California Cottage Food Law: Food Safety Training Requirements

Homemade food that you sell is known as cottage food.

Cottage food has become increasingly popular as more people want to know where their food comes from and who makes it.

Each state has its own cottage food laws, which regulates the types of homemade foods you can sell and how and to whom you can sell them.

As a component of this law, some states also require food safety training.

This article discusses the California cottage food law, and whether you need food safety training to sell homemade food.

California cottage food operations

California categorizes cottage food operations (CFO) into two classes — class A and class B.

As a class A CFO, you can sell homemade prepared foods directly to the public through various means, such as by delivery, online, or in-person.

As a class B CFO, you can sell homemade prepared foods directly to the public or indirectly through restaurants and food markets.

Your gross annual sales cannot exceed $75,000 as a class A CFO, or $150,000 as a class B CFO.

CFOs — regardless of class — can only produce and sell certain categories of non-temperature controlled foods, which don’t support the rapid growth of bacteria that could make a person sick with a foodborne illness.

Approved cottage foods include (1):

• baked goods without cream, custard, or meat fillings
• candy and confections
• extracts containing at least 70% proof or 35% food-grade for human consumption ethanol/alcohol
• dried, dehydrated, and freeze-dried foods
• frostings, icings, fondants, and gum pastes that don’t contain eggs, cream, or cream cheese
• honey and sorghum syrups
• fruit (certain types only) butters, jams, and jellies
• nuts, nut mixes, and nut butters
• powdered drink mixes made from manufactured ingredients

All CFOs must meet the requirements listed in the California Health and Safety code, including:

• preparing and selling from the approved foods list
• completing a cottage foods operator training within three months of registration/permitting
• implementing sanitary operations
• labeling compliant with state and federal regulations
• operating within the established gross annual sales limits

To register as an CFO — whether a class A or B — you must contact your local Environmental Health Department.

Do you need food safety training to sell homemade food in California?

Some foods like meats, poultry, seafood, dairy products, and leafy greens are more likely to carry disease-causing organisms called pathogens like bacteria and viruses than others.

These foods require time and temperature controls to keep them safe.

While California doesn’t allow you to make and sell these types of foods — known as time-temperature control for safety (TCS) foods — you must still know how to handle approved cottage foods safely to avoid contamination.

For this reason, California requires that you complete a food processor course within three months of become registered or permitted as a CFO, and every three years thereafter.

You can satisfy this requirement by taking an ANSI-National Accreditation Board (ANAB)-accredited food handler training course, like FoodSafePal’s.

After successfully completing the course, you will receive a food handler card or certificate, which you must have to become registered or permitted as a CFO, and provide to your local health agency upon their request for verification that you have completed the training.

Most accredited food handler courses — including FoodSafePal’s — are offered online, and you can complete them in under two hours.

After completing the course, you must pass a test.

FoodSafePal’s accredited food handler training course consists of 40 multiple-choice questions, and you need to answer at least 28 (70%) correct to earn your food handler card and certificate.

If you don’t pass the first time, you can retake it for free.

The bottom line

California has an approved list of cottage foods that you can sell as either a class A or class B CFO.

Regardless of the class, however, California requires you to take a food processor course within three months of becoming registered or permitted with your local health department, among other requirements under the California Health and Safety Code.

California recognizes an ANAB-accredited food handler course — like FoodSafePal’s — to meet this requirement.