Laws for selling eggs???

I'm glad I found this post too, and I'm confused just like blackrabbit!

The law is very confusing to read. But, I want to sell to grocery stores and restaurants, and friends (me delivering to them, not coming to my property), what kind of paperwork / permits / licenses do I need, if any. Or just a well chilled cooler in my vehicle would be sufficient? And can you point me to the particular section of the code that says that. I only have a handful of birds, so definitely under a 100-1000 mark.

And is it a blanket law across the board, or only for chicken eggs. I want to sell guinea, turkey, quail, and / or duck eggs. I emailed the Dept of Agriculture and never got a response...

Also, do I need to check within my county too (Delaware), or is it just one law across the state? And the places I want to sell to would be in a different county (Franklin), does that make things more difficult?

And what about eggs for hatching? Will those be under a separate law or still under this one?

Yeah...I can relate to the misinformation you got from the extension service. The truth is, no one actually reads the law. There is an exception to the retail food establishment.

http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/3717.22

3717.22 Excluded operations and entities.



(A) The following are not retail food establishments:

cut...check out 16 and f.

(16) A farm market on the condition that it is registered with the director pursuant to section 3717.221 of the Revised Code that offers for sale at the farm market only one or more of the following:

(a) Fresh unprocessed fruits or vegetables;
(b) Products of a cottage food production operation;
(c) Maple syrup, sorghum, or honey that is produced by a maple syrup or sorghum producer or beekeeper described in division (A) of section 3715.021 of the Revised Code;
(d) Commercially prepackaged food that is not potentially hazardous, on the condition that the food is contained in displays, the total space of which equals less than one hundred cubic feet on the premises where the person conducts business at the farm market;
(e) Cider and other juices manufactured on site at the farm market;



(f) The products or items described in divisions (B)(8) to (10) of this section, on the condition that those products or items were produced by the person offering to sell them, and further conditioned that, with respect to eggs offered, the person offering to sell them annually maintains five hundred or fewer birds, and with respect to dressed chickens offered, the person annually raises and slaughters one thousand or fewer chickens.

Ok false info here....notice it says Farm Market???? Its not the same as a Farmers Market and yes you need a Retail Food License in the state of Ohio to sell eggs at a Farmers Market....

Current law states that farmers who wish to sell eggs produced on their farm are exempt from retail food licensing requirements, so long as those eggs are sold directly on the farm where they are produced or at a registered farm product auction, and the producer maintains 500 or fewer birds annually. Farmers only need to have a free inspection done by ODA to legally sell their own eggs in this situation. The same exemption does not exist, however, for those selling their own eggs at a registered farmers’ market. In order to legally sell their own eggs at a farmers’ market, a producer must obtain a temporary or mobile retail food establishment license from their local health district, in addition to having the free ODA inspection performed. Handling and storage requirements and the costs for these licenses vary widely, but often are prohibitive to a farmer looking to direct market their products.

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