 So welcome to our 2018 spring webinar series. We're happy to have you all join us today My name is Julie garden Robinson, and I'm a food and nutrition specialist here at NDSU And I'll ask the other Julie to advance my slide. There we go We have a few more upcoming webinars approaching next week We'll hear about pesticide safety from our pesticide program specialist and Boston Sun And on the 18th those of you who sell anything at farmers markets and other venues I've asked a colleague of mine from University of Minnesota extension to talk about her program on safe food sampling at farmers markets So that might be of a lot of interest to several of you On next slide I think you've all figured out the zoom controls, but if you have questions as we go through today's program Go ahead and type them into your chat box And again, if you're not in mute right now, I'd ask you to click on the the little mute symbol And that way we won't interrupt Julie as she is talking on next slide One big request from me is that you complete our survey There's a short online survey that will be emailed to you right after today's webinar It'll just take you a couple minutes This was funded by the usda ag marketing service through a grant So I need to have some information to share back and hopefully we'll continue to have funding to do these sorts of things To sweeten the deal. There is an opportunity to win a prize So after you submit the survey, you'll get a separate form that will allow you to type in your name and address and I will use that information to do some prize drawings here At the end of the webinar series So the more you enter the more opportunity that you'll have to win So we ask that each time you attend one of these or watch an archive that you actually take the survey So thanks in advance And now I am very pleased to introduce Julie wagon dwarf. I'd like to tell you a few things about Julie She is the director of food and lodging with the north dakota department of health And as a licensed environmental health practitioner Julie's worked for the division of food and lodging since 2012 and she has an extra 10 years of experience In epidemiology while working for the department of health division of disease control Prior to her joining the state health department She worked in the food manufacturing industry directing food safety microbiological monitoring Quality assurance and sanitation programs Julie earned her bachelor and master of science degrees in microbiology at NDSU And also an associate's degree in computer support database management from bismarck state college So welcome Julie and again everyone. Thank you for being here Thank you, Julie. I hope that I'm coming loud and clear through For those intending this webinar and thank you for the opportunity and inviting me to speak Today's topic as you mentioned is the north dakota cottage foods The objectives of today's webinar are first to describe the state agency administrative rule and policy procedures And second review the north dakota cottage foods act And changes to food laws in north dakota Based on the Current food laws in north dakota The department of health promotes and protects public health By assuring the safety effectiveness and security of the state's retail and manufactured food supply The department of health has a legal responsibility to ensure Safe food products are being sold to the end consumer and in accordance to food laws in north dakota So as the director of the division of food and lodging Those are the tasks of our division within the department of health The next few slides will describe the state law In north dakota involving cottage foods This state law is north dakota chapp north dakota century code chapter 23-09.5 A little bit of the history for the new law was started out as house bill 1433 and was Heard in committee during the 65th legislative assembly Which was the most recent legislative session The law passed through legislation and became effective august 1st 2017 This law provides new opportunities for small startup businesses that are home-based operations Under the law cottage food operators Do not require an approved licensed kitchen or inspection previous to the cottage food production and sales act The the north dakota century code 23-09.5 Many cottage food products were allowed for sale Prepared in an unexpected home kitchen in north dakota This slide highlights major changes Before the law Was enacted in comparison To now that the new law is effective First the new law provides uniformity across all local jurisdictions Second transportation delivery of products off the farm and outside of farmers markets and farm stands Including venues such as craft shows community events fairs and direct delivery from the producer to the consumer Is now allowed allowed under the current law Refrigerated baked goods that require temperature control for safety are allowed for sale if transported and maintained frozen bearing safe handling instructions Poultry under the a thousand bird exemption is now allowed under the current law As well as farm flock eggs from poultry previously the Indication was chicken eggs only and now the term has been changed to poultry So it includes all types of poultry not just chicken While enriching a new market and new food products available in our state It is important to instill practical science based food safety guidance To protect public health and maintain access to safe food supply With this goal in mind The department of health is proposing administrative rules to provide further Clarification for what is covered under the law and how complaints will be investigated This slide outlines a timeline and I'll go through that timeline and where we are currently in this process In july 2017 the department of health gathered together interested parties To develop a cottage food to work group and we started meeting to discuss What education materials? What information to provide on a website and how to get information out to interested parties? We have stood up a cottage food website, which i'll Describe to you a little bit for their detail and later on in the presentation We had under An asking for feedback with the cottage foods work group drafted proposed Rules and what administrative rules are is according to state law An administrator rule further defines An agency or the agency's statement of general applicability which implements Our prescribes law or policy procedure Or practice requirements of an agency in other words the rule the administrative rule covers most procedures that a state agency wants people to follow what we advertise draft proposed rules and scheduled public hearings and Open a public comment period, which is standard procedure for any new Administrative rules being promulgated for new legislation or any existing rules that are revised or changed with Initial public comments being received in the comment period Department of health met with interested parties and several legislators And decided to hold additional meetings and discussions before moving forward So in march we schedule we cancelled the scheduled public hearings at that time and In the meantime are scheduling and having those meetings and further discussions And where does this take us next? So the next steps Are just to reiterate the current law remains in effect And we will continue to meet with those interest with interested parties including several legislators before moving forward Once Any proposed rules are drafted an open comment period and public hearing will be rescheduled Until then best practice guidelines are available on our website at andyhealth.gov slash food lodging slash cottage food Watch the website for updates to our guidance document in the near future And again to reiterate the goal that the health department is creating proposed rules that offer safeguards to consumer's health As our number one priority The department of health has a website that provides guidance And Other resources for training in regards to cottage foods producing cottage foods products and selling the cottage food products Here are some examples of some links available on the website link that I mentioned And is available on the screen at the top We have Quick links to the sentry code, which is the law We have a quick link to a free download of interim guidance and frequently asked questions document that Uh, we had Drafted in august of 2017 and are currently Revising and we'll have an updated version very soon on our website We have an example of a consumer advisory notice that can be downloaded for free and that will become More clear when I cover that part in the presentation and slides coming Um in forward in the presentation And we also have a list of cottage food resources that are really good resources both in north dakota and throughout the nation for learning more about these types of products and Training materials on how to safely prepare them Additionally on our website We provide links to the ndsu extension service and the services that Is provided including training programs and product testing information The next slide is a map of north dakota Describing locations with food preservation testing and or demonstration of equipment This link is also available on the cottage foods website And it is important when understanding and assessing potential risks of certain foods Uh, it relies on knowing properties of the food for example The ph level of the food the water activity of the food and how that food needs to be safely stored Handled and transported It's also important to assess What potential risks may be As far as microorganisms and which microorganisms can survive depending on how the food is processed handled And stored NDSU has testing sites and consultation services located throughout the state And this map just depicts The areas of where testing may be Available if needed Now we will review cottage We will review food safety guidelines for cottage food products produced in an unexpected home kitchen The law defines a cottage food operator as an individual who produces or packages cottage food products In a kitchen designed and intended for use by the residents of a private home And just to reiterate the kitchen is a domesticated kitchen Located in the cottage food operator's private home the private home being the residents of the cottage food operator Located in north dakota in the state of north dakota the law defines cottage food product as Baked goods jams jellies and other food and drink products produced by a cottage food operator These products are homemade by a cottage food operator in a domesticated kitchen Located at a cottage food operator's private residents in north dakota North dakota laws only apply to the state of north dakota This law does not apply to residents of other states The next few slides may be considered as best practices and guidance To help ensure that basic standards of food safety for the consumer are met Consider homemade as all the different products that can possibly be made in a home And for education purposes moving forward we have categorized all the different types of products Uh possible into major categories including home canned home processed home baked and home packaged Speaking of home canned products food and drink products That are highly acidic in nature Which would be products that have a ph of less than or equal to 4.6 or Water activity that is less than or equal to 0.85 These types of products are lower risk Because they do not require time and temperature control for safety In other words these products Don't require date marking or refrigeration In order to prevent bacteria growth The properties that I described such as high acid content And low moisture reduce the presence of microorganisms of public health significance And eliminate spore forming microorganisms and toxins causing botulism High acid products that are home canned Under this guidance would be limited to fruits and vegetables processed in North Dakota Using a boiling water canner where the product does not require temperature control for safety And in which case is either Highly acidic in nature or has been acidified through the ingredients added in the recipe Examples of these products are jams jellies pickles sauces, etc Homemade canned products that do not That would Include products such as dairy meat wild game poultry fish seafood, etc Would not be considered a low risk product and we'll cover these types of products in the slides moving forward And talk a little bit more on why these products are higher risk And therefore not recommended to be Home canned and sold in retail markets in North Dakota Under this under this cottage food law Okay, so Recommend the the standards of home canned products the recommendations we make is first Your option would be to use a standard recipe The standard recipe from any of the following listed on the screen Our recipes we're testing has already validated the the properties of the food and We can be assured that they're low risk because of the level of acidity and Water activity in the products. And so we gave examples of where you can find standard recipes and following That list at the Part D of that list a university extension service Speaking to NDSU extension service. They have tons of recipe on their websites As well as any other university extension service in the united states would have A large amount of recipes to find and look through If using a custom recipe Then the recommendation would be to consult become educated and test the products To avoid inadvertently processing or storing food incorrectly that may result in harmful microorganisms being present There's a number of ways you can have your custom recipes tested one would be Referring back to the map that refers to NDSU extensions testing sites So you can consult with a subject matter expert at an extension service and work with them on Identifying any potential risks with the recipe that you are using and providing A test so you know the pH level of the end product You can also do this in your home by purchasing your own pH meter and following the instructions And making sure that the pH meter is calibrated properly and used properly based on the instruments instructions I would recommend that you keep pH testing record records as For any of your custom recipes As some customers may be asking for that information at the point of sale Next we'll talk about cottage food products that are home baked and home baked By home baked we are meaning a food produced in North Dakota from dough or batter that is baked before consuming Who will break down a number of different types of home baked goods into Different options or categories that these may fall into Home baked goods requiring temperature control for safety Or in other words that require refrigeration Such as kugin cheesecake or pumpkin pie Are required by the law To be maintained frozen if transported In addition to being transported frozen they're required to be labeled with safe handling instructions And i'll get more into detail in the next slide First i'll go forward and just Also cover other types of baked products We do recommend that if refrigerated baked goods products are provided as cottage food That it would be fully baked and not partially or par baked And that the the product would be ready to eat once thawed And that's because there is no other label or cooking instructions And we don't want to Inadvertently provide a product to someone that didn't understand they were supposed to bake it further before Eating a essentially raw product You can use dry mixes Package says ingredients for baking baked goods A lot of people will put dry mixes the dry ingredients in a mason jar With a recipe as to what to add for the wet ingredients once they get home And do their own baking With the ingredients provided You can use raw home baked goods such as cookie dough or bread dough Remembering that that would require that temperature control for safety and it would be Maintained frozen and we would recommend that you would include The with the safe handling instructions the baking Directions for these items so that your customers could You know follow follow those instructions and have a fully baked item And then finally there's ready to eat home baked goods that do not require a temperature control. So this largely the majority of types of breads cookies biscuits that were available for sale before the cottage food law in North Dakota Again, reminding these should be fully baked but are available under the cottage food law as well So with the labeling required for refrigerated baked goods This is part of the law It is stated in the current law that refrigerated home baked goods Which require temperature control for safety such as custards pumpkin pie cheesecake must be transported and maintained frozen So and then also they require safe handling instructions and a product disclosure So we'll talk about the product disclosure that all cottage food products are required to have An example of safe handling instructions would be product must remain frozen until thawed under refrigeration For immediate consumption are discarded within seven days after thawing that would be an example of A safe handling instructions and we'd have more Examples under the guidance documents that we're preparing online Where refrigerated baked goods are a concern We have potential risk for Bacteria and the bacteria that we're most concerned about is salmonella e. Coli and listeria And in particular listeria can be a very deadly Have cause infections that can result in severe hospitalizations and may lead to death and Is a high risk to pregnant women So when we're looking at trying to control for something like the bacterial listeria We know that this bacteria grows very slow And we also know that it likes to grow in cold temperatures And so We can control listeria if we keep the temperature and maintain that temperature at 41 degrees or less And because we don't have controls in place for these types of products Given that they're not in in A kitchen that provides any oversight with temperature control freezing And transporting the products frozen reduces the likelihood of temperature abuse Which makes it less likely for listeria to be an issue Also by safe handling instructions that say to your consumer Please thought under refrigeration and eat it within seven days that controls And limits the risk and exposure for listeria because listeria grows so slow That if you eat the products within seven days, you're not giving the bacteria enough time to grow and cause any Inadvertent illnesses If if per if by chance the products would have been contaminated with listeria bacteria Keep in mind too that it's The law states that it must be frozen Must be transported and maintained frozen So if you're selling these products and having people come pick them up on the farm or on your home and you're not Transporting them or storing them and they're fresh baked Um, that's not something that would need to be frozen unless you're transporting it and storing it over some time So under the next type of category for home processed Cottage food products, this really could be Any type of food that would be processed at the home and we recommend that dry goods That do not require temperature control for safety Examples listed on the screen include hulled or unhulled seeds dry herbs grains Flowers seasoning mixes granola popcorn candy dried Edible beans dried roasted coffee dried tea The list goes on so We recommend items not requiring refrigeration Or items that would support the growth of microorganisms of public health significance additional home processed Guidance is that We would include honey produced in North Dakota by a cottage food operator Provided that their own hives are located on the farm property or at the private home where the cottage food operator resides in North Dakota Um, and also non-alcoholic beverages and drinks examples dry mix lemonade black coffee and brood tree tea again staying clear from items that require temperature control for safety other products approved under the cottage food law are poultry products including farm flock eggs and just to speak to eggs for a moment some egg Some farm flock Producers may be aware of an egg dealers license That is available from the Department of Agriculture This egg dealers license is ten dollars a year and for the ten dollars You'll have an inspector from the Department of Agriculture stop out Teach the producer how to candle eggs package eggs and clean containers properly label and give general sanitary recommendations about of keep up of the producing and flock area So with that ten dollars a year That can all be achieved And for anyone interested in egg dealers license The information for contacting the North Dakota Department of Agriculture Is provided on the screen An egg dealers license is not required under the cottage food law It is required if the egg dealer wants to sell eggs for use in restaurants catering operations Food manufacturing or other retail food store settings such as grocery stores So for ten dollars You really open yourself to other markets and it's Really easy to do and is easily available Just by calling the state meat and poultry inspection program and requesting That egg dealers license poultry under the cottage food law Is approved under the thousand bird exemption per year In order to apply for this thousand bird exemption. You do need to Get exempted By notifying and requesting that exemption from the North Dakota state meat and poultry inspection program. So again, that is why That is why The information is provided on the screen So if you have 999 chickens on your farm, most likely you're going to meet their exemption criteria But you still have to contact them and become an exempted thousand bird Per year poultry producer So the law also requires that poultry must not be adulterated or misbranded and by far the safest option for any Producer interested in selling poultry in this manner under this law Would be to restrict it to whole raw frozen turkey or turkey and with turkey poultry products And that is the recommendation The law does not allow other meat or meat products Or meat products used as an ingredient in a cottage food product These the the next slides talk about the high-risk foods that are not recommended for sale under the guidance that i'm describing to you Today in this presentation These high-risk food products or these food products are considered high risk for supporting growth of microorganisms that produce toxins causing botulism and or other diseases of public health concern And so first of all the example of a high-risk food Not recommended for sale or low acid or non-acidified home canned foods These types of home canned foods would have a pH greater than 4 points i'm sorry less than 4.6 because they're low acid And again really the only way to know what the acid level is of a product is to verify it by testing Or using a standard recipe. So that's why that guidance Is there and those standards are provided for you. So you would understand and know And how to assess the properties of the food products that you're processing in a home kitchen A low acid or non-acidified home canned food would be examples such as beans broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower Again, you know a lot of the vegetables And less acid is added to reduce the pH 4.6 or less High-risk foods not recommended for sale are processed foods that require refrigeration for safety And here we're concerned about not just botulism like We're we're mostly concerned the high risk for home canning with botulism comes into play because when you can The the process of canning reduces oxygen and the bacteria that produces the toxin that results in the disease of botulism Actually cannot grow in the presence of oxygen But once you reduce the oxygen level you're allowing That bacteria the opportunity to grow And then you're also killing off other competing organisms that typically would keep The clustering and botulinum bacteria at bay and so By killing by going through a kill step when you're processing food You're doing some good because you are killing some other vegetative Bacteria cells that could possibly cause disease But in effect you might be increasing your risk for bacteria that cause botulism because now There are no competing organisms and you took the oxygen out of The the canned product and are giving an opportunity for for a dangerous bacteria to grow Or normally it wouldn't have been able to grow just in regular packaged product that Isn't the under reduction Other types of high risk foods not recommended for sale Are on the screen here mainly because they require refrigeration for safety And so we are concerned or would be concerned about inadvertent contamination with bacteria like E. Coli, Salmonella, Listeria These types of foods require refrigeration And cold holding and temperature controls to keep those types of bacteria at bay In addition to other controls In place such as hand washing separation And date marking not to mention using approved sources for ingredients And so for those reasons we aren't recommending these types of products They could be at high risk for spreading food burn illness So moving on to Further requirements of the law Does the cottage food law require labeling? And the short answer is no Cottage food products under the current cottage food law Are not required to bear a label stating the common product name the net weight Ingredients allergens or the or location of a manufacturer and those are all things that would be typically typically required For manufactured products or retail products to bear a label. So No cottage food Do not require a label other than what is stated in law For the label requirement of refrigerated baked goods that we discussed earlier about disclosing Safe handling instructions That the product was transported and maintained frozen and that really kind of puts the cottage food operator That gives validation for the cottage food operator as well because you're stating, you know when it was in my care I had the product frozen and maintained frozen And then once it's passed on to the consumer And you don't know if the consumer is going to go drive around for two days with The cougar in the trunk or how it's going to be handled once Once the product is handed off to the end consumer So having that label bears the fact that you know when it left your Um hands that the product had been frozen and maintained frozen again if you're not transporting product um the freezing wouldn't necessarily need to apply to you a lot of people will freeze it anyway because it it it Extends the shelf life So what is an informed and a consumer according to the law? An informed and a consumer means an individual who is the last individual To purchase a cottage food product So you're talking about the the ultimate consumer the end consumer And has been informed that the cottage food product is not licensed regulated or inspected And so what the law specifically requires for An end consumer to be informed is to have a sign You can have a sign a placard You can label each product if you want you're not required to label them Like I said, there is no labeling requirement, but you are required to provide this consumer advisory for the end consumer That states this product is made in a home kitchen that is not inspected by the state or local health departments That would be the example of an acceptable consumer advisory and you can download this on our website And again our website is endy health dot gov slash food lodging slash cottage food And you can just download the sign and and post it on your booth or Have it available so it's conspicuous for the consumers to easily see And read We'll talk a little bit about the transactions. I do see some chats with the Questions coming through and I will have plenty of time to answer those questions We'll be finishing up shortly And just at the interested time I want to make sure that we get through all the slides We cover all the areas of the law and then I'll go through and answer your questions So under the transaction under the transaction section of the law The law requires the exchange of buying and selling to be in person in person face to face Between the cottage food operator and the informed and consumer So just keeping that in mind with today's technology and and online Purchasing once you start selling products online or over mail You're no longer doing it in person and face to face And the law requires you to be in for in person and face to face when you exchange On the buying and selling of these products So if we talk about using social media to advertise to plan pickup points to take orders All that is fine It's just it shouldn't be a means to serve for any electronic transaction meaning You're going to take that transaction And it's going to be electronic and then It's no longer person to person So these products can't be mailed or sold on the internet delivered transported But types of transactions that can occur by computer smartphone credit card readers All that is okay as long as the exchange is face to face Also note that the FDA or the united states food and drug administration regulates interstate commerce Which would be all sales over state lines And so the north dakota cottage food law only applies to the state north dakota and so selling unlicensed Uninspected products over state lines Is no longer under the regulatory authority of north dakota and now you're falling under The federal regulations for interstate commerce other limitations of the cottage food law Is that it states except for whole unprocessed fruits and vegetables Food prepared by a cottage food operator May not be sold or used in any food establishment food processing plant or food store any other venue prohibited by law So what this part of the law states is that under the cottage food law these products are sold Um But that if you have venues that are needing to be operated under a license These cottage food products cannot be sold or used in um licensed facilities And they would not be considered in an approved source for a licensed Um facility to either retail to an end consumer or use an ingredient in a food that is retailed and served such as a restaurant to customers And so a food establishment food processing plant and food store are all defined under one of the north dakota food laws That is found under north dakota sentry code 23-9 And I included the definition of food establishment food processing plant and retail food store In this definition and so it's important to understand where the lines are So a cottage food operator doesn't accidentally end up operating a food establishment without a license A food service operation meeting the definition in north dakota food laws Requires a license an approved kitchen and an inspection You can get licensed And we can approve a kitchen for for use for you and um Then you would have no limitations on Where and how you're selling your products and those are always options we have food processing license With the division of food and lodging The annual license fee is 60 dollars a year And you do not have to build a commercial kitchen that has all stainless steel commercial grade Equipments what we need to do is identify A place of operation. It can't be your home kitchen but it can be another kitchen of use that can be approved and many and most Of our food processing licenses in the state of north dakota operate under a food processing license and it's very doable and very easy for that to happen And I urge anyone with interest in moving forward with that in mind to please contact our office and we will help and offer you education and consultation on how to get a food processing license in the state of north dakota So lastly to carry to finish the last slide is about the complaint investigation these last two slides So the law Requires and the law states I should say That the state health department or the state department of health or local regulatory regulating authority May conduct an investigation upon complaint of an illness or environmental health complaint So the steps to the investigation and how this law is enforced Again, it's provided as guidance As of now Whether or not we'll move forward and propose administrative rules to further clarify what the investigation piece meets is yet to be determined But if that is decided an open comment period would be reopened and public comment Hearings would be rescheduled As as it is currently under guidance You know really kind of just the steps of what we do With the department of health to look into An illness complaint or environmental health complaint as the law says We we will investigate So it may include the The following we need to identify the cottage food product And so we might need to ask records about where a cottage food product had been sold what venues Had it been sold to Customers etc. We need to identify The cottage food product We may have to ask questions about how it was Processed and what recipe was used and what the ph level was and We may need to know information about the cottage food product to rule out whether or not It may or may not be the cause of an illness or An outbreak that that could be possibly occurring cottage food production area and the equipment used in the area In many cases are part of the Investigation Especially if it's the environmental health Complaints and we need to assess whether or not unsanitary conditions are present The location or venues serving as a point of sale or point of purchase So Not only where the cottage food products are being Processed and packaged But then also the venues that are serving as a point of sale May be part of that investigation. So the farmers markets the craft shows Transportation vehicles things like that Again, we will ask for cottage food product testing records if applicable if you don't have any It's very difficult to rule out whether or not The product is Implicated in one way or another Recall of products is would be necessary for An example of when We can substantiate that there's been illness complaints and Through epidemiologic investigation environmental investigation. It's It's a product that has been implicated that would be under the cottage food product The first thing we need to do is stop the spread of disease And so that would be Finding where the products had been finding who may be exposed and making sure that no one Else eats or consumes those products and that is all part of trace back and recall And then we would ask for a plan of correction. And so Typically we have if we have an instance we find out, okay Inadvertently what may or may not have happened Let's Identify corrective actions. Let's Prevent it from happening again. And let's talk about Putting a plan in place to make sure that those Methods are are underway And so I will take time to go through the chats the questions I have now I'm really Stopping at whether or not there's additional questions you can start typing them in at any time And to keep in mind that We are we are here. We are always available We get we get a lot of phone calls from people interested in this industry And also moving forward how how would you like to transition from being a startup home business? To maybe growing into other available markets and selling products at different retail venues you need to At some point transition from a home-based business to a licensed facility depending on how You want to plan the growth of your business? And so Please feel free to call us and consult about what steps Are available Any advice we can give you we'd be happy to to Walk you through what those steps would be and to provide education educational consultation at any time And so I'm going to leave my contact information up my email address A general food and lodging email address or mailing address all these ways Please feel free to contact us anytime And the first question is what do you mean that the hearings were canceled? And did you say that they were rescheduled so we had three public hearings scheduled In march one was in Fargo one was in Bismarck one was in Dickinson Those were canceled meaning they didn't occur Turns out there was a big storm. We would have had to cancel the one in Fargo anyway, but that's Besides the point What whether or not they will be rescheduled is yet to be determined Once or if they are going to be rescheduled under the Steps for promulgating rules that all state agencies follow Every single newspaper in the state of North Dakota prints an ad giving notice That a public hearing is going to be held We have a facebook page. We have a website. You have my contact information We send out information to our cottage foods work group who is represented by the farmers markets association or their plant sustainable agriculture Food freedom association And other associations. We try to get the word out to everyone As well as we do news releases trying to get media pickups for radio And tv and we promote Whether We will promote whether or not they are rescheduled um, and if you're Curious to know and haven't heard Uh, don't be shy about calling and asking They are not rescheduled at this time Whether or not they will be in the future. Um, we're still having those meetings to discuss that All right, so non acidified home canned items are not recommended But are allowed by the law from what i'm seeing the word Um, same other high-risk foods listed not recommended but technically allowed So technically allowed um The cottage food law as it is written and until or if further administrative rules are promulgated to To provide different or other standards as of now um The interpretation of the definition of a cottage food product is The following the definition of a cottage food product Is hold on baked goods jams jellies and other food and drink products Produced by a cottage food operator Next question Juiced fruit with no added sugars are allowed in minnesota as a farm product would north dakota consider this um, also More people are growing berries. What regulations apply to someone who wants to sell frozen fruit? so, um Frozen whole fruit Is not something that we currently have addressed in our in in our guidance document that was Definitely a point of interest and I think we'll be looking into that further and seeing if there's sort of Other sorts of minimal processing that may be done that doesn't include major processing of of the fruits and vegetables as of right now Our guidance strictly says whole fruits and vegetables that are not processed and freezing would be considered Being processed so as of right now, we're not recommending that any processing be considered But as we move forward and make those considerations that will be reflected in our guidance document and updated on our website as far as Juiced fruits that under processing or further processing of fruits and vegetables Many times if not pasteurized requires refrigeration and has been implicated Apple juice has been implicated in the coli outbreaks And as well as other juiced fruit And so under the current recommendation and guidelines, we're not recommending Juiced fruit as part of being the processed fruit Is someone comes to my home to purchase items So I need to have the advisory sign information viewable to them Is that only for when you're selling outside of your home? So it's required To provide that consumer advisory to the end consumer and You know No one's no one's going to be there at your home to let to see if you have an advisory posted It'd be your responsibility as a cottage food operator to inform them And you need to prove that you inform them And so looking at it from your own liability state state If if there were to be a dispute at some point and you Claim that you informed your end consumer And they claim that you didn't How How are you going to protect yourself and your business? How are you going to prove that you did and that's the best guidance I can give you If you are setting up a booth And have product displayed for sale you need to have the sign Um In a conspicuous area for the general public easily to read and available Um, no one's going to be at your home to to assess whether or not you have that sign I would recommend that you use it or have it in some way in your Documentation of sales Um for your own liability Um, a cottage food vendor would sell their items at a school That was for a fundraiser event outside of regular school hours or no Well, that's a really good question. Um School fundraising events typically are not Regulated the There is a food prepares education app that Excludes fundraising events as long as the The non-profit or fundraising event is not regularly engaged in preparing and selling food so the the example I like to use is Bake sales like your music boosters might do a bake sale to raise money for The bands on things like that. We typically Recommend to schools that they use an approved source just for their own liability But it would be the school's choice on what to do. It does not recommend or it's not it's really not regulated You would not be able to use the cottage food products in the schools Food service during operation hours because that is regulated last two questions Sorry Please note that the extension service is available to help you with product safety questions and business type questions through your extension programs across north dakota We have food entrepreneurship website linked to the field network website with lots of links to helpful information. Thank you. Um, and um, I concur Any can someone on the minnesota border sell cottage food products at farmers markets in north dakota? Is there a registration process? At in north dakota there is not a registration process like there is in minnesota and because of the north dakota laws And the way that interstate commerce is regulated someone on the minnesota border selling cottage food products According to this law cannot sell it at a farmers market That does not include raw agriculture commodities should be the whole fruits and vegetables produce That could be sold over state lines as long as it is not adulterated And adulterated means contaminated with some sort any sort of filth unsanitary condition or micro organisms causing significant and public health concerns and disease Uh, I don't know what the yes was about. Um, so thank you. Yeah Thank you. Okay any other questions You have one more that came in and then we have to wrap it up Berries currents hascopes erronea june berry of low acid Seaming juicing plus processing So, I mean again, you know, not here to dispute which or which products we could talk about thousands thousands of variations of products Um, if it's true that they're low acid and it can't support the growth of bacteria Um, and you're not going to cause disease Um, hopefully you have that consultation that you need and the education and the assurances that you need Um, I'm not here to stand in your way So So I'm just going to ask Kathy if she means they have a low pH and they're high acid anyway, that That can be a very confusing thing the pH and acidity difference Can I answer on here? Yes, hello Yep, we could hear you. Oh, this is Kathy and you are right. I wrote that wrong Very low pH high acidity. Okay. Okay. That made more sense to me 2.6 is where a lot of these berries are All right So I would I would answer that that if it cannot support the growth of bacteria And does not require Refrigeration for safety that's not to say refrigeration wouldn't be recommended for quality But for safety, we wouldn't have an issue with that and that would be a really good example of building the guidance document That's available online as time goes on For popular or more common products that we get questions on we definitely want to Build the guidance document to be as useful as possible And that is along with the frozen berries too, you know with it that are minimal processed If there's not if there's not a food You know an imminent food safety risk or doesn't result in a higher risk for spreading disease then you know more than likely we're going to be able to make that assessment and Adjust that guidance document to To really hopefully someday and sooner rather than later be very comprehensive and informative for everyone that is interested in Entering in this industry or that already is You know a part of this industry So I'd like to thank Julie Wagon door for a very interesting seminar this afternoon And I can see in my inbox that the feedback survey has already come out So we're really interested in hearing from you I've also included a question on that survey about Additional training that you would like and I really take a look at that And determine what future seminars we offer. So please go ahead fill that out and sign up for a potential gift So thank you again, and thank you Julie