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Ohio Home Bakery Laws and Regulations: How to sell your homemade foods in Ohio
Ohio Home Bakery Laws, Regulations and Facts
Under the Ohio Home Bakery law, there are certain types of low
risk baked food products that may be produced and sold out of your home
kitchen with reduced (not eliminated) inspection and licensing requirements. A home bakery license allows potentially hazardous bakery items
(items which need refrigeration) to be made in a person's home.
Which foods are subject to the Ohio Home Bakery law?
Only baked food products that are non-potentially hazardous (as defined by the State of Ohio, not your own definition) fall into the Home Bakery
category. Ohio Administrative Code Section 911 lists the food items approved as Home Bakery products.
Approved Baked Foods
This list of allowed items includes (but is not limited to) the
following non-potentially hazardous bakery products
- cookies,
- breads,
- brownies,
- cakes,
- fruit pies,
- etc.
and also includes potentially hazardous bakery products which require refrigeration: Potentially hazardous food means the food requires temperature control,
because it is in a form capable of supporting the rapid and progressive growth of infectious or toxigenic microorganisms.
- cheese cakes,
- cream pies,
- custard pies,
- pumpkin pies,
- etc.
This OSU Extension page explains in more detail.
Definitions:
- "Home Bakery"
according to Chapter 911 of the Ohio Revised Code means: "Any person who owns or operates a home bakery with only one oven, in a stove of
ordinary home kitchen design and located in a home, used for baking of baked goods to be sold." "Home" means the primary residence occupied by
the residence's owner, on the condition that the residence contains only one stove or oven used for cooking, which may be a double oven,
designed for common residence usage and not for a commercial usage, and that the stove or oven be operated in an ordinary kitchen within the
residence.
- "Home" means the primary residence occupied by the residence's owner, on the condition that the
residence contains only one stove or oven used for cooking, which may be a double oven, designed
for common residence usage and not for a commercial usage, and that the stove or oven be operated in
an ordinary kitchen within the residence.
If your food product does not meet the definition of a Home Bakery or Cottage
Food, you may still be able to make and sell it commercially,
through a startup approach.
See this page for detailed information about selling foods that do
not meet the Home Bakery definition.
Kitchen Requirements
To be a Home Bakery, the household kitchen must have walls, ceilings, and floors that are in good repair, clean, and easily cleanable.
- The kitchen may not have carpeted floors.
- The home must be free of pests. No pets are permitted in the home.
- The kitchen must be maintained in a sanitary condition.
- Equipment and utensils must be maintained and be kept in sanitary condition.
- There must be a mechanical refrigerator, equipped with a properly located thermometer, capable of maintaining 45 degrees Fahrenheit or less.
- If the home is served by a private well, the well must be tested annually for coliform bacteria, having a negative test result within the
past year. Proof of the well test result must be provided to the inspecting food safety specialist.
- Food product labels are to be available for review at the time of inspection.
Labeling requirements
A "Home Bakery" is required to label all of their food products properly, which includes the following information on the label of each unit of
food product offered or distributed for sale:
- Statement of Identity - the name of the food product
- Net Quantity of Contents - the net weight, in both U.S. Customary System and International System
- Ingredient List - ingredients of the food product, listed in descending order of predominance by weight
- Statement of Responsibility - the name and address of the business
- The label of bakery items that require refrigeration must bear the declaration, "Keep Refrigerated" or other similar statement.
- Note: If nutrient content claims (i.e. low fat, salt free, etc.) or health claims (i.e. may reduce heart disease) are made, the product must
bear all required nutritional information in the form of the Nutrition Facts panel. All labeling components are to comply with 21 CFR Part 101,
food labeling. The FDA Food Labeling Guide is an excellent resource of the proper labeling of food products.
Where may Home Bakery Production Operations sell the food products?
Home Bakery products, once properly labeled, may be sold from
- your Home Bakery (i.e., your home).
- grocery stores,
- convenience stores,
- farm markets,
- farmer's markets,
- other retail outlets.
- Home Bakery products may also be served as a food item offered by restaurants.
- Home Bakeries may distribute their products outside of the state of Ohio.
Note that retail outlets are subject to all applicable rules and regulations administered by local health departments, local zoning, and other
agencies.
Other Requirements:
- License fee: The annual fee for a Home Bakery license is $10.
- Home inspection: Your home kitchen will need to be inspected by ODA, FS. The specialist will also review your product
labels during the inspection. To arrange for an inspection, contact:
ODA Division of Food Safety; 1-800-282-1955 Ext 4366; Email:
foodsafety@agri.ohio.gov.
- No pets: You cannot have pets in the home or carpet in the kitchen,
- Water supply: if you have a non- municipal water supply you must have a water test conducted within the last twelve
months demonstrating that your water is negative for Total Coliform.
- Thermometer: You will need an accurate thermometer in your refrigerator to indicate the refrigerator can hold product at
45° Fahrenheit or less.
Recommendations:
Beyond the requirements, common sense, good practices and
reducing liability suggests you should do the following.
Training
Take the
ServSafe® training classes for Manager and employees, the 7th Edition Book that accompanies this course should be purchased here..
Testing of pH
It's best to use a pH meter, properly calibrated on the day
used. I use
this one, which is reliable and inexpensive.
Short-range
paper pH test strips, commonly known as litmus paper, may be
used instead, if the product normally has a pH of 4.0 or lower
and the paper's range includes a pH of 4.6.
Record-keeping is suggested
Keep a written record of every batch of product made for
sale, including:
- Recipe, including procedures and ingredients
- Amount canned and sold
- Baking date
- Sale dates and locations
- Gross sales receipts
- Results of any pH test
Sanitation
Although inspections are not required, you should consider
doing the following:
- Use clean equipment that has been effectively sanitized
prior to use
- Clean work surfaces and then sanitize with bleach water
before and after use
- Keep ingredients separate from other unprocessed foods
- Keep household pets out of the work area
- Keep walls and floors clean
- Have adequate lighting
- Keep window and door screens in good repair to keep
insects out
- Wash hands frequently while working
- Consider annual testing of water if using a private well
Questions? Contact ODA Division of Food Safety:
1-800-282-1955 Ext 4366
Request an Appointment via email
More Information