Nevada committee hears bill to raise cottage‑food cap, shift oversight and allow cosmetics sales online

Assembly Bill 352, which would raise Nevada’s cottage‑food gross sales cap and shift licensing and oversight from local health districts to the Nevada Department of Agriculture, was the subject of a spirited hearing before the Assembly Committee on Health and Human Services on March 17.

The bill, presented by Assemblymember Natha Anderson (Assembly District 30), would increase the current $35,000 annual gross‑sales limit for cottage food operations to $100,000, add acidified foods to the allowable list for cottage operations, allow sales by phone and internet, and create a cottage cosmetics category licensed by the Department of Agriculture.

Supporters told the committee the changes would modernize state law, expand economic opportunity for small producers and farmers, and resolve inconsistent enforcement across health districts. Opponents — chiefly local public‑health officials — warned the transfer of licensing and expanded product lists could increase food‑safety risks and create enforcement gaps.

Anderson told the committee the bill reorganizes cottage food oversight so the Department of Agriculture would license cottage food and cottage cosmetic operations and would incorporate acidified foods — products with a pH of 4.6 or less — into the cottage‑food list. "Sections 2 through 11 define the cottage cosmetic operations and outline the requirements for obtain obtaining a license," Anderson said. She said the bill also repeals the separate craft‑food license and raises the sales cap to align Nevada with many other states.

Several business and agriculture groups backed the change. Doug Busselman, executive vice president of the Nevada Farm Bureau, said his members have experienced inconsistent enforcement across health districts and supported placing cottage programs under the Department of Agriculture. "This is a positive move in the right direction," Busselman said. The Food Bank of Northern Nevada and the Retail Association of Nevada also testified in favor, arguing higher sales caps and clearer statewide rules would help small entrepreneurs and farmers reach broader markets.

Entrepreneurs described practical impacts. Lisa Stevens, owner of Battle Born Bread in Fallon, described starting a sourdough business and approaching the existing sales ceiling. "I am a small cottage bakery that specializes in sourdough breads," Stevens said. "I'm finding that I am starting to come up against the ceiling of of the income requirements that are in in Nevada." She said raising the cap and allowing phone and online orders would help her business grow.

Advisors and industry consultants described how federal changes opened space for small cosmetic producers. Kelly Kelly, an advisor who works with food‑systems businesses, said the Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act of 2022 created a small‑business exemption at the federal level, making it possible for states to consider permitting small‑batch cosmetic production. Kelly described product examples such as salves, balms and shampoo bars that producers would seek to make and sell under a cottage‑cosmetic framework.

Local public‑health officials voiced repeated concerns about expanding both the scope and scale of cottage operations while shifting licensing authority. Amber English, environmental health supervisor with Northern Nevada Public Health, said allowing acidified foods and expanding sales channels increases the public‑health risk and warned that a state licensing agency may lack the local presence to perform the same real‑time inspections and enforcement carried out by health districts. "Expanding the production and sales of acidified foods increases health risks, including botulism," English said.

Officials from Southern Nevada and Central Nevada public‑health districts raised similar points, citing large caseloads of inquiries and the potential for enforcement gaps if registration is centralized but event enforcement remains local. Larry Rogers, environmental health manager at the Southern Nevada Health District, said his office oversees hundreds of permitted special events and thousands of vendors annually and that transferring registration to the state would reduce local control without reducing local enforcement responsibility.

Department of Agriculture Director Goicoechea said the department has staff and capabilities across rural and urban Nevada and expressed willingness to work with stakeholders. "We have environmental scientists on board, all across the state ... and we are comfortable that we can meet these needs should you elect to go that way," the director said.

Several committee members asked about specifics the bill leaves open, including the basis for the $100,000 threshold and how cosmetics and certain products such as soaps or shampoo bars would be classified. Anderson and Kelly said the $100,000 figure was chosen by surveying other states and to align cottage categories; Kelly said the threshold was informed partly by where home kitchens become operationally difficult to scale.

No vote was taken. Anderson told the committee she will continue to work with stakeholders on clarifying language.

The hearing record includes written materials and testimony from business groups, public‑health agencies, and multiple callers by telephone who voiced both support and opposition.

If approved, the bill would amend Nevada law governing cottage food operations and related licensing; the measure would require rulemaking and administrative implementation by the Department of Agriculture and coordination with local health authorities.