Florida Cottage Law-How Do I Find What The Requirements Are?
Decorating By Taterfink Updated 14 Oct 2011 , 3:26am by Taterfink
I live in Florida and am very excited about the Cottage Law and am praying heavily that the Governor signs it. I have looked everywhere that I can think of to find the requirements for setting up my home for this and I cannot find anything outlining what I would need to do. Does anyone have any information regarding this? I don't want to get overly excited until I am sure it will work out for me.
Thank you for any help.
I am getting anxious/excited as well! There is a link around here somewhere to the verbiage from the bill but honestly I would just wait until it's signed and then call the department of agriculture and get it directly from them.
That being said. . from what I understand. The law will exempt us from permits and licensing etc. We will need to get an occupational license for the county we live in, the food must be labeled with ingredients listed by weight and there must be the verbiage "Made in a home kitchen that has not been inspected by the Florida department of agriculture." in no less than 11 point font. We cannot sell more than $15,000 in a year .. .I feel like I'm forgetting something, but that's the gist of it. =)
Like I said, I'm sure we'll learn more as we go and it will just be easier to call the dept. of agriculture once it's all signed and they can give us the "Final" say so.
Someone started a facebook page, you may want to check it out!
http://www.facebook.com/mobileprotection#!/FloridaCottageFoodLawUpdates
I wish Missouri would have a cottage law like that. I hope it passes too. Because if it does then maybe there would be some in MO who would be willing to try to get something like that passed here. It is very very hard to get a permit to work out of your home here. very expensive. Basically to be legal here you have to have a whole separate kitchen and you all are aware of how much that would costs. If we had a law like that here, it would be easier for the hobbyist to make some money at it and eventually be able to get their own home kitchen. That would be so much easier on everyone.
The governor has until June 28th to sign the bill into law. You can go to www.flgov.com look under "Bill Action" and scroll down to CS/HB 7209. Once signed it will be effective July 1st. After that you can contact the Dept of Agriculture about the details but until then they are basically telling everyone to wait. If the governor vetos it, we would have to start all over again.
Join us on facebook! We are all trying to stay in touch to share the info as this unfolds & help ease the burden. 
I've read the verbiage on the bill as it stands. I'm trying to figure out if I need to have doors put on my existing kitchen or convert my sewing room (we closed in the carport to make a Florida Room) which is back to back with my kitchen so I would just have to put a sink on the other side of the wall and move my stove and fridge out there. If I do this, I can turn my existing kitchen into a Butler's Pantry type of set up. Kind of been dreaming of doing this anyway 
I suppose I'll just have to chill 
till he signs then start making phone calls.
I appreciate y'all responding to my questions.
I've read the verbiage on the bill as it stands. I'm trying to figure out if I need to have doors put on my existing kitchen or convert my sewing room (we closed in the carport to make a Florida Room) which is back to back with my kitchen so I would just have to put a sink on the other side of the wall and move my stove and fridge out there. If I do this, I can turn my existing kitchen into a Butler's Pantry type of set up. Kind of been dreaming of doing this anyway
I suppose I'll just have to chill
till he signs then start making phone calls.I appreciate y'all responding to my questions.
Not sure I understand.....why would you have to do all that???
I've read the verbiage on the bill as it stands. I'm trying to figure out if I need to have doors put on my existing kitchen or convert my sewing room (we closed in the carport to make a Florida Room) which is back to back with my kitchen so I would just have to put a sink on the other side of the wall and move my stove and fridge out there. If I do this, I can turn my existing kitchen into a Butler's Pantry type of set up. Kind of been dreaming of doing this anyway
I suppose I'll just have to chill
till he signs then start making phone calls.I appreciate y'all responding to my questions.
Not sure I understand.....why would you have to do all that???
Yes. . .why would you have to do all that? I mean if you want to just cause, then by all means go for it! But the purpose of this law is that we DON'T have to do all that. =)
That is my point. I have NO idea what hoops I'll need to jump thru (if any). If I don't have to do any of that, that'd be great! I'll start baking right away. I guess for me it just all sounds almost to good to be true. Kind of like waiting for the other boot to fall.
If the Cottage Law means that all I have to do is label my food appropriately, I am totally on board! I guess the issue I'm having is that I am brand new to the thought of being able to legally sell cakes from home and just want to make sure that I dot all the T's and cross all the I's!
p.s. as far as replacing my sewing room with an oven? It's just a pipe dream! I have small kitchen and my sewing room is about twice the size of my existing kitchen.
It does seem a little to good to be true. But it was meant to be easy. From what we can tell so far, all you will need is an occupational license. From there you may have to contact someone to find out about your zoning laws. We have to clarified that yet, but it looks like if you are zoned to be residential only you may have to have some sort of location for pick up of your product.
The bill tells us what is required, no more & no less. Just take a deep breathe, we can all make ourselves crazy trying to chase down what we THINK we MIGHT have to do.
HTH!
Sebrina, You DO understand!
I figured I was just driving myself crazy but, I didn't want to get my hopes up too much until I knew everything was a go.
I really appreciate everyone chiming in to help me get a grip on whats going on.
Here's to hoping for a long and lucrative home based business to us all!
You can find the text of HB 7209 at this website:
http://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2011/7209/BillText/er/PDF
Relative information is on lines 727-841. Last Event: 06/13/11 Signed by Officers and presented to Governor on Monday, June 13, 2011 10:34 AM
The Governor has 15 days from that date to sign the bill! The best action to take would be to call the Governor and tell him you support HB 7209. After that, information can be obtained from the Dept of Agriculture.
The Governor's phone number is (850) 488-7146.
The Florida Governor Signed the Cottage Food Bill on June 21st, it will be effective on July 1st. You can read the bill on www.flgov.com scroll down to CS/HB 7209 click on the 7209. Better hurry because they update this site every week.
If you have questions, contact the Dept of Agriculture after July 1st.
Barbara
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! I am doing the Happy Dance 
as I type!
The Florida Governor Signed the Cottage Food Bill on June 21st, it will be effective on July 1st. You can read the bill on www.flgov.com scroll down to CS/HB 7209 click on the 7209. Better hurry because they update this site every week.
If you have questions, contact the Dept of Agriculture after July 1st.
Barbara
I went to FL Dept of Ag website http://www.freshfromflorida.com/ this morning & sent an email asking what specifics would be required as the info on the website is mind numbing. This is the response that I received (almost immediately):
Dear Ms. Lamm,
Bill 7209 specifying new language in Chapter 500 Florida Statutes was passed during the recent legislative session. This change will allow small food business enterprises to operate without a food permit from the Department under certain conditions and restrictions. The bill in essence allows for the production of certain non potentially hazardous foods such as cakes, cookies, jams, jellies, breads, certain dry mixes and vinegars to be prepared in ones personal residence using only ones home kitchen appliances. The products may not be prepared in an extended building or with additional equipment. The annual gross sales cannot exceed $15,000. The products may not be sold via the internet, mail order or wholesale , which includes such places as restaurants and food stores. In addition, there are certain labeling requirements. The Department does have the authority to investigate these types of operations on a complaint basis and penalties for non compliance may be imposed. This law will come into effect July 1, 2011. The Department is currently charged with writing rules and guidance documents to further explain what can and cannot be done in such operations. Until such times it is unlawful to prepare any food in ones personal residence and sell such products.
Thank You.
Food Inspection
HTH I guess we just need to stay tuned to Dept of Ag for the new regulations & guidlines. I requested that I be notified if possible when these docs be made available. I will post them if I receive them.
Click on this link it has all the information you need to know about the Florida Cottage Food Law.
http://www.freshfromflorida.com/fs/CottageFoodAdvisorySeptember2011.pdf
Copy and paste the link if it doesn't work than go to the Florida Dept of Agriculture click on the divisions scroll down to FOOD SAFETY, the information is posted there.
These are the requirements you must follow and it explains everything in a very simple format.
If you have questions contact the dept don't ask for answers on the forum because you could get the wrong answer.
Thank you to all that have replied.
I posted the original question back in June. It's now October and it's been interesting. 
Since June, I have obtained my Business License and am gearing up to get an EIN from the IRS, plan to form an LLC and get my insurance all lined up.
At the end of this month I will be attending a seminar put on by the SBA. I figured I would attend this before proceeding. Just to make sure that I do this correctly.
Oh, I'll also be joining Restaurant Depot so that I can save on some of the ingredients and tools. (Got to admit tho, I just love perusing this store. It's an adventure!) 
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