House Bill 177 (
HB 177), also known as the Homemade Food Act, has passed out of both the House and Senate committee and is now before the full Senate; a vote could be taking place at any time.
HB 177 allows the minimally regulated sale of non-time-and-temperature controlled food direct from producer to consumer. The bill expands access to locally produced food by effectively taking care of several problems with New Mexico’s current cottage foods law. Under current law, producers can only sell at farmers markets and roadside stands; HB 177 will allow direct to consumer sales within the state “at farmers markets, at festivals, on the Internet, at roadside stands, at the seller’s home for pick-up or delivery or through mail delivery” as long as the seller completes a food handler course approved by the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED), meets basic requirements on labeling or providing information to the customer if there is a sale over the phone or Internet, maintains a sanitary kitchen, and transports food in a sanitary manner.
Producers currently wanting to sell homemade food at farmers markets have to get a permit from NMED in a burdensome process that requires pages of paperwork and can potentially require thousands of dollars in kitchen upgrades. Under HB 177, NMED cannot require that producers obtain a permit.
Finally, under current state law local governments have the power to ban the sale of cottage foods; sales of cottage foods are illegal in Albuquerque. The bill prohibits local governments from banning the sale of any homemade food allowed by the Act or restricting where they could be sold. However, the home rule areas of Albuquerque and Bernalillo County would have the choice to require a permit to sell these foods if they choose.
The bill represents a great opportunity to substantially improve New Mexico’s laws on homemade food sales.
