The Consumer, Environmental and Occupational Health Service of the New Jersey Department of Health has proposed an amendment and new rules at N.J.A.C. 8:24 to establish a “cottage food operator” permitting process, which would authorize for-profit retail sales of shelf-stable food prepared in home kitchens.
Existing N.J.A.C. 8:24 provides standards for sanitation in establishments that prepare and sell food for retail distribution to consumers of that food and prohibits for-profit retail sales of food prepared in home kitchens. The proposed amendment and new rules would reverse this prohibition by establishing a “cottage food operator” permitting process. The permit would authorize the permitholder to manufacture and engage in retail distribution for profit of shelf-stable food prepared in the permitholder’s home kitchen.
The proposed amendment and new rules would establish minimum conditions for permit issuance and renewal, permit fees, authorized and prohibited activity, safe food handling training requirements, product labeling and point-of-sale signage requirements, and enforcement remedies and procedures to address violations.
The proposal appears in the April 20, 2020, issue of the New Jersey Register. The public will have until June 19, 2020, to comment on the proposal.
Persons wishing to comment on the proposal must submit written comments either (1) electronically by June 19, 2020, to http://www.nj.gov/health/legal/ecomments.shtml or (2) by regular mail postmarked on or before June 19, 2020, to Joy L. Lindo, Director, Office of Legal and Regulatory Compliance, New Jersey Department of Health, PO Box 360, Trenton, NJ 08625-0360.
LexisNexis provides free online access to the New Jersey Register at http://www.lexisnexis.com/njoal. An unofficial copy of the proposal is also available on the Department’s website at http://nj.gov/health/legal/open.shtml.
