Most of the food purchased from the store cannot hold a candle for the carefully created homemade version in the home kitchen. Your family’s secret marmalade recipe is better than anything on grocery shelves, and it would be nice to turn a modest profit from your favorite preserves. Laws governing the sale of food and the standing costs associated with renting a commercial kitchen space can be intimidating for food entrepreneurs and prevent them from bringing delicious products to the masses (per PEW). . That’s when it comes to cottage food regulations to clarify what home-made items can be sold to the public.
Kottage food laws are the regulations that the Food Safety News calls a leg for the young man. These laws, which vary from state to state, allow small-scale food producers to create food items in their home kitchen while avoiding costly licenses and commercial kitchen rental fees that apply to larger food producers. Each state has different regulations on what types of food can be sold, and it is important to stick to these evolving regulations to abide by the law and provide products that are safe for consumption.
Kottage food regulations can range from extremely strict rules to laissez-faire laws and everything in between. Cottage food producers often push for deregulation, but local health departments tend to pump breaks. The overall goal of most cottage food regulations is to keep the consumer safe from foodborne illness caused by high-risk foods and some canned household products.
High- and low-risk cottage foods
Regulations on the cottage food industry are constantly changing and have undergone a revision in recent years as the number of small food producers seeking to sell their goods has increased (through ‘The Washington Post). As the pandemic closed restaurants and businesses, people began to look for alternative ways to cope, and a new wave of cottage food makers was created. This may interest you : Restaurant mix: New acai waves, food truck updates. How else would people get that sour dough all out of their kitchens?
If you’re interested in bringing your baked goods to market, Food Safety News says you’re mostly covered by cottage food regulations when you plan to sell low-risk foods. Most baked goods do not contain perishable ingredients that require refrigeration; although many bakery items include milk, eggs, and the like, they have been baked at temperatures high enough to make those ingredients stable and safe to consume. Kottage food laws make an exception when high-risk ingredients such as meat and custard are included in baked goods. Other low-risk foods that most states allow are products such as jams and fruit-based chatneys that are less prone to bacterial growth due to their high natural acidity levels.
Cottage food regulations generally prohibit high-risk foods such as meat, milk, fresh vegetables, and baked goods that contain perishable ingredients (think meringue pie or pork in a blanket). These foods are not naturally acidic and have a higher risk of spoiling. Less stable foods can increase bacteria and spread foodborne diseases that endanger consumers.
Cottage food laws and home canned goods
Bottling the house is an effort that is not taken lightly. Regulations on what can be made and sold by small cottage food producers are in place to keep consumers safe from food that is prone to spoilage or that requires complicated preparations (via the Food Safety News ). Food naturally contains bacterial spores that can grow into a dangerous toxin known to cause a deadly food-borne disease called botulism, especially in canned foods that have low acidity and have not been prepared correctly.
According to the National Center for Food Preservation at Home, canned household items should be prepared in a very clean kitchen with sterilized utensils using boiling water or a pressure can. See the article : New York State Law to Reduce Hunger and Food Waste – Food Tank. Botulinum bacteria are prone to grow in humid conditions on foods with low acidity, making it essential to choose foods with high acidity to comply with most pet food laws.
Are the cottage food regulations perfect? Many cottage food producers, such as the Texas couple who sued the state health department over the definition of a pickle, say no (per The Counter). Even though low-acid foods may have their pH increased by the addition of vinegar and citric acid, most states err on the side of caution and prohibit any canned items starting with a potentially dangerous ingredient. . It is good practice to check resources such as Pick Your Own to see what cottage food regulations apply in your state before you enter home canned food production.
