Selling maple syrup in Kentucky

Small producers register as home-based processors with the Department for Public Health's Food Safety Branch (Cabinet for Health and Family Services): form DFS-250 plus a $50 fee, valid until March 31 each year and renewable (902 KAR 45:090, Sec. 3). The regulation lists maple syrup by name among the foods a home-based processor may produce (Sec. 2(1)(d)). A home-based processor is someone who makes non-potentially-hazardous food in his or her home and has gross income of no more than $60,000 a year from it (KRS 217.015(56)), and must be a Kentucky resident. Home-based processors work under KRS 217.136 — titled an exemption "from permit requirement and fair packaging and labeling laws" — which sets aside the general misbranding and fair-packaging sections (KRS 217.035, 217.037) as long as containers are clean, sanitary and labeled as that section requires and the food isn't adulterated or misbranded, and which requires registration with the Cabinet. Above $60,000, or to sell to retailers, wholesale, by mail or across state lines, the Food Safety Branch says maple producers "should be permitted as Food Manufacturers": an annual permit to operate a food processing establishment (KRS 217.125), with an inspection fee based on size and risk — $125 for a low-risk plant of 1,000 square feet or less (902 KAR 45:180). Unlike honey (exempt under 500 gallons a year), maple syrup has no stand-alone statutory exemption.

Yes — the home-based processor category is defined by production "in his or her home", and the Food Safety Branch describes it as a Kentucky resident producing "in their home kitchen". While you're processing: wash hands regularly; keep equipment clean and in good repair; wash, rinse and sanitize food-contact surfaces before each use; keep children under 12 and pets out of the kitchen; stop other domestic activities in the kitchen; and don't work while sick with a contagious illness (902 KAR 45:090, Sec. 3). You don't have to have grown the primary ingredient yourself. The rules are written around a home kitchen and don't say how a separate sugarhouse or outdoor evaporator on your property is treated — ask the Food Safety Branch (502-564-7181) when you register.

We found no Kentucky maple grading or density law: no section of KRS Chapter 217 (Foods, Drugs and Poisons) or Chapter 260 (agricultural products) has maple or syrup in its title, the home-based processor statute and regulation don't mention grades, and neither do the Food Safety Branch's label guides. Grading therefore follows the voluntary USDA standards, and the federal minimum of 66% soluble solids applies (see the national notes). A product not labeled as the home-based processor statute requires is deemed misbranded.

Syrup grades explained · check your density

• ✓The name and address of the home-based processing operation (the state's label guide: street address, city, state and ZIP code)
• ✓The common or usual name of the product ("maple syrup")
• ✓The ingredients, in descending order of predominance by weight
• ✓The net weight and volume by standard measure (the statute's wording; the state's label guide says net weight or volume)
• ✓The statement, in 10-point type: "This product is home-produced and processed"
• ✓The date the product was processed
• ✓Allergen information as federal law requires (plain syrup has none to declare)

Home-based processors may sell only "directly to consumers within this state": from home by pick-up or delivery, at a market, roadside stand or community event, or online (KRS 217.136(5)). The regulation spells out flea markets, farmers markets, festivals, county fairs, craft fairs and non-profit charity events, and lets you advertise and take orders and payment in person, online or by phone — but the product has to reach the customer by pick-up or delivery; the Food Safety Branch says home-based processors "are not permitted to ship items" and may not sell at a permitted retail market. The statute adds that these products "may be used in preparing and serving food". For retailers, wholesale, mail order or out-of-state sales, the Branch directs maple producers to the food manufacturing permit and their area inspector.

Home-based processing facilities "may be inspected annually" by the Cabinet (KRS 217.136(7)); the regulation provides for inspection on complaint, and product sampling and inspection follow if a product is misbranded or adulterated or a consumer complains. The Cabinet can halt production over an imminent health hazard. Sanitation standards are the kitchen rules listed under home production. We found no Kentucky maple-specific equipment, lead or bottling-temperature rule.