Office of Sen.

Mike Johnston
Colorado General Assembly | 200 E. Colfax Avenue | Denver, CO 80203 | 303.866.4864

FACT SHEET MEMORANDUM

SB 12-048 Colorado Cottage Foods Act Sen. Schwartz & Rep. Coram Staff Name: Rachel Marion What the Bill Does: Under current Colorado law, in order to prepare food and sell it as a consumer good, an individual must obtain a Retail Food Establishment license, the food must be prepared in a commercial kitchen, and the equipment used to transport and store the food must meet certain requirements.1 S.B. 12-048 creates an exemption for home kitchens and makes it easier for local food producers to sell spices, teas, dehydrated produce, nuts, seeds, honey, jams, jellies, preserves, fruit butter, and baked goods directly to Colorado families. It also supports local entrepreneurial opportunities and year round income for farmers, and increases the availability of fresh, nutritious foods. While expanding access to local foods, S.B. 12-048 also maintains safety standards such as extensive labeling regulations, requiring that the producer be certified in safe food handling and processing, and requiring products to be sold by growers directly to consumers. The bill only applies to producers who earn net revenues of $5,000 or less per calendar year for each eligible food product. Colorado Context: A Colorado farmer that wants to turn her extra peaches into jam and sell them at the local farmers market is currently required to go through the same permitting process as an industrial size jam producer or a restaurant2. Rep. Laura Bradford has introduced a similar bill in the House, HB 12-1027, Home Kitchen Nonpotentially Hazardous Food. Last year, S.B. 11-258, dubbed the Local Foods, Local Jobs Act, passed in the Senate but died in the House. National Context: The number of Farmers Markets in the United States has grown 61% in the past 5 years.3 Thirty-one other states have various versions of Cottage Food laws.4 Eight states have legislation pending. Bill Provisions: Exempts organizations that provide food to the needy from civil and criminal liability for any injury caused by donated food produced pursuant to the Colorado Cottage Foods Act

1 2

Colo. Rev. Stat. 25-4-1606 (West 2011). Colo. Rev. Stat. 25-4-1606 (West 2011). 3 http://www.ams.usda.gov/ 4 http://www.theselc.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Table-of-Cottage-Food-Laws-in-US1.pdf

For a complete list of fact sheets, visit www.mikejohnston.org/in-the-legislature.

Exempts schools and nonprofit organizations from civil and criminal liability resulting from the use of its kitchens by producers to bake or process goods for sale pursuant to the Colorado Cottage Foods Act Creates an exemption from the definition of retail food establishment in the Colorado Revised Statutes for home kitchens in which a person produces food products for direct sale to consumers Allows an individual to use his or her home kitchen, or a commercial, private, or public kitchen, to produce food for direct sale to consumers, so long as: o The food is non-potentially hazardous food that does not require refrigeration, such as spices, teas, dehydrated produce, nuts, seeds, honey, jams, jellies, preserves, fruit butter, and baked goods; o The individual is certified in food handling and processing; o The foods produced are not sold to grocery stores or restaurants, but instead are sold directly to consumers on the producers premises, at the producers roadside stand, or at a farmers market, community-supported agriculture organization, or similar venue; Limits the application of the bill to producers who earn net revenues of $5,000 or less per calendar year from the sale of each eligible food product Requires that food sold under the Colorado Cottage Foods Act be labeled with: o Identification of the product; o The producers name, the address at which the food was prepared, and the producers current phone number and email address; o The date the food was produced; o A complete list of ingredients; and o A disclaimer alerting the consumer to the fact that the product was produced in a home kitchen not subject to state licensure or inspection Encourages individuals to maintain home bakery liability insurance or other adequate liability insurance Allows, but does not mandate, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, or a county, district, or regional health agency to create a voluntary electronic registry of producers Creates similar requirements for the direct sale to consumers of less than 250 eggs per month

Fiscal Impact: This bill allows, but does not require, a county or district public health agency to register producers. The fiscal impact of the bill is conditional upon a county or district public health agency choosing to implement a registration system. Any fiscal impact is expected to be minimal.5

Clare Pramuk, Fiscal Note: SB 12-048 (Jan. 23, 2012), available at www.leg.state.co.us/clics/clics2012a/csl.nsf/fsbillcont3/F8EA74C8447BB62387257981007DD1AD?Open&file=SB048_00.pdf .

For a complete list of fact sheets, visit www.mikejohnston.org/in-the-legislature.