I have an opportunity to be a vendor for free at a local summer fair. It's kind of like a County or State Fair, but it features products made in our area (food and non-food).

I'm all set up to sell products to be consumed immediately (I already make and sell special-order cakes and wholesale items, legally). However, I'm thinking I would like to package up some items (brittle, caramel corn, maybe some cupcakes, etc.) for people to purchase to take home. Does anyone know about labeling? I know labeling requirements for resale in grocery stores are very strict (nutrition facts, weights and measures, etc), but what about for these sorts of fairs? I live in California. Any info would be wonderful (or info on where to get concrete answers)!

Thanks!

Check with your inspector. They would know the labeling requirements for your license... Typically, a label is comprised of five items: Business name, address, product name, net weight/count, and ingredient list. There is a federal exemption to nutrition labeling. Any business grossing less than $500,000 does not need this labeling.

Holy smokes! That's amazing (the exemption), and explains why some seemingly random local products don't have nutrition labels on them. I can do weight, and was planning on including all the other info, anyway.

So, the health department should know?

Thanks!

You need to check with the HD anyway. In our area, vendors for one-time events, such as a chili cook-off, must take the food safety class, must still have the local business license from the city, and must comply with all of the requirements that are in place for the regular vendors.

This may seem like a lot, but our HD holds a special class just for these fairs. Even if you sell one cupcake, the municipality usually wants their cut, so check with City Hall too.

This is WV. I'm sure CA is going to be just as strict.