As used in
this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:
1. “Department” means the department of inspections, appeals, and licensing.
2. “Food” means any raw, cooked, or processed edible substance, ice, beverage, or ingredient used or intended for use or sale in whole
or in part for human consumption.
3. “Home food processing establishment” means a business on the premises of a residence in which homemade food items are produced for sale or resale, for consumption
off the premises, if the business has gross annual sales of less than fifty thousand dollars. However, “home food processing establishment” does not include a residence in which food is prepared to be used or sold by churches, fraternal societies, charitable organizations,
or civic organizations.
4. a. “Homemade food item” means a food that is produced and, if packaged, packaged at a home food processing establishment. b. “Homemade food item” includes all of the following: (1) Food that is not time/temperature control for safety food, but does not include such food if produced and sold under section 137F.20.
(2) Made-to-order food that is all of the following: (a) Regularly prepared, promptly served, delivered, or otherwise provided to a consumer immediately upon order.
(b) Intended for immediate consumption.
c. “Homemade food item” does not include unpasteurized fruit or vegetable juice, raw sprout seeds, foods containing game animals, fish or shellfish,
alcoholic beverages, bottled water, packaged ice, consumable hemp products, food that will be further processed by a food
processing plant, time/temperature control for safety food packaged using a reduced oxygen packaging method, milk or milk
products regulated under chapter 192 or 194, and meat, meat food products, poultry, or poultry products regulated under chapter 189A, except for any of the following products when sold directly to the end consumer: (1) Poultry, poultry byproduct, or poultry food product if the producer raised the poultry pursuant to the exemption set forth
in 9 C.F.R. §381.10(c)(1) limiting the producer to slaughtering not more than one thousand poultry during the calendar year.
(2) Poultry, poultry byproduct, or poultry food product if the poultry is from an inspected source exempted pursuant to 9 C.F.R. §381.10(d).
(3) Meat, meat byproduct, or meat food product if the meat is from an inspected source exempted pursuant to 9 C.F.R. §303.1(d).
5. “Produce”, with respect to preparing homemade food items, means to prepare a food item by cooking, baking, drying, mixing, cutting,
fermenting, preserving, freezing, dehydrating, growing, raising, or other process. “Produce” does not include the preparation methods of low-acid canning, low-acid fermentation, acidification, curing, and smoking for
preservation rather than flavor enhancement.
6. “Time/temperature control for safety food” means a food that requires time and temperature controls for safety to limit pathogenic microorganism growth or toxin formation.
C89, §170C.1
C91, §137D.1
2016 Acts, ch 1086, §2, 3; 2022 Acts, ch 1129, §2; 2022 Acts, ch 1153, §56; 2023 Acts, ch 19, §1907; 2023 Acts, ch 82, §1, 3
137D.2 Licenses and inspections.
1. A person shall not open or operate a home food processing establishment until a license has been obtained from the department.
The department shall collect a fee of fifty dollars for a license. After collection, the fees shall be deposited in a special
fund in the state treasury. Moneys in the fund are appropriated to the department for the administration of this chapter. A license shall expire one year from date of issue. A license is renewable.
2. A person shall not sell or distribute from a home food processing establishment if the home food processing establishment
is unlicensed, the license of the home food processing establishment is suspended, or the food fails to meet standards adopted
for such food by the department.
3. An application for a license under this chapter shall be made upon a form furnished by the department and shall contain the items required by the department according to
rules adopted by the department.
4. The department shall regulate, license, and inspect home food processing establishments in a manner that is consistent with
this chapter.
5. The department shall provide for the periodic inspection of a home food processing establishment. The inspector may enter
the home food processing establishment at any reasonable hour to make the inspection. The department shall inspect only those
areas related to preparing food for sale.
6. The department shall regulate and may inspect food prepared at a home food processing establishment in a manner that is consistent
with this chapter. The inspection may occur at any place where a homemade food item is created, transported, or stored for sale or resale.
7. A home food processing establishment shall affix or label a homemade food item with all of the following information: a. Information to identify the name of the home food processing establishment.
b. The common name of the food.
c. The ingredients of the homemade food item in descending order of predominance.
d. The net quantity of contents.
e. For refrigerated time/temperature control for safety foods, an expiration date based on food safety.
f. The following statement: “This product was produced at a home food processing establishment.” If the homemade food item contains
one or more major food allergens, an additional allergen statement must be included on the label identifying each major allergen
contained in the food by the common name of the allergen.
C89, §170C.2
C91, §137D.2