Virginia Cottage Food Law: Food Safety Training Requirements

Cottage food refers to food that you make at home and sell directly to people within your state.

Each state has its own cottage food law, regulating the types of foods you can make and sell, to whom and how you sell the food, and even the annual amount of revenue you can earn from your home-based food business.

Before you can start a cottage food business, many states require the completion of an approved food safety training course, among other requirements.

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

Virginia cottage food production

Virginia has two paths for selling homemade foods. The first is called the “Home Food Processing Operation,” which comes with minimal restrictions to the types of foods you can make and where you can sell them but imposes many regulations.

The second is called the “Home Kitchen Food Processing Exemptions,” which come with few regulatory burdens but producers are limited in what they can sell and where.

The exception is the most common and what this article will focus on.

Virginia’s cottage food law exemption allows the production and sale of homemade goods that don’t require time or temperature controls to keep them safe.

Examples of approved foods include:

• candies and cotton candy
• james and jellies
• trail mixes and granola
• dry seasonings and mixtures
• coated and uncoated nuts
• vinegars and flavored vinegars
• popcorn and popcorn balls
• roasted coffee and dried tea
• dried fruits, herbs, pasta, and baking mixes
• baked goods (without cream, custard, cheese, or meat fillings)

Certain acidified vegetables and honey can also be made with certain restrictions.

Conversely, you cannot make and sell products with ingredients that require time and temperature control for safety like meats, poultry, seafood, milk and dairy products, and cut or sliced produce.

Virginia requires that you sell allowed foods directly to people within the state from your home and at farmers’ markets.

You cannot sell your homemade goods to other businesses, such as grocery stores, supermarkets, and restaurants. You also cannot sell your products online, but you can advertise your products online.

Unless you apply for a permit to start a home food processing operation, Virginia won’t routinely inspect your home kitchen like they do retail food establishments like restaurants, but you must still follow applicable laws and regulations.

However, the department of health can inspect your kitchen if they receive customer complaints about the safety of the food you sell or to investigate foodborne illness outbreaks potentially linked with your products.

Virginia has no restriction on the annual revenue you can earn from the sale of your homemade goods.

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

Unless you start a home food processing operation, you don’t need food safety training to sell foods that don’t require time or temperature controls under Virginia’s cottage food law exemption.

However, many producers still complete a basic food handler course and proudly display their food handler certificates as a way to instill confidence in their customers about the safety of the products the make. This can increase business.

Food handler courses — such as the one offered by FoodSafePal — are designed for food workers in retail food establishments so some of the content isn’t applicable to cottage food operators.

Still, they cover the important food safety principles you must know to keep your homemade products safe from disease-causing organisms called pathogens that can make people sick.

After you complete FoodSafePal’s food handler training, you must take a test and pass a 40-question multiple-choice test to earn your food handlers certificate.

You can learn and test in under two hours completely online.

Upon passing, you can immediately download or print it as proof that you have completed the training.

It’s best practice to have it on display at the point of sale and posted on your website if you have one.

The certificate expires in three years from the date you earn it.

Labeling requirements

Virginia’s cottage food law exemption requires that each product you sell is properly labeled with certain information.

This information allow your customers to contact you in the case of an illness potentially linked to your product.

It also informs customers of allergens that may be present and that the food is produced in a home kitchen not routinely inspected by the health department.

This label must include the following information:

• your business name, home address, and phone number
• the date the food product was processed
• the common or usual name of the product
• the ingredients listed in descending order of predominance by weight (sub ingredients must be included)
• allergen information as specified by federal labeling requirements
• the net weight or volume of the food by standard measure or numerical count
• the statement: “NOT FOR RESALE — PROCESSED AND PREPARED WITHOUT STATE INSPECTION.”

If you sell honey, the label must include the following statement: ” PROCESSED AND PREPARED WITHOUT STATE INSPECTION. WARNING. Do Not Feed Honey to Infants Under One Year Old.”

If the product you sell is too small to have an easily-read label or if it’s sold at a farmers’ market, a sign with the required information is an acceptable alternative to the label.

The bottom line

Under Virginia’s cottage food law exemption, you can produce and sell foods that don’t require time or temperature controls like baked and other dry goods directly to people throughout the state.

You don’t need food safety training before making and selling your homemade goods, but many producers still choose to take a basic food handler course to instill confidence in their customers about the safety of the products they sell.

FoodSafePal offers an ANAB-accredited food handler training course that you can complete online in under two hours.

After you complete the course and pass the test, you will be issued a certificate as proof of completion.

Each food you make and sell must also have a label with the required information.