Alaska:New ‘cottage food’ rules could make it easier for people to get into the business

More jams, jellies and baked goods could end up in farmers markets if an ordinance to reduce permit fees for "cottage food" vendors passes the Anchorage Assembly.Those producers, who typically are small in scale and sell items like baked goods, jams, jellies and fermented food made in home kitchens, pay $310 under current municipal rules to operate. The ordinance, scheduled to be considered by the Assembly Tuesday, would lower the fee to $50.The change is part of an overhaul of the city's rules for retail foods made in homes, according to DeeAnn Fetko, deputy director of the city's Department of Health and Human Services. With farmers markets growing in popularity, some cottage food vendors have run into conflict with the high permit price and confusing rules over what they can and cannot sell.Cottage food vendors under both existing rules and the new rules can make foods in home kitchens if their yearly sales are less than $25,000 and they produce "low risk" foods that are unlikely to cause illness. Most other foods must be prepared in commercial kitchens.The state food code, which covers all areas outside of Anchorage, allows for small-scale vendors to sell without a permit. The city requires a permit for all food sales except vendors selling fresh whole fruits and vegetables.