Cooking and Copyright Infringement?

[Wake]

Target spotted! Just found the pdf for WI's Cottage Food laws!

http://homebasedbaking.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/Wisconsin-Food-Safety-Regulations1.pdf

Foods That May Be Safely Processed On A Small Scale
Many foods may be safely processed on a small scale if sanitary methods and processing and handling are procedures closely followed. These include jellies and jams, pickled (acidified) fruits and vegetables, and herbal or flavored vinegar.

OK, now to make phone calls to make sure, then jot down all the concrete bits of data on a planner/notebook, then gather recipes and supplies, list costs (from frickin wal-mart), find local farmer's markets, phone calls to them, prepare, etc. Need to find out how to make proper labels as well. Planning to make a new thread detailing my recipes/products and pricing, and one major thread encapsulating everything about this endeavor complete with up-to-date steps. I'm not that smart, so I could use all the help I can get. :lol::mrgreen:

 

[clownboy]

I might of hit a tough roadblock.



http://homebasedbaking.com/wp-conte...arting-a-Small-Food-Business-in-Wisconsin.pdf

It's telling me I have to rent a seperate kitchen, to make frickin' pickles. :shock: I may have to go undercover and make them with my functioning stove instead.

As I suspected. The regs vary somewhat state to state, but they're usually pretty strict, and with good reason. Food poisoning is no joke and most folks don't know how to run a professional kitchen, it's not the same as running a family kitchen.

Usually folks ramp up to it and take their chances (of a fine or poisoning a bunch of folks and going to prison) while they're learning all the requirements for being on the up and up.

The ingredients list is one of these requirements. There are both federal and state labelling laws that detail what must be included on the label.

The payoff for all the regulatory hassle (besides not being subject to huge fines) is that once you get set up right, you can sell in local stores as well.

 

[Wake]

A major prblem I'm having right now is contradictions on Wi's Cottage Law involving which kitchen to use. To be frank, I'm in a pickle.

At its core, cottage food legislation intends to help micro food businesses launch without the cost of a commercial kitchen. You’re the one managing and directing your business and shaping its future. Sometimes, especially if you have a consistently yummy product and loyal customer base, your volume might reach the point that you outgrow what your state’s regulations will let you produce in your home kitchen.

How to Navigate Cottage Food Laws - Hobby Farms

Facilities and Equipment
Your food processing area must be a room (or rooms) separate from your home kitchen – preferably, it should be in a separate building.

http://homebasedbaking.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/Wisconsin-Food-Safety-Regulations1.pdf

Frustrating. Yet for Wisconsin it says that I can put a label on my product that says it's made in my home kitchen, so.... It's just confusing.

Labeling requirement:Most states require labels notifying the consumer that the product was processed in a home kitchen. For example, according to Wisconsin’s cottage food law, the label needs to include the sentence: “This product was made in a private home not subject to state licensing or inspection.” Additionally, the label must include the name and address of the person who prepared and canned the product, the date it was processed, and an ingredients list.

How to Navigate Cottage Food Laws - Hobby Farms

 

[MaggieD]

A major prblem I'm having right now is contradictions on Wi's Cottage Law involving which kitchen to use. To be frank, I'm in a pickle.

How to Navigate Cottage Food Laws - Hobby Farms

http://homebasedbaking.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/Wisconsin-Food-Safety-Regulations1.pdf

Frustrating. Yet for Wisconsin it says that I can put a label on my product that says it's made in my home kitchen, so.... It's just confusing.

How to Navigate Cottage Food Laws - Hobby Farms

Follow the directions in the last quote you included in this post.

 

[Wake]

OK, I think I just found something. Wisconsin's Pickle Bill. So confusing, I may yet become a political activist. :mrgreen:

http://www.foodsafety.wisc.edu/assets/pdf_Files/PickleBill_Sept12.pdf

1)

You [FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri]can sell [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri][/FONT][/FONT]home-canned fruits and vegetables that are naturally acidic or have been acidified by pickling or fermenting.

2)

You [FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri]can not [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri][/FONT][/FONT]sell product made outside your family’s kitchen, such as in a restaurant or a shared kitchen

3)

Sales [FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri]of no more than $5,000 [/FONT][/FONT]per individual [FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri]per year. Individuals must keep records in the event of an inspection. [/FONT][/FONT] [FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri][/FONT][/FONT]

4)

Post a sign at your stand or booth: [FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri]"These products are homemade in a kitchen that has not been subject to state inspection." [/FONT][/FONT] [FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri][/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri][/FONT][/FONT]

5)

Label each jar: o Name and address of the person who did the canning o Date of canning o [FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri]Ingredients (in descending amount by weight) [/FONT][/FONT] [FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri][/FONT][/FONT]o [FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri]Statement: [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri]This product was made in a home not subject to state licensing or inspection. [/FONT][/FONT] [FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri][/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri][/FONT][/FONT]

6)

Under the new law, there can be [FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri]no sales[/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri][/FONT][/FONT]:  Out of your home or a store on your property  Wholesale (resale by someone else)  On consignment  Via the internet OR out of state  Of exempt foods (pickle bill products) along with licensed foods from the same stand.

7)

Sales [FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri]only [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri][/FONT][/FONT]at community or social events or farmers’ markets. These events include town celebrations, sporadic church or service club bazaars, and scheduled farmers’ markets.

8)

Under the new law, there can be [FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri]no sales[/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri][/FONT][/FONT]:  Out of your home or a store on your property  Wholesale (resale by someone else)  On consignment  Via the internet OR out of state  Of exempt foods (pickle bill products) along with licensed foods from the same stand.

http://www.foodsafety.wisc.edu/assets/pdf_Files/PickleBill_Sept12.pdf

I think I hit paydirt. Gonna go print off the PDF for the Pickle law and make some phone calls.

EDIT: Apologies for the somewhat garbled quote. ^

 

[justabubba]

Follow the directions in the last quote you included in this post.

follow maggie's instructions and you will be fine

 

[Fisher]

A major prblem I'm having right now is contradictions on Wi's Cottage Law involving which kitchen to use. To be frank, I'm in a pickle.

How to Navigate Cottage Food Laws - Hobby Farms


Frustrating. Yet for Wisconsin it says that I can put a label on my product that says it's made in my home kitchen, so.... It's just confusing.

For whatever it is worth since I am not from your state, I have seen people who used those Home Depot type outbuildings as their "kitchen"/processing facility.

 

[Wake]

Just called the WI Dept. of Agriculture, Trade & Consumer Protection thingy (608) 224-4682. Apparently I was told I can make any pickled goods out of my own home, without a license, so long as the pH(aciditiy) is 4.6 or lower. A trick to make sure it's all good is to add a touch of lemon juice to make sure. She also directed me to their brochure on their website, Datcp.wi.gov. Looks like my bases are getting covered.

I want to try 3 common products first. Pickled Ginger Beets, your basic dill pickles (using heirloom 'National Pickling' cucumbers), and... I don't know what else.

EDIT: Just noted x5 nearby Farmer's markets. http://www.farmfreshatlas.org/southeast/markets.htm Time to Mapquest.

 

[winston53660]

Just called the WI Dept. of Agriculture, Trade & Consumer Protection thingy (608) 224-4682. Apparently I was told I can make any pickled goods out of my own home, without a license, so long as the pH(aciditiy) is 4.6 or lower. A trick to make sure it's all good is to add a touch of lemon juice to make sure. She also directed me to their brochure on their website, Datcp.wi.gov. Looks like my bases are getting covered.

I want to try 3 common products first. Pickled Ginger Beets, your basic dill pickles (using heirloom 'National Pickling' cucumbers), and... I don't know what else.

My Grandmother use to do dill pickles when I was growing up every year. One year I grew some cucumbers for her

 

[Fisher]

Just called the WI Dept. of Agriculture, Trade & Consumer Protection thingy (608) 224-4682. Apparently I was told I can make any pickled goods out of my own home, without a license, so long as the pH(aciditiy) is 4.6 or lower. A trick to make sure it's all good is to add a touch of lemon juice to make sure. She also directed me to their brochure on their website, Datcp.wi.gov. Looks like my bases are getting covered.

I want to try 3 common products first. Pickled Ginger Beets, your basic dill pickles (using heirloom 'National Pickling' cucumbers), and... I don't know what else.

Something hot and/or spicey.

 

[Wake]

My Grandmother use to do dill pickles when I was growing up every year. One year I grew some cucumbers for her

To be brutally honest, I suck at growing them. Tried some hybrids last year and, when they were 3" tall, they shriveled up and died. (They were in an earth garden). This year I'm constructing x5 self-watering (5-gal) bucket containers. Gonna try them out in there with plenty of water. Apparently cucumber are about 95% water, so when you water them only once a week in 95 degree weather, they die. :doh:lol:

These are the heirloom critters ('National Pickling') I wanna grow:

National Pickling - Heirloom, Untreated, Open Pollinated, Vegetable Seeds - Sustainable Seed Company

Wal-Mart sells them VERY CHEAP, only .20 cents per packet!! You can feed a hell of a lot of people with only .40 cents.

 

[Wake]

Something hot and/or spicey.

I want to try creating my own as the 3rd. I'm thinking thinly sliced carrots and daikon radish with x2 cayenne peppers...? Maybe some mustard seed, too, but I don't want to drown out the dish with too many ingredients.

 

[Fisher]

I want to try creating my own as the 3rd. I'm thinking thinly sliced carrots and daikon radish with x2 cayenne peppers...? Maybe some mustard seed, too, but I don't want to drown out the dish with too many ingredients.

I've pickled carrots but never radishes IDK. Maybe consider cauliflower--that seems popular. For whatever it is worth, I am a sucker for anything that says it has horseradish in it.

 

[Wake]

Also, I was wondering if maybe, maybe "Classic Dill Pickles" as a title for my cucumber product could be used? It is what it is, classic dill pickles, and I doubt that title is actually copyrighted, seeing as hundreds of people have been using that to name their pickles...

OH, before I forget, here's a link to a thread about that pickling recipe and another problem that needs sorting out. :mrgreen:

http://www.debatepolitics.com/food/148515-best-dill-pickles-dilemma.html

 

[sangha]

If I can just start at home to make my products, while targetting farmer's markets, that'd what I want to do. The challenge is finding/making big-enough labels to include the ingredient list, the caption “This product was made in a private home not subject to state licensing or inspection," my name and address (dude who prepared and canned the product), and the date it was processed.


...if I can just do that first, then maybe I can save up enough money to get insurance, registered, etc.

You may want to consider hiring a graphic designer. They tend to know the laws re: labelling and can also make your label look much better. IME, they've never cost more than $1000 and usually about half that

 

[justabubba]

Also, I was wondering if maybe, maybe "Classic Dill Pickles" as a title for my cucumber product could be used? It is what it is, classic dill pickles, and I doubt that title is actually copyrighted, seeing as hundreds of people have been using that to name their pickles...

OH, before I forget, here's a link to a thread about that pickling recipe and another problem that needs sorting out. :mrgreen:

http://www.debatepolitics.com/food/148515-best-dill-pickles-dilemma.html

too limiting

gives the impression that the only thing you will be selling is classic dill pickles

what if you see there is a demand for blueberry jam
or chow-chow
or any other home made product (other than classic dill pickles)

burger king now sells chicken sandwiches - painted themselves in the corner, too, but were established enough for it not to hurt very much