Laws for selling eggs???

[Da Chicken Guy]

Can anyone help me with Ohio laws for selling eggs both on and off my farm? And, where is the best place to research the local ordinances? Thanks for your help, you people are great!

 

[ams3651]

http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/925

 

[Da Chicken Guy]

Thanks for the reply!

 

[PortageGirl]

http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/925.10 Here's the important one for most of us!

925.10 Exempted producers.
Producers selling only shell eggs of their own hens’ production on the premises where produced or selling directly to hatcheries are exempted from sections 925.01 to 925.13 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 06-20-1994

[edit] NOTE: I asked a local farmer who attends our local farmer's market with her eggs, and she said she hasn't had any trouble there, but since she is present at the booth, and doesn't sell in bulk to a 'middle man' she feels fairly secure about it. That's just FYI though, not actually in the laws that I could find.

 

[Da Chicken Guy]

Very helpful, thank you.

 

[pwyll]

What did you find out about selling eggs offsite. I have 300 layers and am trying to sell at farmers markets unfortunatly there seem to be a lot of misinformationout there and I didn't see what I needed to fin out inthe ohio codes. I know someone who sells eggs but he was forced by the Greene co health inspector to purchase a battery powered comercial refrigerator which I'm told by other people selling eggs is not required by law but that the Health department inspector who demanded this didn't know what he was talking about. I personally had some problems with this inspector and his imaginary laws when selling artisan bread so I'm inclined to be sceptical of his "information". We have a new inspector, supposedly the old one was replaced, some peopole told me it was because of the issues we had with him but I can't get this new inspector to answer any questions and I'm reluctant to take my eggs out just to get shut down time and again, Its already happened a couple of times and I still don't know what I'm supposed to do.

The person who was required to by the refrigerator claims its a requirement but I think he is trying to discourage me. Other people have told me that a cooler, kept to under 45 degrees with a comercial thermometer is acceptable. Maybe this is a county by county thing, I can't seem to find out. The other issue is about required permits

Well if you found out anything about all this please let me know

 

[pwyll]

The code mentions refrigeration but doesn't say it has to be a refrigerator it seems to me You just have to keep the eggs below 45 degrees with a thermometer.

here is the text
(A) Each producer and processor shall maintain shell eggs in refrigeration at an ambient temperature that does not exceed forty-five degrees Fahrenheit.
(B) Each food processor, distributor, and owner or operator of a food service establishment, retail food store, or other food establishment shall maintain any shell eggs intended for sale or distribution in refrigeration at an ambient temperature that does not exceed forty-five degrees Fahrenheit from the time the shell eggs are received by him until the time they are sold or distributed.
(C) The owner or operator of a premises where shell eggs are required to be maintained in refrigeration shall have in use at all times a thermometer, graduated in degrees Fahrenheit, that clearly indicates the ambient temperature at which the shell eggs are being maintained.

 

[chickortreat]

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[pwyll]

If you have under 500 layers you can sell eggs off of the property where the chickens are kept without any interference, no inspections permitsetc. Its only when you sell offsite, such as at a farmers market or if you deliver the eggs, that the real problems come into play

Oddly enough its the same with butchered chickens, except the number of chickens you can have is 1000. There is something really wrong with that picture if you ask me, eggs are a lot safer than dealing with carcasses but they seem to be treated much the same under the law

 

[pwyll]

I went to the Local extension office and the county health department and got some information. It will probably discourage most people from selling eggs at farmers market unfortunatly. Of course these comments are for Ohio, your state may be totoaly different

A person selling eggs anywhere but on their own property to private individuals are considered by the health department to be "Retail Food Establishment" and as such are subject to regulation by the health department, and are required to be Licenced by their local county Health department. Once licenced one can sell anywhere in the state of Ohio.

The Dept of Agriculture doesn't seem to care what you do as long as you have less than 500 Laying chickens or 1000 meat chickens and no permits are required. In fact, when I went to the extension office they seemed clueless as to what I was talking about.

To get an RFE Licence to sell at farmers markets one has to obtain a Mobile permit. To get this permit one must submit a plan showing the mobile setup, including refrigeration unit and power setup. The eggs must be refrigerated in a COMERCIAL refrigerator at 45 degrees F or less. The application for Plan review is the same as for restaraunts and other food establishments such as grocery stores. There usually is a $350 fee for the plan review process but Mobile operations are exempt from this fee. When the application is approved there is $230 permit fee, at least for Greene County. I'm not sure if it varies by county but it might.

I've been checking pricing for comercial Refrigerators and they are expensive. It has to be small enough to fit in ones vehicle along with a power inverter and the onew wthat seem to fit the bill are either tabletop beverage type refrigetators or the under the counter types, which are a little bigger but much heavier. I went to several used resaraunt suppy houses and saw units from $199 up. The lower end units were rather small and didn't look that durable even though they were comercial units. I was looking for something that could hold about 50 dozen but didn't see one though I did see a Beverage-Aire unit for $600.

I still have to check into power inverters, anybody know an economical source for these?

Anyway it looks like it takes anywhere from $1000-$2000 to get set up with the proper permits and equipment. You have to sell a lot of eggs to recover the cost. Of course after you are initially set up the only cost is the yearly $230 permit fee. Also you can get a temporary permit which is good for 10 days of selling, not necessarily consecutive but I don't remember what the cost of that was. Considering the other costs though the permit is minor.