Utah Cottage Food Laws and Regulations: How to sell your homemade foods in Utah

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Utah Cottage Food Laws and Regulations: How to sell your homemade foods in Utah

Utah Cottage Food Laws, Regulations and Facts

Utah has two laws; which can make it confusing compared to other states, but it does give the home food producer more options. Producers can choose which law they wish to operate under, depending on their planned sales venues and their planned products.. The two laws are:

1. the Utah Cottage Food Statute (Utah R70-560 "Cottage Food Rule")
   The Cottage Food Statute was enacted in 2007,
   and
2. HB 181 (the Home Consumption and Homemade Food Act).
   The Home Consumption and Homemade Food Act (HB 181) May 2018.
3. Utah's new (effective 5/5/2021) Microenterprise Home Kitchen Act lets you make home-cooked meals and sell them, like a restaurant incubator. A permit, an annual inspection from the local health department, and food safety practices are still required. They must also inform consumers that the regulations for a home kitchen may be different than a commercial restaurant.

Overview of the two laws

Keep in mind, this is an either/or approach. These are 2 separate laws and you must fully comply with one OR the other.

Option 1 - The Cottage Food Rule (2007)

The Cottage Food law requires the application process, recipe approval (non-potentially hazardous foods only) and a registration fee. Cottage Foods can then be sold either retail or wholesale, as long as sales are within the state of Utah. You may make and sell foods that are considered not “potentially hazardous food” that are then prepackaged, labeled and sold at farmers markets and retail facilities such as grocery stores.

Advantages of the Cottage Food Law

• You can make pretty much any foods that are non-perishable at room temperature. Some examples are
• Air cooled hard boiled eggs (the shell must be completely intact)
• Foods with Aw ≤ 0.85
• Foods with pH ≤ 4.6
• Properly canned acid foods
• Other foods found to be non-hazardous (e.g. bread)
• Other examples can be some or most (subject to the conditions above):  cookies, fruit pies, jams, jellies, preserves, fruit butters, honey, sorghum, cracked nuts, packaged spices and spice mixes, dry cookie, cake and soup mixes;

Disadvantages of the Cottage Food Law approach:

• Lots of requirements, inspections, approvals to obtain.

Examples:

Option 2 - The Home Consumption and Homemade Food Act (HB 181) 2018

The Home Consumption and Homemade Food Act (HB 181) does not require the producer to apply or register, nor do you need any special training or licensing. Most foods can be made, as long as they do not contain

• meat or
• raw (unpasteurized) dairy products,

which are subject to other regulations that cannot be waived. However, these products can only be sold directly to the consumer, and must be packaged and bear warning statements on the label stating that the product has been "Processed and prepared without state or local inspection" and is "Not for resale". Information on the producer and on allergens is also required on the package

Advantages of HB181:

• Much, much simpler to get started and fewer hoops to jump through.

Disadvantages of the HB181 approach:

• You may only sell direct to a consumer (no sales to grocery stores, restaurants, etc.)
• Fewer types of food products can be made and sold

 

Next steps

Review each of the two options and determine which one fits your needs and product best!

See this page for more about Option 1 - The Cottage Food Law (2007)

See this page for more about Option 2 - The Home Consumption and Homemade Food Act (HB 181) 2018

More questions or need more information?

See:

Cole Dalton, Retail Food Program Manager / Compliance Coordinator
(385) 332-1499

cbdalton@utah.gov

Rebecca Nielsen, Program Manager
(801) 633-3965 Cell (during business hours, Monday to Friday)

Email: rjnielsen@utah.gov

 USU Food Quality & Entrepreneurship Program

Karin Allen, PhD:

Email: karin.allen@usu.edu  extension.usu.edu/foodbiz

(435)797-1768