 Welcome everyone to the 11th and final session of our 2021 Field to Fork webinar series. I'm Julie Gardin Robinson, I'm a food and nutrition specialist with NDSU Extension, and I'll be your host for today's webinar. Next, I have a special request for all viewers of the live talk and any of the archives. To maintain our funding sources and offer these kinds of programs in the future, I ask that you take the very short survey that will land in your email inbox shortly after today's talk. And some of you have probably received one but I have random prize drawings and I will continue to put those out in the next week or so. So you might receive a prize in the mail if you win. Because after you submit your survey, you will be redirected to a second survey where you can enter your name and mailing address. I also have two more acknowledgments today. First to the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service for our field to fork funding. And we also have a contribution from Purdue University through a grant from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture. And we thank all of these entities for their support. And now it's time for me to introduce our featured speaker. I am very pleased to introduce Amy Ilg. Amy has been with the North Dakota Department of Health for six years, both in our current capacity with the division of food and lodging, as well as previously working with the division of municipal facilities in the drinking water program. Prior to joining the State Health Department, Amy worked in community and public health as a licensed environmental health practitioner for the local public health level in the south central region of North Dakota, as well as with the United States Peace Corps as a health educator in Sub-Saharan Africa. Amy is originally from North Dakota and earned her bachelor's degree in biology at the University of Jamestown with a minor concentration in chemistry. So welcome Amy, and I turn it over to you. Thanks Julie. I'm excited to be here today to visit with everyone and share a little bit about our program at the division of food and lodging with the North Dakota Department of Health. Julie indicated I'm the program administrator there, and a large part of my responsibilities is to assist people who are interested in starting up new food businesses within the state of North Dakota. I did want to just get a feel for who our audience is today. So I did have a quick poll if you would be willing to participate and let us know a little bit about what state you might be calling in from. And then the second question is what, if you're currently selling food products, or perhaps you're just interested in getting started in selling food products, or maybe you're just curious and joining us today just out of interest to find out what it could be about but maybe you don't really want to start a business right now. So it looks like we've got quite a few answers rolling in. So it does look like the majority are from North Dakota. Second runner up is Minnesota, and it looks like we do have a small amount of folks, 17% who are already selling food products. And 63% attending today are interested in getting started selling food products. So that's great. Thanks everybody for, for helping us understand who our audience is today as we move forward and I'll try to take that into consideration as I'm discussing the process here. As I said, I work with the North Dakota Department of Health and so as we walk through the PowerPoint today I am going to be focusing on how to start a business in North Dakota, but a lot of states do have similar laws and processes in place so hopefully a lot of the information I'm sharing today will also apply where you might be starting your own business. So I'm going to be talking about the different types of food based businesses. When folks come to me with an idea, and the steps that I usually help them through as we go through the process to start up a new business and get appropriately licensed to do that business in North Dakota. One more poll I wanted to see from the audience, if you have considered or if you're already selling food products what types of food products, you either sell or are interested in selling. You're interested in selling produce products baked goods, maybe different meat products. If you're a rancher and you wanted to sell your your beef. Or if you're interested more in like starting a restaurant which would be like ready to eat meals or snacks for concession stands that type of operation. So if you're interested in in retailing products that might be for purchase in stores so that folks could take those home and use them for cooking at home. We do have a large amount of people who are interested in or are already selling produce products, and then also quite a few folks with interest in doing baked goods baked products, or for food service. So for food for immediate consumption so that's that's that's good. Thanks everybody that helps us know what to focus on here as I go through my slides today. So, the first step always is that idea of what that food product is that you're interested in creating and selling. And so when I have individuals calling in or emailing with with an idea. I want to help them to determine a couple of different things. Number one of course is is what is the food product, and to consider what might go into making that food product what type of supplies or equipment. Packaging all of those different things. And then the second question I always ask is, what type of sales are you interested in, or who you're interested in selling it to. A question that we need to know because the license type that we provide to individuals depends upon who you're going to sell that product to the two main categories are the retail sales, which is to the end consumer, or that individual who's going to take that product and use it themselves, or wholesaling and wholesaling is when you're taking a product, and you're actually selling that product to another retailer to sell it on to that in consumer. So you're taking your product and maybe selling it to a grocery store, or maybe you're taking your product and you're selling it to restaurants, who are then going to use it and prepared and dishes and sell it to their customers. Those are both examples of wholesaling. Depending on the type of consumers that you're wanting to sell to will depend will determine the license type that we need to help you get. You'll see that there is another option underneath license requirements there under the retail sales bucket. So these are sales that are to the end consumer, but they're actually unlicensed food producers. These are called cottage food in North Dakota. And I did just want to provide some information on cottage foods cottage food production and sales act was passed in 2017 by the North Dakota legislature, and it became effective August 1. A lot self can be found in North Dakota century code 2309.5. And I have outlined the basic information that's in the law for us here today on this slide, and I'll walk through this requirements that are in the law to be considered cottage food transactions must be made or processed in a private home in North Dakota. They must be directly between that cottage food producer and the informed in consumer for home consumption. The product must have the consumer advisory at the point of sale or labeled on the product itself and I do have that little bubble there the consumer advisory. This is the actual language that specified in the law that is required to be either on the product or posted at the point of sale. And so this consumer advisory essentially gives that in consumer, the informed status that this product is made in a home kitchen and not inspected. The transaction must also include labels for products that require refrigeration that the product was transported and maintained frozen and also how to handle that product safely. The law also specifies that these transactions may not involve interstate commerce. So any product that is made in North Dakota under this law cannot be sold across state lines outside of North Dakota. The transactions may not be conducted over the internet phone mail or by consignment so again that's just stating that the transaction must be direct in person between the cottage food producer and that informed in consumer. The law does not prohibit however, advertising over the internet. It's the transaction that may not be over the internet. The transactions may not include products with meat ingredients and the products cannot be wholesaled, which means that the product again cannot be sold to another retailer who then would sell that product on, nor can it be used in a restaurant for example. Just some additional information here regarding the cottage food acts information again we do not license permit, certify or inspect cottage foods. And if you do have additional questions about cottage foods you can always reach out to the division of food and lodging at the number email here that I've got on the screen. Today I wanted to focus in on how to start a licensed new food business. And the first step is to determine the license type. The North Dakota Department of Health Division of Food and Lodging is required in law by North Dakota Century Code 23-09 to license and inspect several different types of food establishments. I'm going to have these categorized into three broad categories here to go through. We talked a little bit about wholesaling already and that's our first broad category is food processing. That's the license type that we assign to wholesale producers. So a food processing license in North Dakota is the license that you would need if you're interested in selling your product to other retailers to sell to the end consumer. If products are crossing state lines, the Food and Drug Administration also regulates those transactions and there is a registration and potentially additional requirements for products that are being sold across state lines. The retail food establishments encompasses those where food and beverages served or sold for immediate consumption. So these businesses would include restaurants, catering type operations, which the restaurant license in North Dakota actually includes catering capabilities. So whether you're a restaurant or a caterer, it's actually the same license type. Limited restaurants, which are restaurants with a more limited menu, bar, taverns, which have only beverage service. And then we also have a mobile food or temporary food type of license, which would be more of those types of operations that you might find, say, at a fair or a carnival or even sometimes just parked in a parking lot where they're selling food for immediate service there. And then the third category would be retail food stores. These would be your typical grocery store or convenience stores, even bakery or meat market. Generally the difference between these type of facilities, the retail food stores versus the retail food service establishment is that the food and beverage products which are being sold at these types of facilities are intended for off premises consumption. Here's some pictures of some different types of food products that could be considered food processing or wholesaling. There's many different types of products that we have licensed producers in North Dakota for. It can include beverages or cookies, candies, roasted coffee beans, even condiments, barbecue sauce or spaghetti sauce. Many different types of products can be considered a food processor license. I did just want to mention that oftentimes for this type of license, what we'll have is a food processor who doesn't necessarily have their own kitchen space, but they have an agreement with a kitchen that meets food code. They have been allowed space on certain dates or times to produce their food product from that kitchen. And so we can license a food processor who doesn't necessarily have their own space, but they have an agreement with an approved space. And then they can make their product and sell it without having to invest so much into building their own kitchen to start out. There are several of these shared kitchens across North Dakota that actually were built for that, for that purpose to rent out that space to other food producers for food businesses. Other locations that we've licensed food processors out of include community type buildings, churches, as long as the kitchen is equipped properly to meet food code. And then we are able to visit that site with that producer and provide that license for them to operate out of that space. Again, that second bucket of license category was that retail food service establishment. So again, these are like your restaurants, your coffee shops, your mobile food units, your concession stands. And even school food service would be included in this category. We do license and inspect schools as well as other institutions, such as correctional facilities. They all have the same type of food service license. And we can provide the same services to a lot of different facilities, even though they have different audiences or different consumers that they're serving. So that third category are retail food stores. So these are the stores that are selling food and beverages that are intended for consumption at home or off of the premise premises away from that point of sale. I did just want to mention that there are types of food sales that do not require licenses outside of even cottage foods. If you're selling pre packaged commercially processed products that are shelf stable and do not require any kind of time or financial control for safety, such as bags of chips and soda and candy bars like you might find at sporting events or, you know, school concession stands, those types of sales do not require licensure, as well as if you are selling only fresh fruits and vegetables, that also does not require a license through the division of food and lodging. So once you've worked with us to determine the appropriate license type. The next step is going to be to determine the licensing authority. There's several different regulatory agencies that regulate food businesses. The regulatory agency depends upon the location of your food based business and the type of your operation. In Dakota, we have both a federal and a state level of regulation. The US Food and Drug Administration again is going to be covering any kind of interstate commerce, except they do not cover meat poultry and certain egg products so if you're doing interstate commerce with those types of products, that would fall under the jurisdiction of the USDA. The USDA also does have jurisdiction over imported products and food products being shipped outside of the state of North Dakota. So anything crossing state lines. At the state level, we have a couple different agencies that regulate food as well. So we have the North Dakota Department of Health. We have the North Dakota Department of Agriculture and then we have the local public health units, as well as the tribal jurisdictions. The division of food and lodging actually has a memorandum of understanding with nine local public health units. And those local public health units cover food licensing and inspection in their jurisdictional area. If you are selling any kind of meat product wholesale, that is going to fall underneath the North Dakota Department of Agriculture, as well as any kind of slaughter or meat processing that is being done within the state. That is underneath the North Dakota Department of Agriculture. But then if you move into retailing that meat product, which means you're taking the product that's been processed under that inspection. And if you're selling that meat product and you're selling it to the end consumer, then that is considered retail meat and that does fall underneath the North Dakota Department of Health division of food and lodging. If you are within one of the jurisdictions that's the local public health unit jurisdiction. In that case, the North Dakota Department of Health division of food and lodging defers that licensing and inspection completely to the local public health agency so you're only working with that local public health agency to get that licensing done. This slide shows a little bit of the complexity of licensing in North Dakota. There's quite a few different local public health agencies and then tribal jurisdictions as you can see. Because of the decentralized nature of North Dakota's public health system. We do have a little bit of complexity but we are here to help determine who that agency is that you should be working with and so I always encourage everyone to go ahead and reach out to us at the division of food and lodging. I'm more than happy to help discuss what your plans are what you would like to do, and then help you determine who you should be working with to get that license so that you can start your business and and operate successfully. You can see there are a couple of different tribal jurisdictions and then on this map the North Dakota Department of Health areas are that bluish teal color. You get into some of the larger urban areas such as Fargo and Bismarck or Grand Forks. And my not those city areas are more likely to be covered by the local public health jurisdiction. And then when you get into some of the more rural areas. Oftentimes it's the division of food and lodging that would be covering that license type for you. This map in specific is actually just for a limited restaurant type. So there's different jurisdiction coverage based on that license type which is why that's important to figure out from the beginning so that we can best assist you starting up your business. Here's a snapshot of a document that's available on our website. And again it lists out the different license types that are possible for food businesses, and then the different local public health agencies that might cover those licenses in the different areas. So once you've determined the type of license that you're going to need for your business, and who that licensing authority is that you should work with. The third step is to contact any of your local city planning and zoning or potentially your county township. Prior to investing or constructing any infrastructure for your food based business. We recommend that you contact your planning and zoning, or your county authority, or your city building authority to make sure that the location that you've selected for your business will be approved through them so that you can operate your business where you would like to do it. There's also some other agencies that you'll need to verify your information with, depending on where you're operating at, you'll have to work with varying fire agencies. The electric code and the plumbing code will have to be followed as well as drinking water and wastewater regulations that might apply in your area. Additionally, we'll want to reach out to the Secretary of State's office to obtain a business ID, and the Office of the State Tax Commissioner to obtain a tax ID. If you are wanting to do any type of liquor sales or gaming at your facility, you'll also want to reach out to the State Attorney General's Office, as they are the ones who issue licensing for those types of activities. The fourth step is to submit plans to your licensing authority. Submitting plans will initiate the plan approval process. The plan approval process consists of a couple of different items. We will request from you a food safety plan, which essentially is a document that we ask you to fill out with the description of your food business, how, what types of products you're wanting to make, and how those foods will be sourced, handled and protected from temperature abuse, contamination, or any other hazards. And they will ask you for a floor plan and specifications. A floor plan does not have to be something that's created by a professional architect. By any means, we will accept a hand drawn sketch of your building, or if you're using a shared kitchen, the shared kitchen area so that we have an idea of the equipment and the space that you have available for your plan. And we ask that that just be legible and then it be labeled with all of the applicable equipment. And then the sinks that will be required, which generally are the hand washing sinks, the dishwashing sinks, mop sinks, and then as well locations of the restrooms and any storage areas. If you have any specific special equipment or processes to include that information as well. And then finally, the menu or list of products so the menu is really what drives the plan review based upon what type of food you're producing, and how you're going to make it. That's going to determine what type of equipment you're going to need the space, even that you're going to need to do it safely. And so, even though I listed that third it's probably the most important part of your plan submittal is that menu and information on the products that you want to make so that we can ensure that you're going to have all of the necessary things to make your business a success. Once you've submitted those plans. The next step is to obtain that plan approval and certifications. Once you receive the plans in our office we start an account for your business, and that plan gets assigned out to a plan reviewer who is normally going to be the inspector or environmental health practitioner who is assigned to the area that you'll be located in within the state. They will review the information that you submitted and they'll reach out to discuss your plan. Ask any questions that they might have and discuss any concerns that they might have identified with with the equipment or the space that you're planning to use. Once they've had that discussion with you, they will send out notice of plan approval with any necessary changes or actions included in that communication. And at that point is when we recommend construction or remodeling work be started and completed as planned. To avoid any kind of investment that you might end up having to change. We really recommend that before you start doing any kind of construction or changes to facilities that you submit to us those plans so that we can help make sure that the area that you're planning is going to work well for you and it's going to be something that we can license without having to make any changes. At that point, we'll also want to make sure that all applicable building fire electrical plumbing drinking water and wastewater system certifications can be obtained, and not all of those will be applicable in every situation depends on where you're going to be located at. If you're hooked up to city water and city sewer than obviously we don't need those certifications so it just depends on where you're going to be what your building situation is that is like. If you're using a shared kitchen then obviously you wouldn't have that information that would be the information that that facility owner operator would have. And then the sixth and final step is that pre operational inspection and license approval. So we request that once you've done all construction or work on your facility, or you've purchased all of your equipment and supplies, you notify us, and then the assigned inspector will schedule with you and on site pre operational inspection. When you come on site and visit with you verify that everything is in good working order and it's been installed per the plan that you submitted and and was discussed, and then at that time, and they will make the determination to approve that license. And the applicable license fee can be collected either on site or mailed into the division of food and lodging. The license fee schedule this is also available online. For all of the different types of food based business licenses that we offer the fee is an annual fee. This is a license fee that set in North Dakota administrative code. You will notice that the local public health agencies throughout the state do have varying levels of license fees. Those are set by their local health boards or their local health advisory boards. So there are some different levels of fees just depending on which regulatory jurisdiction you're in and who the licensing agency is, but these are the license fees for the North Dakota Department of Health division of food and lodging. It's based upon the types of food that you're preparing as well as the space that your facility may entail. And at that point you are ready to open and operate your business. There will be routine inspections that your assigned inspector will come and do an onsite inspection based upon the risk level of your food products that you're making. These inspections are anywhere from the intervals range from once every six months to as few as once every other year. So just depending on what type of business you're operating, what the risk level is for the different types of foods that you're making that will determine how often that inspection happens. And then the license fee is an annual renewal that expires every year at the end of December and we do send out notifications regarding that. So if you wanted to continue operating into the following year, you would renew that license with us or get in touch with us if there's any changes. There are plans to change your operations such as different food products, moving locations, expanding, remodeling, any of those types of things you'd want to reach out and just get in touch with us to make sure that we don't need to change anything with your license, or potentially need to come onsite to visit with you to review any of those changes that you might be making. And that completes all the steps that we have laid out to obtain licensing in North Dakota with the Division of Food and Lodging and I'm happy to take any questions. We have a couple of questions for you and one is from me. If any of our guests from outside of North Dakota wanted to sell products in North Dakota, what would they need to do. So if you are a licensed food producer in say Minnesota, you would need to register with the FDA, unless you're doing meat products, in which case it would be the USDA to register as someone who's doing those interstate sales, but the products that you're producing under your license in Minnesota as long as you're registered with the FDA would be you would be able to sell those products in North Dakota. However, that's if these are not for immediate consumption. If you're doing more of like a mobile food unit or catering, then that would require licensing in North Dakota. Kim asks, what is salvage food license fee. Good question. We actually currently don't have any of those types of businesses open or licensed in North Dakota. They are a type of business where you can take products that have been damaged in some way, and basically rehabilitate them and sell them as long as they're still safe for consumption. Jolene has a question, do we need two different licenses if we sell frozen meat to a grocery store and to local consumers. Yes, so if you are selling frozen meat to a grocery store, that would be considered wholesaling. And so that would be in North Dakota underneath the Department of Agriculture. And you have to verify with them that you are licensed and approved to do that type of wholesaling. If you are taking frozen meat products and you're selling it to the in consumer, that would be considered retailing that meat product, and that would be something that we would need to license with the division of food and lodging. Okay, thank you. Does anyone else have any questions for Amy. All right, I'm not seeing any further questions but all of you have Amy's contact information on a slide in front of you. And I just want to thank you Amy for joining us today and kind of clearing up a complicated area that I often have to call and find out what the answer is so. Thank you for the opportunity. I am thankful to be able to come and share that information and like I said, anytime you have any questions please just reach out to us. We understand that it is a complex issue subject that takes some, some navigating so please do just reach out to us and we will help you the best that we can. Thanks again to everyone for joining us, and if you joined a lot of different webinars we're really happy about that. Please take the survey that will be in your inbox shortly, and also be sure to sign up for the potential of a prize. So again, we, we really appreciate you all being here and also for providing some input for next year's webinar series. So thanks again Amy and thanks to everyone. Thank you.