Cook County Department of Public Health

The cottage food operation provisions of the Food Handling Regulation Enforcement Act [410 ILCS 625/4] and the Sanitary Food Preparation Act [410 ILCS 650/11] allow for the sale of certain food that is not potentially hazardous and produced in a home kitchen.

Food that is not potentially hazardous such as baked goods, jam, jelly, preserves, fruit butter, dry herbs, dry herb blends or dry tea blends and that is intended for end-use only, shall be sold by the owner or a family member using safe food handling practices that reduce the risk of contamination.

Jams, Jellies and Preserves:
The following jams, jellies, and preserves are allowed: apple, apricot, grape, peach, plum, quince, orange, nectarine, tangerine, blackberry, raspberry, blueberry, boysenberry, cherry, cranberry, strawberry, red currant or a combination of these fruits.

The presence of low sugar or sugar substitute in jams, jellies and preserves, can make a difference in the shelf stability of the product. With lower sugar and pectin levels, spoilage organisms are more likely to survive the cooking process. The best practice for low sugar jams and jellies is that they be processed only in a boiling water canner for a minimum of 10 minutes and not by any other methods unless water activity is determined by a commercial lab to be less than 0.85.

Other jams, jellies, or preserves not listed may be produced if the cottage food operator’s recipe has been tested and documented by a commercial laboratory (at the expense of the cottage food operation) as being not potentially hazardous, containing a pH equilibrium of less than 4.6. (See prohibited items).

Fruit Butters:
The following fruit butters are allowed: apple, apricot, grape, peach, plum, quince, and prune. Fruit butters not listed may be produced if the cottage food operator’s recipe has been tested and documented by a commercial laboratory (at the expense of the cottage food operation) as being not potentially hazardous, containing a pH equilibrium of less than 4.6. (See prohibited items).

Baked Goods:
The following baked goods, including, but not limited to the following, are allowed: breads, cookies, cakes, pies and pastries. Only high-acid fruit pies that use the following fruits are allowed: apple, apricot, grape, peach, plum, quince, orange, nectarine, tangerine, blackberry, raspberry, blueberry, boysenberry, cherry, cranberry, strawberry, red currants or a combination of these fruits. Fruit pies not listed may be produced if the cottage food operator’s recipe has been tested and documented by a commercial laboratory (at the expense of the cottage food operation) as being not potentially hazardous, containing a pH equilibrium of less than 4.6. (See prohibited items).

Dried Foods:
The following dried foods are allowed: dried herbs, dried herb blends, or dry tea blends.

Prohibited Items:
The following items are prohibited from production and sale by a cottage food operation: pumpkin pie, sweet potato pie, cheesecake, custard pies, and cream pies, as well as pastries with potentially hazardous fillings or toppings. Pumpkin, banana, and pear butters are not allowed. Also, rhubarb, tomato, pepper and watermelon jellies or jams are not allowed.

No. These products would require temperature control to prevent bacterial growth and are not allowed for sale by a cottage food operation.

Products can only be sold at farmers’ markets, which are defined by the Public Act 097-0393 as a “common facility or area where farmers gather to sell a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables and other locally produced farm and food products, directly to consumers.”

Yes, as long as the products meet the “cottage food” requirements of the Public Act.

No, the Food Handling Regulation Enforcement Act “cottage food operations” provisions clearly identify farmers’ markets as the only venue where “cottage food” products may be sold. Cottage foods cannot be sold to a retailer for resale or to a restaurant for use or sale in the restaurant. Cottage foods cannot be sold over the Internet, by mail order, or to wholesalers, brokers or other food distributors who will resell the cottage food.

A commercial laboratory is a laboratory which performs fee-for-service analysis. It accepts samples from the public. Such a laboratory may be certified in one or more categories of accreditation. The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) laboratories will not perform these services.

A list of laboratories that conduct food testing is included in Attachment A. This list is not all inclusive and the operator may do an Internet search for commercial labs that perform food testing.

Any product that is not listed as allowed in the jam, jelly, preserve, fruit butter or baked goods shall be tested and documented by a commercial laboratory, at the expense of the cottage food operation, as being not potentially hazardous, containing a pH equilibrium of less than 4.6.

Yes, each product that is not listed as allowed shall be tested and documented.

No, if documentation is available and no change to the recipe has been made. However, if no documentation is available or changes to the recipe have been made, testing would be required.

The basic information that must be on the label is as follows:

• Name and address of the cottage food operation.
• The common or usual name of the food product (All capital letters or upper/lower case are both acceptable).
• The ingredients of the cottage food product, including any colors, artificial flavors, and preservatives, listed in descending order of predominance by weight. If you use a prepared item in your recipe, you must list the sub ingredients as well. For example, soy sauce is not acceptable, soy sauce (wheat, soybeans, salt) would be acceptable. Please see the label below for further examples.
• The following statement: “This product was produced in a home kitchen not subject to public health inspection that may also process common food allergens.”
• The date the product was processed.
• Allergen labeling as specified in federal labeling requirements. www.fda.gov

Here is an example of a label:

THIS PRODUCT WAS PRODUCED IN A HOME KITCHEN NOT SUBJECT TO PUBLIC HEALTH INSPECTION THAT MAY ALSO PROCESS COMMON FOOD ALLERGENS

Chocolate Chip Cookie
Net Wt. 3 oz (85.05 g)
Ingredients: Enriched flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine, mononitrate, riboflavin and folic acid), butter (milk, salt), chocolate chips (sugar, chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, butterfat (milk), Soy lecithin as an emulsifier), walnuts, sugar, eggs, salt, artificial vanilla extract, baking soda
Contains: wheat, eggs, milk, soy, walnuts
Artie Pinkster
123 Foodstuff Lane
Casserole City, IL 60000
Production Date: 10/19/2011

Hand-printed labels are acceptable if they are clearly legible, written with durable, permanent ink, and printed large enough to be easily read.

In addition, at the point of sale a placard must be displayed in a prominent location that states the following: “This product was produced in a home kitchen not subject to public health inspection that may also process common food allergens.”

It means the operator must identify if any of the ingredients are made from one of the following food groups: milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts (such as almonds, pecans or walnuts), wheat, peanuts, and soybeans. So, if there is an ingredient made with a wheat based product, the operator has the following two options:

• Include the allergen in the ingredient list. For example, a white bread with the following ingredient listing: whole wheat flour, water, salt and yeast. In this example, the statement ‘whole wheat flour’, meets the requirements of federal law.
• Include an allergen statement (“Contains:”) after the ingredient list. For example a white bread, with the following ingredients: whole wheat flour, water, sodium caseinate, salt and yeast. Contains wheat and milk.

The “Contains” statement must reflect all the allergens found in the product. In this example, the sodium caseinate comes from milk.

Yes, if the cottage food product has tree nuts as an ingredient you must identify which tree nut you are using. For example, if you made Nut Bread, an acceptable ingredient list would be: Ingredients: wheat flour, water, almonds, salt, yeast.

The following would not be acceptable:
Ingredients: flour, water, nuts, salt, yeast

The physical address of the home kitchen must be on the product label, not a post office box. The purpose of including an address on product labels is to be able to locate the business in case of a recall or traceback associated with a foodborne illness complaint or outbreak. The Public Act specifies that the name and address of the business of the cottage food operation shall be included on the label.

Yes, the cottage food operation shall register with the local health department (LHD) where the cottage food operation resides. Failure to register with the LHD will subject the cottage food operation to regulation by IDPH and/or Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDOA).

Out-of-state cottage food operations are not allowed as the Public Act only applies to businesses where the home kitchen (primary domestic residence) is physically located in Illinois.

If a cottage food operation cannot meet the requirements of the Public Act, they would fall under current regulation by IDPH, IDOA or LHD as a retail food operation.

Yes, the person preparing and selling products as a cottage food operation must have an Illinois Food Service Sanitation Manager Certification, 410 ILCS 4(b)(6). Courses can be found on the IDPH website at the following link: http://dph.illinois.gov/fssmccourses

Yes. The Public Act permits the LHD to charge a reasonable fee for registration, provided the cottage food operation can meet all the conditions for exemption. However, neither IDPH nor IDOA may charge a fee.

The Cook County Department of Public Health is the state-certified LHD for suburban Cook County with the exception of Evanston, Oak Park, Skokie and Stickney Township who maintain their own state-certified LHD’s. Therefore, if your cottage food operation is located in one of those areas, you should contact the applicable LHD. To contact the Cook County Department of Public Health, please call (708) 974-7118.

Molds are small organisms found almost everywhere, inside and outside, including on plants, foods and dry leaves. They can be nearly any color – white, orange, green or black. Molds are beneficial to the environment and are needed to break down dead material. Very tiny and lightweight, mold spores travel easily through the air. Visit our Healthy Environments page for more information.

The first complaint should be to the property owner. Your landlord can’t fix a problem they have not been informed of. If the property owner is not responding or not taking action to fix the problem, residents should call their local building department. Residents in unincorporated Cook County can call the Cook County Department of Public at 708-974-7117 or use our complaint form.

No, CCDPH does not test for mold. Inspections done by CCDPH are visual only. Even if testing is done, no standards or guidelines exist for acceptable levels of mold.

Testing for mold is very difficult and expensive. Residents must hire a contractor to test their homes. Testing cannot determine whether health effects will occur. Mold is normally found outdoors and levels fluctuate from day to day depending on the season. Due to these uncertainties, testing is not recommended in most cases.

Many molds can cause adverse health effects. Molds produce allergens, irritants and, sometimes, toxins that may cause adverse reactions in humans. A reaction to mold depends on how much a person is exposed to, the general health and age of a person and the person’s sensitivities or allergies. The same amount of mold may cause health effects in one person, but not in another. Visit our Healthy Environments page for more information.

No, CCDPH does not require a water well, water drinkability test or septic system evaluation as a requirement for selling property. This practice may be required by mortgage lenders as a condition for obtaining a mortgage, or by buyers as a condition of sale, and can be conducted by a private evaluator. CCDPH may conduct an inspection in the case of federal FHA or VA loans.

CCDPH review plans if a new septic tank and seepage field disposal system is being installed or if a new water well is being drilled to serve a private residence. If a well is being drilled to serve a food operation or other community public water supply as defined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, approval from IDPH is required.

For inquiries within the City of Chicago, please contact the Chicago Department of Public Health.