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State to hold public hearings on cottage food industry

BISMARCK – The North Dakota Department of Health’s Division of Food and Lodging has scheduled three public hearings on proposed administrative rules for the production and sale of cottage food products.

The ND Cottage Foods Act is new legislation that allows for the direct sale of uninspected homemade products. This provides new opportunities for home-based food businesses making homemade products such as baked goods, jams, jellies, and pickles, to enter certain markets in North Dakota. Cottage food products do not require a license or registration, do not require a sanitary inspection and do not require allergen labeling.

A public hearing will be held March 22 from 9 to 11 a.m. at the North Dakota Department of Health in the Capitol Judicial Wing, Room 212, in Bismarck. The public must use the south entrance and go through the metal detectors.

Public hearings also will be held March 22 at 1 p.m. Mountain Time at the Southwestern District Health Unit in Dickinson and March 23 at 10 a.m. at Fargo Cass Public Health.

Written comments may be submitted through April 4 by emailing foodandlodging@nd.gov or by mailing the NDDoH, c/o Division of Food and Lodging, 600 East Blvd Ave, Dept. 301, Bismarck, ND 58505-0200.

Information on the proposed rules and public hearings can be found at www.ndhealth.gov/foodlodging/. The statute surrounding the Cottage Food Rules can be found in the North Dakota Century Code, Chapter 23-09.05.

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