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  • From: "Juanita Garcia" <nitag AT ev1.net>
  • To: "Market Farming Newsletter" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Canning
  • Date: Mon, 9 Jan 2006 10:38:57 -0600

Good morning all:

I started canning using the standard Ball Blue Book as a start point,
but in order to sell at market here I soon discovered I had to do the
following:

*Attend a 4-day course on commercial canning/acidified foods (only
source in TX is TX A&M University), and obtain certification.

*Apply for a manufacturers' license from the TX Dept of Agriculture.
Inspections are 2 times a year, and I pay an annual fee.

*File as a food manufacturer with the FDA (Bioterrorism has made them
suspect everyone, so I guess they want to be able to track me down if I
should decide to make pickle bombs...) The TX Dept of Ag keeps track of
me now that I'm listed.

*I rented a certified kitchen for awhile, but now have my own - so of
course I'm required to have a permit from the local health department. I
get inspected 3-4 times a year, and pay a fee annually.

*Obtain certification in Food Handling Safety and Sanitation. The
certification is good for 5 years, after which I'll have to certify
again.

*Finally, in order to offer samples at the market I attend, I have to
have a Mobile Vendors Permit. They inspect every so often at the market,
and I pay an annual fee.


So...my guess is that most states have some or all of the same sorts of
requirements, but perhaps some of the permitting entities listed above
might be the same in your state. You might try contacting them in order
to get an idea of a start point if you are interested in selling your
product.

Of course, I love canning and pickling so it all makes it worthwhile.
The following 2 books are good reference books for basic canning:

"Putting Food By" 4th edition, newly revised. Janet Green, Ruth
Hertzberg, Beatrice Vaughan. A Plume Book (published by Penguin).

"The Big Book of Preserving the Harvest". Carol Costenbader. A Storey
Publishing Book.


Hope you find this helpful!

Juanita Garcia
Aunt Nita's Homestyle Foods
Garcia Eggs & Herbs
Leander TX (Zone 8)





  • Re: [Market-farming] Canning, Juanita Garcia, 01/09/2006

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