may not need to register as a cottage food operation. You can ask your ag dept if…[Read more]