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Cottage Foods
Cottage foods are homemade foods that can be prepared in an unlicensed home kitchen and sold to the general public:
- Can be sold to consumer from the operator’s primary residence, farmers’ markets, flea markets and roadside stands
- Must be labeled in accordance with Chapter 500.80, Florida Statutes, and the US Code of Federal Regulations Title 21 part 101
Approved Cottage Food Products
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Food That DO NOT Fall Under This Law
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*Potentially Hazardous Food is a food that requires time/temperature control for safety (TCS) to limit pathogenic microorganisms growth or toxin formation; an animal food that is raw or heat-treated; a plant food that is heat treated or consists of raw seed sprouts, cut melons, cut leafy greens, cut tomatoes or mixtures of cut tomatoes that are not modified in a way so that they are unable to support pathogenic microorganism growth or toxin formation; or garlic-in-oil mixtures that are not modified in a way so that they are unable to support pathogenic microorganism growth or toxin formation.
The Following Locations are Not Acceptable for Processing Cottage Foods:
Permitted facilities (licensed by FDACS, DBPR, or the Department of Health), garages, sheds, barns, or other outbuildings
Cottage Foods Can Only Be Sold to the Consumer From
- The cottage food operation (primary residence)
- Farmer’s markets
- Roadside stands
- Mail order and internet
Cottage Foods CANNOT Be Sold
- Wholesale (no restaurant or grocery stores)
- Consignment
Cottage foods are required to be labeled in accordance with the law. Labeling must be printed in English and include:
- Name and physical address of the cottage food operation (A post office box is unacceptable)
- Name of the cottage food product (all capital letters or upper/lower case are both acceptable)
- The ingredients of the cottage food product, in descending order of predominance by weight. If you use a prepared item in your recipe, you must list the sub-ingredients as well. For example: soy sauce is not acceptable, soy sauce (wheat, soybeans, salt) would be acceptable
- The net weight or net volume of the cottage food product
- Allergen information as specified in federal labeling requirements
- Cottage foods must also include the following statement on the label, printed with 10-point type minimum:
- MADE IN A COTTAGE FOOD OPERATION THAT IS NOT SUBJECT TO FLORIDA’S FOOD SAFETY REGULATIONS
An example of a label:
MADE IN A COTTAGE FOOD OPERATION THAT IS NOT SUBJECT TO FLORIDA’S FOOD SAFETY REGULATIONS Chocolate Chip Cookie Ashley Christopher Bryant • 1019 Food Safety Drive Tallahassee, Florida 32399 Ingredients: Enriched flour (Wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine, mononitrate, riboflavin and folic acid), butter (milk, salt), chocolate chips (sugar, chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, butterfat (milk), Soy lecithin as an emulsifier), walnuts, sugar, eggs, salt, artificial vanilla extract, baking soda. Contains: wheat, eggs, milk, soy, walnuts Net Wt. 3 oz |
Allergen labeling for cottage foods is specific. All cottage food products must be labeled in accordance with the United States Code of Federal Regulations Title 21, Part 101. As a cottage food operator, you must identify if any of your ingredients are made from one of the following food groups: eggs, milk, wheat, peanuts, soybeans, fish, and tree nuts. In the sample label provided above, possible allergens are identified as “Contains: wheat, eggs, milk, soy, and walnuts.” This labeling allows consumers to avoid food which may be harmful to them
More information in page 48-56 of toolkit