A re-elected Saskatchewan Party government will eliminate red-tape that is preventing local food businesses, individuals and voluntary organizations from preparing low-risk foods like cookies, candy, pies and buns in their homes for direct sale to consumers or to third parties like local coffee shops.
The Sask. Party issued the release last weekend, noting that under current rules home-based food producers are only allowed to sell their products at farmers’ markets, from the farm-gate or through word of couth. Home-based food producers are also prohibited from advertising their products.
Food safety regulations currently require the use of expensive commercial kitchen facilities if the food is to be sold to the public. Public health inspectors in Saskatchewan have routinely deemed low-risk products like pies and candy to be ineligible for sale directly to consumers. Advertising is also prohibited.
These restrictions significantly limit the growth of small independent local food businesses and the potential for fundraising by non-profit organizations, they said in the release.
A 2013 study in the United States noted that 42 American states have laws that allow cottage food operations.
The most common approach to accommodate the home or cottage business, is to change the definition of a food establishment to include home kitchens. This allows people to sell items such as cookies, cakes and jams produced at home, exempting them from the requirements of renting expensive commercial kitchen space.
Most jurisdictions define low risk foods as those with low water activity and a low pH level that inhibit the growth of potentially dangerous micro-organisms. In practical terms, this covers all non-perishable foods that consumers would normally not keep in a refrigerator in the home. Perishable foods like cheesecakes, meringue pies and custards cannot be sold under this type of legislation since they require refrigeration.
The Sask. Party said the provincial legislation would probably follow that particular definition of low-risk food, following the other jurisdictions that do allow low-risk food sales and home-based products that are not perishable.
