Cottage Food Operations Workshop Offered by UC Cooperative Extension

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For folks in Southern California who are thinking of starting a home based food business, UC Extension has a class coming up that will help you get started. UCCE assures me that the information provided will be of interest to anyone thinking about starting a Cottage Food operation, not just farmers. For more information contact: Rachel Surls, Sustainable Food Systems Advisor UC Cooperative Extension Los Angeles County (626) 586-1982 [email protected]. Here’s the info:

Who should attend?

This workshop is designed especially for farmers of fruits, vegetables, nuts, herbs, and honey interested in making value-added products in home kitchens as Cottage Food Operations (CFOs). Workshop is open to everyone.

What is a Cottage Food Operation?

The California Homemade Food Act (AB1616) allows individuals to prepare and package certain non-potentially hazardous foods in private-home kitchens referred to as “Cottage Food Operations” (CFOs). Processed meat, dairy, fermented foods, and juices are NOT legally acceptable cottage foods.

Learn about:

• Cottage Food Law

• Food science and sanitation

• Information about processing jams/jellies, honey, nuts, dried fruit, baked goods

• Packaging and storage

• Business operations for CFOs

Please come join us for this one day event: Wednesday, June 17, 2015

8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Morning refreshments and lunch will be provided.

UC Cooperative Extension Los Angeles County
700 W. Main Street, Alhambra, CA 91801

Registration required: $25 with online payment by June 10 or Register online: http://ucanr.edu/cforegla

This project is funded by the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s Specialty Crop Block Grant Program

$40 at the door, space permitting

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1 Comment

  1. Anyone here who sells in an official farmer’s market can prepare food in a home kitchen. I’ve not been in the market for any of this, but most is baked goods, jelly and jam.

    The health dept inspected the market and demanded the eggs be removed from the shelves. The people who sold the eggs refused to remove them. They had to do research to determine fresh eggs do not have to be refrigerated. There was quite a hub bub that day, I hear.

    One guy sold goat cheese with herbs in it. He brought a chest freezer on the back of a pickup and plugged the freezer into market-supplied outlets.

    The local butcher who not only cuts, but dresses cows and such had a booth. He had processed meat. He brought his wares in a huge refrigerated truck. What was displayed was on beds of ice with a plastic cover over the meat.

    The meat and dairy displays seemed cold enough to me.

    The health dept supplied little papers to dip into jelly or jam to assure the proper ph.

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