<?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>
<regulation prefix="Regulation" num=".27" citation="COMAR 10.15.03.27" title_num="10" subtitle_num="15" chapter_num="03" heading="Farmer's Market, Bake Sales, and Cottage Food Business.">
  <paragraph num="A.">
    <text>A cottage food business may offer for sale the homemade foods specified in §B of this regulation when the foods are:</text>
    <paragraph num="(1)">
      <text>Made in a private home kitchen; and</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(2)">
      <text>Offered or sold only in the State:</text>
      <paragraph num="(a)">
        <text>Subject to the requirements of §C(6) and (7) of this regulation, at a retail food store; or</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(b)">
        <text>Directly to a consumer:</text>
        <paragraph num="(i)">
          <text>At a farmer’s market;</text>
        </paragraph>
        <paragraph num="(ii)">
          <text>At a bake sale;</text>
        </paragraph>
        <paragraph num="(iii)">
          <text>At a public event;</text>
        </paragraph>
        <paragraph num="(iv)">
          <text>By personal delivery; or</text>
        </paragraph>
        <paragraph num="(v)">
          <text>By mail order.</text>
        </paragraph>
      </paragraph>
    </paragraph>
  </paragraph>
  <paragraph num="B.">
    <text>The Department shall allow the preparation and sale of the following foods in accordance with §A of this regulation:</text>
    <paragraph num="(1)">
      <text>Non-potentially hazardous hot-filled canned acid fruit jellies, jams, preserves, and butters that are:</text>
      <paragraph num="(a)">
        <text>Unadulterated;</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(b)">
        <text>Packaged to maintain food safety and integrity; and</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(c)">
        <text>Labeled in accordance with Regulation .12 of this chapter;</text>
      </paragraph>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(2)">
      <text>Fruit butters made only from:</text>
      <paragraph num="(a)">
        <text>Apples;</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(b)">
        <text>Apricots;</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(c)">
        <text>Grapes;</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(d)">
        <text>Peaches;</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(e)">
        <text>Plums;</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(f)">
        <text>Prunes;</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(g)">
        <text>Quince; or</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(h)">
        <text>Another fruit or fruit mixture that will produce an acid canned food;</text>
      </paragraph>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(3)">
      <text>Jam, preserve, or jelly made only from:</text>
      <paragraph num="(a)">
        <text>A fruit listed in §B(2) of this regulation;</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(b)">
        <text>Oranges;</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(c)">
        <text>Nectarines;</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(d)">
        <text>Tangerines;</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(e)">
        <text>Blackberries;</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(f)">
        <text>Raspberries;</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(g)">
        <text>Blueberries;</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(h)">
        <text>Boysenberries;</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(i)">
        <text>Cherries;</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(j)">
        <text>Cranberries;</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(k)">
        <text>Strawberries;</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(l)">
        <text>Red currants; or</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(m)">
        <text>Another fruit or fruit mixture that will produce an acid canned food;</text>
      </paragraph>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(4)">
      <text>Non-potentially hazardous baked goods;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(5)">
      <text>Foods manufactured on a farm by a licensed food processor in accordance with COMAR 10.15.04.19;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(6)">
      <text>Non-potentially hazardous candy; and</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(7)">
      <text>All other non-potentially hazardous foods produced by a licensed entity.</text>
    </paragraph>
  </paragraph>
  <paragraph num="C.">
    <text>Cottage Food Business.</text>
    <paragraph num="(1)">
      <text>The Department shall allow the owner of a cottage food business to sell only cottage food products processed and packaged in Maryland that are:</text>
      <paragraph num="(a)">
        <text>Produced or packaged in a residential kitchen;</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(b)">
        <text>Stored on the premises of the cottage food business; and</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(c)">
        <text>Prepackaged with a label that contains the following information:</text>
        <paragraph num="(i)">
          <text>The name and address of the cottage food business or the name, phone number, and identification number assigned to the cottage food business by the Department;</text>
        </paragraph>
        <paragraph num="(ii)">
          <text>The name of the cottage food product;</text>
        </paragraph>
        <paragraph num="(iii)">
          <text>The ingredients of the cottage food product in descending order of the amount of each ingredient by weight;</text>
        </paragraph>
        <paragraph num="(iv)">
          <text>The net weight or net volume of the cottage food product;</text>
        </paragraph>
        <paragraph num="(v)">
          <text>Allergen information as specified by federal labeling requirements;</text>
        </paragraph>
        <paragraph num="(vi)">
          <text>Nutritional information as specified by federal labeling requirements, if any nutritional information claim is made;</text>
        </paragraph>
        <paragraph num="(vii)">
          <text>Printed in 10 point or larger type in a color that provides a clear contrast to the background of the label: “Made by a cottage food business that is not subject to Maryland’s food safety regulations.”; and</text>
        </paragraph>
        <paragraph num="(viii)">
          <text>For a cottage food product offered for sale at a retail food store, the phone number and email address of the cottage food business and the date the cottage food product was made.</text>
        </paragraph>
      </paragraph>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(2)">
      <text>A cottage food business may request a unique identification number from the Department which can be used in lieu of the address of the cottage food business on the product label required under §C(1) of this regulation.</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(3)">
      <text>The owner of a cottage food business shall comply with all applicable county and municipal laws and ordinances regulating the preparation, processing, storage, and sale of cottage food products.</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(4)">
      <text>Upon receipt of a complaint or outbreak of illness the Department may:</text>
      <paragraph num="(a)">
        <text>Investigate the conditions under which the product was produced and any complaint alleging that a cottage food business has violated this regulation;</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(b)">
        <text>Send a representative of the Department, at a reasonable time, to enter and inspect the premises of a cottage food business to determine compliance with this regulation; and</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(c)">
        <text>Collect samples of a cottage food product or its ingredients to determine if the cottage food product is misbranded or adulterated.</text>
      </paragraph>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(5)">
      <text>The owner of a cottage food business may not:</text>
      <paragraph num="(a)">
        <text>Refuse to grant access to a representative who requests to enter and inspect the premises of the cottage food business in response to a complaint; or</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(b)">
        <text>Interfere with any inspection or collection of samples in response to a complaint or outbreak of illness.</text>
      </paragraph>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(6)">
      <text>Before the owner of a cottage food business may sell a cottage food product to a retail food store, the owner shall submit to the Department for review:</text>
      <paragraph num="(a)">
        <text>The label that will be affixed to the cottage food product in accordance with §C(1)(c) of this regulation; and</text>
      </paragraph>
      <paragraph num="(b)">
        <text>Documentation of the owner’s successful completion of a food safety course in the past 3 years that is approved by the Department and the American National Standards Institute and includes, at a minimum, the following subjects:</text>
        <paragraph num="(i)">
          <text>Basic food safety;</text>
        </paragraph>
        <paragraph num="(ii)">
          <text>Cleaning and sanitizing;</text>
        </paragraph>
        <paragraph num="(iii)">
          <text>Personal hygiene;</text>
        </paragraph>
        <paragraph num="(iv)">
          <text>Pest control and prevention; and</text>
        </paragraph>
        <paragraph num="(v)">
          <text>Receiving, storing, preparing, and serving food.</text>
        </paragraph>
      </paragraph>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(7)">
      <text>The owner of a cottage food business may not sell or offer for sale a cottage food product to a retail food store until notified by the Department, in writing, that the requirements stated in §C(6) of this regulation are satisfactorily met.</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(8)">
      <text>The phone number required in §§C(1)(c)(i) and (viii) of this regulation shall enable contact with the cottage food business by the Department within 24 hours.</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(9)">
      <text>The email address required in §C(1)(c)(i) of this regulation shall enable contact with the cottage food business by the Department within 48 hours.</text>
    </paragraph>
  </paragraph>
  <paragraph num="D.">
    <text>If the Department finds a person to be in violation of any provision of this regulation, the Department:</text>
    <paragraph num="(1)">
      <text>Shall take action against a misbranded or adulterated food offered or sold under this regulation in accordance with Health-General Article, §§21-211, 21-253, and 21-254, Annotated Code of Maryland; and</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(2)">
      <text>May determine that food produced in a private home kitchen by the person may not be offered for sale as a cottage food.</text>
    </paragraph>
  </paragraph>
</regulation>