Cottage food safety news

Brush up on safe food handling practices before selling your goods at the market.

Nut butters are low-acid with a pH greater than 4.6. Their high pH combined with a high fat content makes nut butters a risky food item, and they are not allowed under the Minnesota Cottage Food Exemption law. 

Fire cider is a flavored vinegar made from infusing apple cider vinegar with onions, garlic, ginger and citrus fruit. It has a strong flavor and some use it as a home remedy.

Cottage food producers can dehydrate herbs and plants to use as ingredients in dried tea mixes. When packaging and labeling dried tea mixes, follow guidelines when making claims about the benefits of your product.

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) changes to the labeling requirements for tree nuts, milk, and eggs aim to minimize the risk of allergic reactions.

Pickled beets, pears and cake(!), kimchi, and flavored vinegar are on top of some cottage foods menus this year. You can make them safely by following standard recipes and testing pH.

Swicy, a blend of sweet and spicy, is a complex flavor profile that cottage foods customers may enjoy. Use these tips when preparing swicy products.

Making and selling fluffy popcorn as a cottage foods product, especially for your customers to give as holiday gifts, is very enticing, but some of its ingredients can make you sick.

While the Cottage Foods Exemption law does not require a specific labeling format or design, it does require 6 pieces of information. Learn best practices to keep your customers safe.

Due to differences in equipment and required food safety processes, a wider variety of commercially prepared freeze-dried foods are available than those sold by cottage food producers.