Is anyone working under this? From what I got off the Ag website it seems like all I have to do to legally sell cakes from my home is slap a label on the box proclaiming ingredients and "This product was home produced". Apparently if I do this I have no need for an inspection or anything else?? Am I reading this correctly? TIA!

You are reading it correctly. Remember NO foods that require refrigeration though!

Well, that was certainly easier than I had anticipated! Yay! Thanks so much for the reply.

Wow! There aren't many places as easy as that!

Also, no carpet in your kitchen, or pets with fur.

I think I got everything figured out. If you want to be a licensed home bakery it's $10 a quick inspection, no pet & carpet. The cottage "laws" apprently mean if you slap a label on your good to go. Finally, a reason to LOVE living in Ohio! Thanks to everyone that posted in earlier threads as well as I thought to do a search on this AFTER I posted.

Hmmm....the Cottage laws are in place because of the large Amish communities we have here in Ohio - I am pretty sure most of them have furred animals running around.

I was told the same thing as MichelleM.

I'm just going by what is on the Department of Agriculture's website. I know we have all been told different things on the phone or during inspections, but I'm going by what is written on the website. I'm assuming it's up to date! Maybe different counties change the rules a bit.

I think it really depends on who you talk to....I'm told something entirely different! If someone in Ohio wants to make a go of it (under Cottage Law) or not, I suggest you write down who you spoke with and when, and get a confirmation in writing, of what's required! They will provide this upon request!

Also, you don't have to label anything if you're handing/delivering the cake to the party/parties that will be consuming it. If you're selling wholesale to an establishment OR selling at a Farmer's Market, etc., then labeling is required.....AGAIN, that's what Columbus Dept. of Ag. confirmed to me....this time anyway! hee hee!

so where in ohio are you all from? do we all live close enough that getting together is a possibility? i'm in canton.

~erica

I would also write down who you speak with and what they told you. When I called, I spoke with a supervisor there and was told that you can get fined an absur amount if you get reported and they come out and find pets, licensed or not. I would suggest that anyone wanting to operate under cottage guidelines find out for yourself. Personally, I would hate to go strictly by what someone here or anywhere else for that matter besides calling the Dept of Ag and end up getting in trouble. Also, I'm sure that if you have indoor pets, you'll read into it what you want, or keep calling and get someone to tell you what you want to hear so you can do it and keep your pet. Me personally, I'm going by what I have been told on the phone, and no indoor pets for me. I'm almost positive that you cannot have indoor pets, inspected or not. I understand these rules are in place because of the AMish, but having lived in Amish country for a few years, most of their furry pets are barn cats, horses, etc...not indoors.

I have covered myself. Name, date, phone number. I guess you could get a digital recorder and tell them you are recording them and have that as a back up too. I've been doing this for 25+ years now. I'd think if it was a problem, I would've heard about it by now. (and BTW- the Amish farms we have visited DO have inside animals too - even baby goats and sheep on occasion!!)

okay, i JUST got off the phone with the ohio dept of ag. Donna told me "there is no restriction per say about pets in the home, because we don't license and inspect the home. The only requirement is labeling." that is a direct quote. when i asked if i needed to label if i handed the cake directly to the person such as a wedding cake, she said its not practical to slap a label on a wedding cake, so as long as a responsible person at the wedding has a list of ingredients, then its fine. sounds like the customer does need to know whats in it, even if they are getting it directly from the baker.

hope this helps! it sure eases my mind, cause i have a ferret (my avatar). and she has fur, but only sheds twice a year and stays in her cage most of the day. when she's out she's only in the living room, never gets close to the kitchen.

You guys are right, you'd probalby get 10 different answers from 10 different people. I just spoke w/ Deborah from food safety and I was told that since we're not inspected animals are not an issue and as long as I was labeling and not doing refrigerated stuff I was good. I e-mailed them too so I hope I can get a reply in WRITING lol.

That is 3 of us now!

So where are you guys from? I'm in New London, but I used to be from Doylestown, Ohio (near Wadsworth and Rittman)

(now I'm in the sticks and it sucks!)

April

Delaware here.

Quadcrew, that's not too far from me, I'm about an hour directly north of you.

I'm in conneaut, Oh in the northeastern corner

Mentor here.
Tracy

im just outside of cincinnati, in sycamore township.

quadcrew- since you've been doing this for a long time, i have a few questions. im in the process of starting up my business, just doing all hte leg work right now. did you need to register as a business with the state of ohio or anything? im just trying to figure out for tax purposes what the next step is to make my business official and recognized by the state. am i making sense? lol. i would also like to be able to order wholesale from country kitchen, and don't they require a biz id or something like that?

I'm not Quadcrew, but I think you need a tax id number. it's pretty simple to get, but be careful on the partnership thing. I filled mine out as a partnership and I screwed myself. But, I have "re-opened" my business without a tax id number and just use my social when they need a number...but I don't think that would go over for wholesale products etc, it just gets you tax exempt. (I don't have a bakery, I have a training stable)

You pay $50. to register your business name with the state, and you can get a tax ID number from the IRS (you can do that online) that is free. They will also send you a hard copy in the mail. Food items in the state of Ohio are non taxable, so you don't have to worry about charging tax, you just keep records of what you sell so you can pay taxes on your profits. Keep records of everything.....phone, gas, electric, mileage, supplies, schooling fees, etc.

Wow how disorganized can things be that everyone gives a different answer?!? I have a toy poodle that doesn't shed. But I am not selling anything yet so I don't have to worry about it quite yet. That is not an issue I want to cross as my kids would be devestated if we had to give him away .

I live in Dayton too!