House committee hears bills to modernize Michigan ‘cottage food’ law, raise sales cap and allow online sales

Representative Jason Alexander, sponsor of House Bill 4,122, told the Agriculture Committee that the bill would modernize Michigan’s cottage food law by increasing the gross-sales cap, allowing online and mail-order sales, and offering an optional registration through the MSU Product Center to protect producer privacy.

“Michigan's cottage food law has provided an important pathway for small scale food processors to start and grow their business,” Alexander said in remarks to the committee. He described the principal changes in HB 4,122: raising the gross annual-sales cap from $25,000 to $50,000 (and to $75,000 where individual products sell for $250 or more), tying future adjustments of the cap to the Detroit Consumer Price Index, permitting online, mail-order and third-party delivery sales while preserving a required direct interaction between consumer and producer prior to purchase, and creating a voluntary registration system through the MSU Product Center so producers need not list a home address on product labels.

Alexander told members that, since the cottage food law was enacted in 2010, the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) has reported “no cases of foodborne illness linked to these products.” He framed the bill as an…