Selling homemade food in Utah: two routes, and who checks which stall

Utah has two separate routes for selling food made in a home kitchen, and they are not interchangeable. The Utah Department of Agriculture and Food runs the first, cottage food registration. The second, the Home Consumption and Homemade Food Act, is described by the department as an alternative to it. ^[1][2]

Cottage food registration

The department says the law allows a person with a valid food handler permit to make or package permitted foods at home. Producers submit a registration application and their recipes, pay a nonrefundable fee, receive a certificate and then schedule a food safety inspection. Products may be sold directly to consumers or to stores for resale, only within Utah. ^[1]

Foods must be shelf-stable and low risk. The department lists baked goods, granola and cereals, dried fruit, dry herbs and seasoning mixes, hard candy, jams and jellies, nuts, popcorn, honey, roasted coffee beans, vanilla extract and vinegar. Baked goods cannot have cream-based frostings or be fried or steamed, and refrigerated foods, meat and poultry products, cheesecakes and custards are not allowed. Labels must carry the food name, ingredients, net quantity, allergens, business name and contact, and the words "Home Produced." ^[1]

Homemade Food Act

Under the act, a person with a business license can sell certain homemade foods without registering with the department. Meat, foods containing meat and raw dairy are excluded, with some exemptions for poultry and rabbit. Sales must be in Utah, in person at a prearranged location and directly to the final consumer, with no wholesale or resale to stores or restaurants. Products must be labeled "Not for Resale – Processed and prepared without the benefit of state or local inspection" and list allergens. At a farmers market they may be sold only at a direct-to-consumer market or in a separately signed section. ^[2]

Who checks the market stall

The department says it oversees most food production and processing before products reach a market, including cottage food, manufactured food, small egg producers and honey. Local health departments handle food service, food trucks and on-site preparation, and the department's market page says cutting vegetables at the market to give as samples is regulated by the local health department. A market organizer's approval of a booth is a separate matter from food safety rules. ^[3]

The Ledger has not reviewed the cottage food rule (R70-560), local business licensing or egg and poultry rules, so check them with the department and your city before selling.