House panel advances several homestead food bills: QR-code labeling, weekly ‘occasional’ sales, and equipment clarifications

House members in the Environment & Agriculture Committee spent substantial time this week on multiple bills that would change how New Hampshire defines and regulates home-based food production, labeling and occasional on-site sales.

The committee heard testimony, received technical input from the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Food Protection Section, and in several cases voted to advance bills to the committee’s executive session.

What the bills would do - HB279 (study): Establish a committee to review how recipes and processing methods are approved for homestead foods, after concerns that some recipe or process modifications (for example, adding herbs to a tested jelly recipe) need clearer administrative treatment. Sponsor Peter Bixby said the study grew from interim meetings between stakeholders and Food Protection staff. - HB304 (labeling): Allow homestead producers selling directly from their home or on their farm stand to post a physical ingredient card at point of sale and use a persistent QR code or URL on packaged products that links to the up-to-date ingredient list instead of printing a new label for every small seasonal change. DHHS said the bill presents no fiscal or food-safety risk; producers argued the change would eliminate large amounts of waste and save time for micro-producers. Addie…