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Committee sends freeze‑dried and dehydrated homestead food proposals to food‑safety subcommittee
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Summary
The Environment & Agriculture Committee debated bills to allow sale of freeze‑dried and dehydrated foods from homestead food operations and agreed to refer the matter to its food safety subcommittee for detailed drafting and process review.
Members of the New Hampshire House Environment and Agriculture Committee agreed to move further work on bills addressing freeze‑dried and dehydrated foods in homestead food operations to the committee's food safety subcommittee.
Advocates and several legislators said the current draft of HB 505 (freeze‑dried foods) and a companion measure on dehydrated meat and jerky need a more detailed statutory approach and process review before enactment. Representative Peter Bixby and multiple committee members argued the subject is novel enough to merit either its own statutory subdivision or a dedicated study that would produce uniform standards for equipment, processing, and labeling.
Committee members emphasized two recurring practical changes they want to see. First, bills should clearly limit what may be exempted from the "potentially hazardous" food rules (members suggested processed foods and certain fruit categories rather than a blanket exemption tied only to the method). Second, the bills should require commercial‑grade equipment rather than household dehydrators or ovens, with language that distinguishes true freeze drying from simple dehydration.
Several lawmakers proposed beginning with a small list of allowable products (berries and ice cream were discussed as examples) and then expanding as health data and operational experience support broader use. Representative King said he favored creating a new statutory section that could be referenced by other parts of state law rather than inserting freeze‑drying language into the existing homestead statute.
Lawmakers also urged that process specifications not be rigidly written into statute where federal guidance or industry practice is evolving. Several members suggested statutory language instead could require compliance with established federal processing guidance or require a processing authority review, with technical details delegated to rulemaking or guidance.
No formal vote was taken on statute language. The committee agreed to send the topic to its food safety subcommittee for drafting and to invite food safety process authorities to explain risks and controls. Representative Comteuil and Representative Bixby volunteered to help draft initial language and to convene stakeholders (farmers, the Department of Health and Human Services food protection staff, Cooperative Extension and the New Hampshire Farm Bureau) for practical recommendations.
Next steps: the food safety subcommittee will meet to inventory existing federal and state processing guidance, identify which practices can be relied on as published process controls, and develop proposed statutory text or rule language for the full committee to consider at a future work session.
