Getting Started, What You Need to Know About the Cottage Food Law
Author: Kara Lynch
Kara Lynch, MSU Food Safety Educator talks with Karen Fifield, fellow Food Safety Educator to get a full explanation of the Michigan Cottage Food Law and why some food is allowed and others are not. Discover resources to help you establish your cottage food business.
January 12, 2022
Transcript
Kara Lynch :
Welcome to Think Food Safety, a podcast on topics related to food safety that affect the food we eat.
Michigan State University Extension educators talk with food industry professionals to provide information and share resources on hot topics and best practices to keep people safe from foodborne illness. Thank you for tuning in. Let's get started and answer those questions that you didn't even know you had.
I'm Kara Lynch from MSU Extension, the food Safety team, and I'm here today with Karen Fifield, a food safety educator from MSU Extension. Karen is our lead for the MSU Extensions Cottage Food Law program, and we are going to try to understand more about this law and ways that we can learn more.
Hi, Karen. It's great to have you here today.
Karen Fifield:
Hi, Kara. Thanks for having me.
Kara Lynch :
Well, tell me a little bit about your job with MSU Extension and what are some of the programs that you deliver to the community?
Karen Fifield:
Well, our food safety team has done a lot of online programming in the last two years. We do a lot of food preservation. We have a Q&A on Mondays that are about food preservation, or any food safety, actually. We do the Cottage Food Law, and a lot of volunteer cooking for crowds kind of programs that help people keep their food safe when they're working with the public, or themselves and their families even, because even having a potluck can bring potential hazard if we don't take care of the food that we have on our counter.
Kara Lynch:
Great. So we're just offering classes to the community to help them understand more about how to handle food safely and properly?
Karen Fifield:
Yes.
Kara Lynch:
Okay, great. So our topic today is about the Cottage Food Law. Can you tell me more about what the Cottage Food Law is and how this differs from other types of food sales that may be?
Karen Fifield:
Well, the Cottage Food Law was created so that it can be allowing entrepreneurs to begin a little business or increase their income by creating foods or different items in their kitchen that they don't have to have a licensed kitchen to work from, which is a licensed kitchen could be a costly thing because you'd have to have specific equipment and location and all the licenses and everything that go with it. So this allows people that live in their own home to have a clean environment to produce a product to sell to the public.
Kara Lynch :
Okay, so before 2010, everybody had to get a license to sell food, is that correct?
Karen Fifield:
Yes, they did. 2010 is when that law became an effect and it did allow the people in Michigan to create their own food to sell out of their home domestic residents, single family residents, and it could be a rented home. It doesn't have to be that you own that home either. Yes, that is correct. 2010 is when it started.
Kara Lynch :
Well, it sounds like this was a good opportunity for people to maybe test the waters and even get their feet wet to find out if this was a go and if they could maybe even potentially grow with it?
Karen Fifield:
Yeah, actually that is a big part of that and it also allowed people to be able to sell at local markets, like the farmer's markets that have become quite popular, because then that gives them their own location. Now is that the only place you can sell? No. They could sell at other places also like craft shows or things like that. They just have to be the person that is the owner of the business to be there to sell as a face-to-face their product.
Kara Lynch:
Great. Just to clarify this a little bit more too, there's basically two outlets to sell food either with a license or under the Cottage Food Law. Is that correct?
Karen Fifield:
That is correct. The two differences are don't have to have a license kitchen to sell a cottage food. It does however, have to be in your domestic residence, wherever you live, and we still have to keep food safe no matter what. But a licensed kitchen would be one that's licensed by the Health Department or Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. Anything that says this is a facility that's approved for creating foods that can be distributed or sold in the public.
Kara Lynch:
I think it kind of makes sense. I guess if everybody had the ability to just make something and sell it without having any governing body over them, we could have a mess on our hands.
Karen Fifield:
We definitely could.
Kara Lynch:
So that's kind of a big deal. If someone is selling, making and selling potentially hazardous food out of their home, for example, without a license. Most generally home kitchens aren't adequate for a licensed food sale, so that could be problematic.
Karen Fifield:
It definitely could, which is why we provide all of these educational programs and from the food safety team, not because we create the law or we write the law or, we just want people to do something for themselves and do it safely for the public because we still have to have food safety regardless of how or where you do this. But because it's done in your own home, we sometimes tend to think that, "Oh, it's my house so it's okay, I did this forever this way."
That's not how it works because we want it to be very safe. We don't want... If you have pets in your home, that's a big issue. You have to have your kitchen just as clean as if you were in a licensed kitchen. Your food that you prepare needs to be just as safely protected as if you were in a licensed kitchen because you're serving the public no matter which way you sell your food.
The licensed kitchen just makes it to be by someone else saying, "Yes, you have a safe facility to do this product and create it in." And that is where... There's a lot of people that go from cottage food, try their product out of their wonderful recipe that they've always had, making chocolate covered marshmallows or something like that. Any little thing that they think is their specialty thing that they create as a cottage food and they potentially could go to being a licensed vendor. So it's just a way to really test the waters. Is this something that the people in our world want?
Kara Lynch:
Sure. And that makes sense to have standards set in place. I think we've all experienced people that think they're doing something safely, but come to find out there's some missteps that are happening and certainly we don't want to harm the public because of some of these missteps.
Now you mentioned about potentially hazardous foods. What does it really mean with potentially hazardous foods? What are we talking about?
Karen Fifield:
Okay. Potentially hazardous foods are things that could be harboring pathogens that could put your health at risk.
Kara Lynch:
With potentially hazardous food, we're talking you couldn't go to the farmer's market, for example, take some cheese that you made on your own and sell it, correct?
Karen Fifield:
Right. I was just about to say that kind of brings us to the products that you can or cannot sell. You want to have foods that aren't going to spoil by sitting on the shelf, so that's called, in our world, shelf stable. And that would be things like fruit pies, breads that aren't potentially hazardous to spoil on a shelf, things like that. Things that we know are...
Kara Lynch :
Things that need to be refrigerated because if they were left out that room temperature, they could have the pathogen growth?
Karen Fifield:
Exactly. Yep. That's what causes the growth is the ambient temperature that could be too warm because that grows pathogens.
Kara Lynch:
Okay, well thank you for that clarification. Some people say, "Well, what's the big deal? I can make these tamales. I can make this salsa," for example, "And I make it for my family. What's the big deal if I make it and sell it at the farmer's market, to the public?"
Karen Fifield:
Well, the big deal is how we process that method. Things like salsas and tamales are not allowed under the cottage food because they have a potential of being hazardous in that jar because even though we feel like botulism isn't talked about or heard of much, it really is, and that is a hazard that could happen if you have something like a salsa in a jar and it's not properly canned or preserved.
You have to make sure that what you sell and you can't sell preserved foods in a jar except for jams and jellies in Michigan. That is definitely something.
Kara Lynch:
So the risk is just greater? And so we want to make sure anybody handling those potentially hazardous foods just are working in the proper environment and have the proper training and maybe have their food tested if need be?
Karen Fifield:
And that's exactly how that would happen if you were going to be in do this as a licensed, you'd be licensed in all of those areas and it'd have to be proved by all the people in power because those are potentially hazardous foods.
Kara Lynch:
Okay, thank you. If I'm going to the farmer's market how do I, as a consumer, know the difference between what a license food is and what is considered a cottage food?
Karen Fifield:
Well, your label on every product should give you that indication because there's very specific labeling that goes with the product for cottage foods and that very specific thing that's going to identify for you that's on that label is it should state, "Made in a home kitchen that has not been inspected by the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development," and that needs to be on there, not as an acronym or anything.
Anybody that reads or knows that or reads that label needs to be able to know that it's not inspected. It's created in a cottage food situation, as in your home, in your residence. And that's the difference between that and a licensed type food.
Kara Lynch:
So I could purchase bread, for example, at a market and it might have this label on it, and so I would know that that vendor is operating under a cottage food?
Karen Fifield:
Yes.
Kara Lynch:
Or maybe there might be a vendor that has a license there and they might not have that same label on the similar type of food, but they might be operating in a [inaudible 00:11:27]?
Karen Fifield:
Exactly. And that's why you can actually ask your vendor when you're purchasing those things, "What does that mean?" All of that kind of stuff. So yes, there can be at the same market all of those scenarios of people that can sell that don't have that on their label because they are in the licensed kitchen or that they have this on their label because they are a cottage food vendor.
Kara Lynch:
Okay, so the label also I'm sure has other requirements including the contact or the name of the business?
Karen Fifield:
Oh yes, definitely the other... This is the big identifier, but it also has to have on their label the person that is the vendor and their address, where it is created. So that it's says it was created at this location in this town so you could find them if there was an issue with it.
It also has to have an ingredients list on it because there's potential of other things that people need to know what's in there, but also a new thing that's on there is the word, contains. And that is for anything that could possibly be an allergen that might be in that product needs to be listed on that.
Kara Lynch:
Yeah, well that would make sense. If I have a wheat allergy, I would want to know that for sure.
Karen Fifield:
Definitely.
Kara Lynch:
Okay. Well, I think you've laid the groundwork pretty well as far as what the cottage food law is, but can we just talk a little bit more about what are cottage foods? So if people are wondering when you say, some things are allowed, some things are not. What is allowed?
Karen Fifield:
Yeah, let me clarify that. Things that are allowed, like I said earlier, shelf stable is what are considered. Those shelf stable items are things like breads or baked goods, cookies that you might make that you have a specialty cookie that you have and you want to bake those, cakes including things like birthday cake anniversary or wedding cakes. Those can be made under cottage food, quick breads and muffins, cooked pies that are fruit. Things including the pie crust, even if it includes butter or lard, it's baked, so those things are included.
There's also things like you could have dried herbs or dried herb mixes, something that it's low water content, dried baking mixes, the kind you find in a jar that says, "Make this cookie or whatever," dry dip mixes, dry soup mixes, dehydrated fruits and vegetables, which is something that's becoming quite popular. You could also have things like confections or candies, granola, popcorn, popcorn's a very big one, candy or cotton candy, chocolate covered pretzels or chocolate covered marshmallows, graham crackers, rice crispy treats, any of those type of things can be considered a cottage food. Also nuts, coated or uncoated nuts, can be considered a cottage food.
Kara Lynch:
Well, there's quite variety that you can make and sell as cottage foods and I know I've seen some of those at my market.
Karen Fifield:
There's a couple more though, Kara, that I'd like to mention that are really big right now. Like coffees, coffee beans. People aren't sure. It sounds like a big item that has to be done in a licensed kitchen and it's not, but those coffee beans that are roasted or ground roasted coffee can be sold. Not the coffee itself, but the bean or the..
Kara Lynch:
The bean itself.
Karen Fifield:
The grind. Yep. Vinegar, vinegar flavors. And then pasta is another one that's becoming quite popular.
Kara Lynch:
Wow.
Karen Fifield:
There's a lot of variety.
Kara Lynch:
Sure. With questions that come up and with people that want to make and sell food out of their home, what are some foods maybe that you've seen people think they might be a cottage food but are not? What would not pass as a cottage food?
Karen Fifield:
Things like salsas would not pass pumpkin pies or cream pies. Things that would need to be refrigerated to keep them safe from potential hazards or potential pathogens from growing in them. Those are the things that we need to watch out for and know that they cannot be a cottage food. Or things that are pickled. Even a jar of pickles should not be sold. Sauerkraut, that's something that I've seen at times that should not be sold as a cottage food. Pumpkin butters that are in a jar or apple butter is not considered a cottage food either because it cannot... They have to have specific processes and they just want to be assured that those processes are followed when they do them.
Now, one thing you can also sell is jams and jellies and that is the only processed product that can be, but you have to follow a research tested recipe to do that. Fruits and vegetables cannot be sold in a jar. Carbonated beverages can't be sold. Cut fruits...
Kara Lynch:
Now in talking about fruits and vegetables, there are vendors obviously at the farmer's market that sell fruits and vegetables. That's produce, but that's not what you're referring to. You're referring to processed, preserved fruits and vegetables is what you're referring to?
Karen Fifield:
Right. Thanks for bringing that up. That's a good clarification. You're right. We were talking about the ones that are processed. You also can't sell, if you have a apple, you can't have it out on the, and give people a sample that can't be cut because once it's cut, it opens up the skin and a potential for hazard. Yes, definitely. Thanks for clarifying that. The ones in the jar are the ones we cannot sell.
Kara Lynch:
And I know at my local market there's a vendor that sells cheese and there's another one that sells meat, but those require refrigeration.
Karen Fifield:
Okay. Those are the ones that are licensed. If they're selling them, see, remember we talked about licensed and unlicensed at the same market and that's definitely possible, but if they're selling meats or cheeses, they are licensed and they should have their license probably there on display. You could definitely see that, but it's not something that you sell under a cottage food.
You can't just have your beef and take it there and say, "I have the extra beef so I'm going to sell it." That's definitely, thanks for bringing that forward because they can all be there. It's just that they have different rules and licenses or their labeling still has to be pretty much the same except for that one statement.
Kara Lynch:
Well, something I have also wondered about is if there's a cottage food vendor, let's say you've talked about cookies, for example, being acceptable as a cottage food. Could somebody take those cookies and take them to a local restaurant or maybe a local market that sells local foods, for example, could they then sell their cottage food through them?
Karen Fifield:
Okay, so there's a couple ways to look at that. They cannot take it as a wholesale product and sell it to them and then they distribute it. You can't sell it to a restaurant and then they sell them or they give them away or anything.
You can be the person there, if you were face-to-face at that location, you can be the person to sell that, but you as the owner of that cottage food has to be the one that does the interaction with the customer. But no, you can't sell them to a restaurant for them to distribute or sell.
Kara Lynch:
You'd have to just get that license if you wanted to do that.
Karen Fifield:
Exactly.
Kara Lynch:
All right. Well, what if, everybody's on social media nowadays and advertising different things to make and sell, can you sell it online?
Karen Fifield:
Well, that's interesting. There's been a few changes with some things, but you can advertise it online and you can take payment online, or electronically, but you cannot distribute. They would have to come to you or you have to go to your customer. Face-to-face has to be that interaction so that they can meet you, know you, and maybe ask you some questions about your product, see the labeling, know that you can answer anything that they have to ask you about it. It's that personal interaction that defines cottage food, actually. And so that's a requirement.
So yes, you can advertise it online and take payment, but you cannot sell it or distribute it through the mail or anything that like that.
Kara Lynch:
Okay. All right. That makes sense. If I would like to find out more about the Cottage Food Law, how could I get more information?
Karen Fifield:
Well, we have classes regularly through our MSU Extension Food Safety Classes in Cottage Food Law, and we have an MDARD inspector and generally a product center innovation counselor with us so they can answer some business questions and some specific questions about cottage foods.
We also have our Facebook page Think Food Safety that has all of our programs on it, including our Cottage Food Law program. You could talk to an MDARD inspector. There's a general phone that you could call or email to ask questions of any inspectors from MDARD. There's a lot of ways to access that.
Also, we have a D2L course that could give you more opportunity to learn a little bit more about the market and cottage foods and taking them to a market. How does that happen?
Kara Lynch:
So D2L is?
Karen Fifield:
Oh, that's an MSU extension class. It is self-paced class that you can take to learn a little bit more about cottage food and then it might even bring up some questions that you'll want to contact one of our food safety team members and they could answer things for you, but it definitely gives you a lot more information and you get a certificate at the end of that class.
The certificate isn't required but that does help a lot in identifying that you did do some classes that how do you keep your food safe when you create it in your kitchen because that's very, very important, and so that'll give a little bit more confidence in the persons or your customers that buy or purchase your product.
Kara Lynch:
Yeah, that makes sense. If you saw a certificate there, it would probably give you a little bit more value as a vendor. Great. You mentioned that these classes are often done in combination with an MDAR inspector, but also you mentioned an innovation counselor from the product center. Can you just explain a little bit more about the product center? What is that and who might be interested in that service?
Karen Fifield:
Actually, the product center is really a great resource that we have at MSU that they can help bring you into a licensed business because they're the ones that help you decide how much are you going to charge for this product, what does it take for costs? So that you're not just doing this because you like to bake bread, but you're going to actually make a profit at it and when would you make the profit? How many do you have to sell? How do you get your product noticed more? So it's packaging and they work with you on those kind of things.
They also can help to reference you to a lab that can give you an analysis on your product if you're going to become a licensed vendor. So they can take you from the very basic Cottage Food Law and bring you right out to licensing also, and that's all in one package.
Kara Lynch:
People that maybe have had real great success with their cooking that they're selling, but they want to take it to the next level and maybe retail it or provide it to restaurants, the product center can help them?
Karen Fifield:
They definitely can, and they did help with even less. They help with just starting as a cottage food because it's a very good beginning to see if what you have is what can sell and what would make a profit elsewhere and go further on.
Kara Lynch:
Okay, great. Well, you have shared a lot of very valuable information on the cottage food industry and the Cottage Food Law. We wanted to thank you all for listening, and we hope that you enjoy more of our episodes as we delve into understanding more about the Cottage Food Law in upcoming episodes as well.
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