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CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 251(L&C) am
IN THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE - SECOND SESSION
BY THE HOUSE LABOR AND COMMERCE COMMITTEE
Amended: 5/6/24
Offered: 3/28/24
Sponsor(s): REPRESENTATIVES RAUSCHER, Wright, Armstrong, Mears, Vance, Tomaszewski, Josephson
A BILL
FOR AN ACT ENTITLED
"An Act exempting certain foods and drinks prepared in an uninspected kitchen from 1
state labeling, licensing, packaging, permitting, and inspection requirements; and 2
permitting a person to acquire meat from a producer by way of an ownership share in 3
an animal if certain conditions are met." 4
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 5
* Section 1. AS 17.20 is amended by adding new sections to read: 6
Article 7A. Homemade Food; Animal Shares. 7
Sec. 17.20.332. Exemption for homemade food. (a) Except as otherwise 8
provided in AS 17.20.332 - 17.20.338, a homemade food produced, sold, and 9
consumed in compliance with this section is exempt from state labeling, licensing, 10
packaging, permitting, and inspection requirements. 11
(b) The sale of a homemade food under this section 12
(1) is only for personal consumption; 13
(2) must occur in the state at a farmers' market, an agricultural fair, a 14 33-LS0888\U.A
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farm, a ranch, the producer's home or office, the retail location of a third-party seller, 1
or a location agreed on between the producer and the buyer; and 2
(3) may not involve 3
(A) interstate commerce; or 4
(B) the purchase or sale of 5
(i) meat or meat products, except as provided in (h) of 6
this section; 7
(ii) seafood; 8
(iii) a controlled substance; 9
(iv) oil rendered from animal fat; or 10
(v) game meat. 11
(c) Except for raw, unprocessed fruits and vegetables, a homemade food may 12
not be sold or used in a commercial food establishment. 13
(d) A homemade food may be sold from a retail space located at a ranch, farm, 14
or home where the homemade food is produced or at a retail location of a third-party 15
seller. A retail space selling a homemade food shall prominently display a sign 16
indicating that the homemade food was made in a home kitchen, may contain 17
allergens, and is not, except for meat and meat products permitted under (h) of this 18
section, regulated or inspected. A homemade food for sale at a retail location or 19
grocery store may not be displayed or offered for sale on the same shelf or display as 20
inspected food. If a retail space selling a potentially hazardous homemade food is in 21
any way associated with a commercial food establishment or offers for sale any 22
inspected food, the retail space shall 23
(1) maintain physical separation from the commercial food 24
establishment with a separate door and separate cash register or point of sale; 25
(2) display signs or other markings clearly indicating which separate 26
spaces offer inspected foods and which offer uninspected foods and meat and meat 27
products permitted under (h) of this section for sale; 28
(3) maintain separate coolers, freezers, warehouses, or other storage 29
areas to prohibit the intermingling of inspected foods with uninspected foods and meat 30
and meat products permitted under (h) of this section; and 31 33-LS0888\U.A
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(4) comply with any other requirements specified by the Department of 1
Environmental Conservation relating to homemade food. 2
(e) A homemade food packaged for individual sale must be clearly and 3
prominently labeled with 4
(1) the producer's name, current address, telephone number, and, if 5
applicable, the producer's business license number; and 6
(2) the statement: "This food was made in a home kitchen, is not 7
regulated or inspected, except for meat and meat products, and may contain allergens." 8
(f) The seller of a potentially hazardous homemade food, except eggs, must 9
also be the producer of the homemade food. The seller of eggs or a homemade food 10
that is not a potentially hazardous homemade food may be the producer of the item, an 11
agent of the producer, or a third-party vendor, including a retail shop or grocery store, 12
as long as the sale is made in compliance with this section and all applicable federal 13
and local laws. 14
(g) Before a sale of an unpackaged homemade food under this section, a 15
producer or third-party seller 16
(1) shall inform the buyer that the unpackaged homemade food was 17
prepared in accordance with AS 17.20.332 - 17.20.338 and is not subject to certain 18
state certification, labeling, licensing, packaging, regulation, or inspection 19
requirements; and 20
(2) provide the buyer with the producer's name, current address, 21
telephone number, and, if applicable, the producer's business license number. 22
(h) Subject to the requirements of federal law, a person may prepare and sell 23
meat, meat products, and homemade food containing meat or meat products under this 24
section. 25
Sec. 17.20.334. Animal shares. (a) A person may acquire meat from a 26
producer by way of an ownership interest in the animal or herd from which the meat 27
originated if 28
(1) the meat is 29
(A) delivered directly from the farm or ranch where the animal 30
or herd subject to the person's ownership interest is located; and 31 33-LS0888\U.A
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(B) received by or on behalf of the person with an ownership 1
interest in the animal from which the meat originated; 2
(2) the person's ownership of the animal or herd is established before 3
slaughter; 4
(3) when providing the meat to a person, the producer includes with 5
the meat, or on a label attached to the packaging of the meat, a clearly visible warning 6
that the meat has not been inspected; and 7
(4) the producer provides the person information describing the health 8
of the animal or herd and the meat processing standards of the producer's farm or 9
ranch. 10
(b) A producer or a person designated by a producer may deliver meat to a 11
person at a farm, ranch, farmers' market, home, office, or other location agreed on 12
between the producer and the person. 13
(c) For a person to have an ownership interest in an animal or herd under this 14
section, the person's ownership interest must be documented in a written contract 15
between the person and a producer that includes 16
(1) a bill of sale demonstrating the person's ownership interest in the 17
animal or herd; 18
(2) a boarding provision under which the person boards the animal or 19
herd with the producer for care and processing; and 20
(3) a provision entitling the person to receive a share of meat from the 21
animal or herd. 22
(d) Meat received by an owner of an animal or herd by way of the person's 23
ownership interest under this section may not be sold, donated, or commercially 24
redistributed. 25
(e) A person may not publish a statement that implies that the Department of 26
Environmental Conservation approves or endorses an animal or herd share program or 27
the acquisition of meat under this section. 28
Sec. 17.20.336. Exceptions. Nothing in AS 17.20.332 - 17.20.338 29
(1) prevents the Department of Environmental Conservation from 30
(A) conducting inspections necessary to investigate reports of 31 33-LS0888\U.A
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(i) foodborne illness or food-caused injury or death; 1
(ii) unsafe sanitary practices; or 2
(iii) misbranded or adulterated food; 3
(B) condemning and ordering the destruction of misbranded or 4
adulterated food; 5
(C) regulating food or an establishment that is not exempt 6
under AS 17.20.332 - 17.20.338; or 7
(D) providing assistance, consultation, or inspection at the 8
request of a producer; 9
(2) exempts a person from 10
(A) applicable federal and local laws, regulations, and 11
ordinances regarding food; or 12
(B) brand inspection requirements under AS 03.40.250 or 13
animal inspection requirements under AS 03.05.040. 14
Sec. 17.20.338. Definitions. In AS 17.20.332 - 17.20.338, 15
(1) "agricultural fair" means a fair, the major focus of which is 16
displays, exhibitions, demonstrations, contests, or promotions of agricultural concern 17
to the region in which the fair is located; 18
(2) "commercial food establishment" means the premises where an 19
activity related to the display, packaging, preparation, processing, sale, salvaging, 20
service, storage, transportation, or vending of food for human consumption that is not 21
exempt under AS 17.20.332 - 17.20.338 occurs; "commercial food establishment" 22
does not include a kitchen in a private dwelling, or a kitchen in a vessel used solely as 23
a private dwelling, where homemade food is prepared only for personal consumption; 24
(3) "controlled substance" has the meaning given in AS 11.71.900; 25
(4) "farmers' market" means a common facility or area where several 26
vendors may gather on a regular and recurring basis to sell fresh fruits and vegetables, 27
locally grown farm products, and other agricultural products and items directly to 28
buyers; 29
(5) "game meat" means the flesh and organs of animals that are not 30
classified as meat in 9 C.F.R. 301.2 or as poultry in 9 C.F.R. 381.1(b); 31 33-LS0888\U.A
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(6) "homemade food" means a food or drink that is prepared or 1
processed in 2
(A) a producer's private home kitchen; or 3
(B) a private or commercial kitchen leased to a producer; 4
(7) "meat" means the flesh, muscles, organs, tissues, skin, sinew, 5
nerves, blood vessels, and bones of cattle, sheep, swine, equine, or goats; 6
(8) "molluscan shellfish" means all edible species of oyster, clam, 7
mussel, and scallop, whether shucked or in the shell, fresh or frozen, and in whole or 8
in part; "molluscan shellfish" does not include the shucked scallop adductor muscle; 9
(9) "personal consumption" means the use or ingestion of food by a 10
buyer, an employee of the buyer, or a nonpaying guest of the buyer of homemade 11
food; 12
(10) "potentially hazardous homemade food" means food or drink that 13
requires time or temperature control for safety to limit pathogenic microorganism 14
growth or toxin formation; 15
(11) "producer" means a person who grows, harvests, prepares, 16
processes, or makes and packages meat or homemade food on the person's owned or 17
leased property; 18
(12) "seafood" includes saltwater fish, freshwater fish, amphibians, 19
crustaceans, molluscan shellfish, any other species of aquatic animal intended for 20
human consumption, and parts or byproducts of any species of aquatic animal 21
intended for human consumption; "seafood" does not include aquatic plants, birds, or 22
mammals. 23