Quick facts
- Fresh-cut produce is considered a potentially hazardous food item and requires refrigeration for food safety.
- Cut produce may be used if preserved or incorporated into baked goods.
- Caramel apples are allowed without the stick inserted.
- Chocolate covered strawberries are not allowed.
Minnesota’s Cottage Food Law allows cottage food producers to make and sell certain non-potentially hazardous foods. How produce is prepared can determine whether a product qualifies as a cottage food.
Fresh-cut produce is considered a potentially hazardous food item and is not allowed. However, cut produce may be used in cottage foods when it is preserved, such as through pickling or dehydration. It may also be incorporated into baked goods when it is fully incorporated and baked into the product, and the finished product meets cottage food safety requirements, including a water activity of 0.85 or less or a pH of 4.6 or less, as applicable.
Why fresh-cut produce is not allowed
Once fresh produce is cut, sliced, or punctured, its food-safety characteristics change.
The protective rind, peel or skin is broken, allowing foodborne illness-causing microorganisms (pathogens) on the outside of the fruit to reach the moist interior. Fresh-cut produce requires refrigeration to minimize the growth of bacteria that can cause illness. Because of this, fresh or raw cut fruit is considered a potentially hazardous food and cannot be sold as a Minnesota cottage food.
Store cut produce at 41 F or below to minimize the growth of pathogens.
When decorating cakes, cupcakes, and pastries, do not use freshly sliced fruits or vegetables as toppings. Whole berries, whole fruits, and dehydrated sliced produce are allowed.
Caramel apples without the stick
Allowed
Minnesota cottage food producers may make and sell candied or caramel-coated apples without inserted sticks. Inserting a stick changes the food-safety characteristics of the apple. Research has shown that a stick can introduce microorganisms from the apple's surface into its interior. Juice released from the apple can also collect beneath the caramel coating, creating a moist, low-oxygen environment where Listeria can grow.
Two outbreaks of listeriosis in 2014 and 2017 were associated with caramel apples with the sticks inserted. The 2014 outbreak resulted in two deaths in Minnesota. For these reasons, caramel or candied apples with inserted sticks require refrigeration for safety and cannot be sold as cottage foods.
Chocolate-covered fruit
Not allowed
Chocolate itself is an allowed confection under the Minnesota Cottage Food Law. Although whole berries may be non-potentially hazardous, coating them in chocolate changes the characteristics of the finished product. Moisture can become trapped between the berry and the chocolate coating, creating conditions that may support the growth of microorganisms. Because the finished product requires refrigeration for food safety and quality, chocolate-covered fresh fruit is not an allowed cottage food.
You may choose to do chocolate-covered dried and freeze-dried berries. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has classified coating dehydrated fruit and vegetables as a low-risk food combination.
Frozen fruit-based treats
Cottage food producers may be interested in making frozen fruit-based treats, such as ice pops or sorbets, using juice from fresh or frozen berries. These products may qualify under Minnesota's Cottage Food Exemption Law when:
Freezing is necessary for product quality rather than food safety and,
the final product has a pH of 4.6 or below.
An important food-safety consideration
Freezing does not kill pathogens that may be present in fresh or frozen fruit. It stops or slows their growth, but microorganisms can become active again when the food thaws.
Fresh and frozen berries have been associated with foodborne illness outbreaks involving hepatitis A and norovirus. Contamination can occur at various points in the supply chain, including harvesting, processing, transportation, or through contaminated water or cross-contamination. Heating fresh or frozen berries and juice before making a frozen fruit-based product can inactivate microorganisms that cause foodborne illness.
To minimize the risk of foodborne illness when using fresh or frozen berries to make a frozen fruit-based treat:
- Clean and sanitize the kitchen and workspace before beginning. Wash hands thoroughly.
- Prepare the fruit juice from fresh or frozen berries. Depending on the ingredients used, an acidic ingredient may need to be added. Here is a list of pH values and common ingredients.
- Heat the juice and berry solids to an internal temperature of 185 F or above for at least one minute. Stir the mixture to ensure it is heated evenly.
- Cool the mixture rapidly. Cool it to 70 F within two hours and then to 41F within an additional four hours. Divide the mixture into smaller containers and chill in a refrigerator or freezer. Leave the container lid cracked while cooling to allow heat to escape.
- Once the mixture reaches 41 F, prepare the final frozen product.
- Avoid bare-hand contact with the finished frozen product during preparation and packaging.
If you are not using a tested recipe, use a pH meter to measure the pH of the fruit juice mixture to verify that it is 4.6 or below. The mixture should be cooled before measuring.
What about freeze-dried produce?
Only whole produce and berries can be freeze-dried under Minnesota’s Cottage Food Law.
Unlike many other food preservation methods, freeze-drying does not include a heat-treatment “kill step.” This means foodborne illness-causing microorganisms present on food before freeze-drying are not inactivated during the process. Freeze-drying is a food preservation method that removes moisture while maintaining much of the food’s original appearance, flavor and structure. Cottage food producers may only freeze-dry food that is non-potentially hazardous before it is processed in the freeze dryer, meaning whole produce is allowed.
Because freeze-drying does not inactivate food-borne illness-causing microorganisms, it is essential to prevent contamination by sticking to a thorough sanitizing routine and practicing good personal hygiene.
Before and after each use, clean and sanitize the following:
- Freeze-dryer trays
- Produce storage containers
- All tools or utensils used to handle or move food
- Counters and surfaces used for food processing
Using produce in baked goods
In general, fresh produce contains a large amount of water. While this often contributes to a soft, moist texture, the water content can result in a water activity above 0.85. This means foods such as zucchini bread or pumpkin pie are considered potentially hazardous food items and require refrigeration for food safety.
While produce may be used as an ingredient in baked goods, it should be used with caution and the water activity of the final product should be checked.
Tips to lower water activity
- Use dehydrated or powdered produce to replace some or all of the fresh produce.
- Increase the amount of sugar in the recipe, which can help lower water activity. Sugar binds water, allowing a product to retain moisture while having a lower water activity.
Pickling produce
A great way to preserve fresh produce is through canning. Under the Minnesota cottage food laws, only heat-treated acidic or acidified foods may be canned. These foods must have a final equilibrium pH of 4.6 or less to prevent the food-borne illness-causing microorganism Clostridium botulinum from growing and producing a dangerous neurotoxin.
Research-backed canning recipes have been tested to ensure the heat treatment, ingredients and proportions are adequate to create safe canned foods with an equilibrium pH of 4.6 or less. You can find research-backed recipes from the National Center for Home Food Preservation. If you choose to alter any ingredients or use your own recipe, you should test the final equilibrium pH of your food product. You can test your food at home with a pH meter or send your product to a lab to be tested.
Fermenting produce
Fresh produce may be fermented and sold under the Minnesota Cottage Food Law, provided the final equilibrium pH is 4.6 or less. Fermentation is when “good bacteria” breaks down sugars, releasing acidic byproducts that naturally lower the pH of the food. Lacto-fermentation is the most common method to ferment produce, which requires the absence of oxygen for success. Temperature and salt brine concentration also play an important role in fermentation and food safety.
Examples of produce and science-backed fermentation recipes from National Center for Home Food Preservation:
- Turn cucumbers into dill pickles
- Turn cabbage into Sauerkraut
Glass, Kathleen A., Max C. Golden, Brandon J. Wanless, Wendy Bedale, and Charles Czuprynski. "Growth of Listeria monocytogenes within a caramel-coated apple microenvironment." MBio 6, no. 5 (2015): 10-1128.
Harris, L. J., J. N. Farber, L. R. Beuchat, M. E. Parish, T. V. Suslow, E. H. Garrett, and F. F. Busta. "Outbreaks associated with fresh produce: incidence, growth, and survival of pathogens in fresh and fresh‐cut produce." Comprehensive reviews in food science and food safety 2 (2003): 78-141.
Marus, Jessica R., Sally Bidol, Shana M. Altman, Oluwakemi Oni, Nicole Parker-Strobe, Mark Otto, Evelyn Pereira et al. "Notes from the field: outbreak of listeriosis likely associated with prepackaged caramel apples—United States, 2017." MMWR. Morbidity and mortality weekly report 68 (2019).
Notes from the Field: Outbreak of Listeriosis Likely Associated with Prepackaged Caramel Apples — United States, 2017. Center for Disease Control (2025)
Summary of FDA’s Strategy to Prevent Human Norovirus and Hepatitis A Outbreaks Associated with Fresh and Frozen Berries. U.S. Food & Drug Administration (2025)
Reviewed in 2026