Act of Alabama No. 2021-461

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Act of Alabama No. 2021-461 is a law passed in 2021 that amends Title 22 of the Code of Alabama to remove certain restrictions on the sale of home-made food products.

The draft bill was prepared with input from the Arlington, Virginia-based Institute for Justice, a libertarian activist law firm endowed by petrochemical tycoon Charles Koch. It was introduced on February 2, 2021 by sponsors Jim McClendon and Arthur Orr as Senate Bill 160 in the Alabama State Senate during the 2021 Alabama legislative session. After passing the Senate on March 2, the bill was referred to the House Health Committee, which combined it with a similar bill introduced by Representative Jamie Kiel and endorsed it on March 16. The bill passed by unanimous vote in the House on May 6. The Senate voted again on the amended bill the same day. Governor Kay Ivey signed the act on May 17.

The amended law defines "cottage food" as "non-potentially hazardous food that has been prepared in a person's home that does not require time or temperature control for safety to limit pathogenic microorganism growth or toxin formation and that does not include meat, poultry, or fish," and a "cottage food production operation" as a producer of such foods who sells directly or through an agent to in-state customers. The law further states that, "neither the State Department of Public Health nor a county health department may regulate the production of food at a cottage food production operation except as provided by this section." Those provisions include a requirement that cottage food producers complete a food safety course and label their products with ingredients and a disclaimer that they were not not inspected by a health department. The state would be able to investigate reports of harmful cottage foods and intervene to stop their sale or seize suspect products.

References

  • Sell, Mary (July 30, 2021) "New Law Eases Restrictions on Cottage Food Makers." Alabama Daily News / BirminghamWatch

External links

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