Individuals who use a domestic kitchen to prepare, manufacture and sell food to the public can ensure their facilities meet Tennessee Department of Agriculture regulations through an upcoming course presented by University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture Food Science Technology and UT Extension faculty.
The one-day course, Domestic Kitchen – Tennessee Food Safety Certification, will be held 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., February 9th, at the Hohenwald Housing Authority, located at 107 Allison Avenue, in Hohenwald. UT Extension Food Safety Specialist Dr. William Morris and Mr. John Sanford, Tennessee Department of Agriculture, will cover regulations for establishments using domestic kitchen facilities for bakery and other non-potentially hazardous foods intended for sale. The cost for certification is $100.00. Some scholarship funds may be available for those that have a strong interest in becoming certified and beginning a business.
If you are interested in attending, please contact Troy Dugger or Brenda Van Cleve at the UT Hickman County Extension Office, 931-729-2404. If you are not interested in this program, but know of someone who is, please give them this information or contact us with their name. We need at least 20 people to be able to offer the class. Anyone can attend, but we are targeting folks in Hickman, Lewis , Perry and Wayne counties.
John Sanford has been quoted as follows concerning the Domestic Kitchen Rules – “The purpose of the domestic kitchen rules is to allow individuals to commercially prepare, manufacture and sell ‘non-potentially hazardous’ foods that are prepared in the home while ensuring that the public’s health is protected. The domestic kitchen rules represent a reasonable approach to help meet the needs of a growing cottage industry, and more importantly, they’re the result of a cooperative effort to provide for the safe preparation and commercial sale of home-based foods.”
These foods would include: sale of home-prepared jam, jellies, baked-goods and some candies.
For a more thorough description of when domestic kitchen certification is required and what foods can be produced in your home kitchen, check out this Tennessee Dept. of Agriculture webpage or the complete Domestic Kitchen Regulations.
