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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 233
January Session, 2019
AN ACT CONCERNING CO TTAGE FOOD PRODUCTS AND THE
PRODUCTION OF HONEY AND MAPLE SYRUP.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 21a-62b of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2019): 2
For the purposes of this section and sections 21a-62c to 21a-62h, 3
inclusive: 4
(1) "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Consumer 5
Protection or an authorized agent of the commissioner; 6
(2) "Cottage food operation" means any person who produces 7
cottage food products only in the home kitchen of such person's 8
private residential dwelling and only for sale directly to the consumer 9
and who does not operate as a food service establishment pursuant to 10
section 19a-36 or regulations adopted pursuant to section 21a-101, or a 11
food retailer, distributor or manufacturer as defined in subsection (b) 12
of section 21a-92 and section 21a-151; 13
(3) "Cottage food products" means nonpotentially hazardous baked 14
goods, jams, jellies and other nonpotentially hazardous foods 15
produced by a cottage food operation. "Cottage food products" does 16
not include maple syrup or honey; 17 Substitute Bill No. 233
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(4) "Food service establishment" means any establishment in which 18
food is stored, offered for sale, processed or prepared, and includes the 19
transportation of any food; 20
(5) "Private residential dwelling" means an owner or resident 21
occupied dwelling. "Private residential dwelling" does not include any 22
group or communal residential setting within any type of structure or 23
outbuilding, shed, barn or other similar structure; 24
(6) "Home kitchen" means a kitchen designed and intended for use 25
by the residents of a home but that is also used by a resident for the 26
production of cottage food products and that may contain one or more 27
stoves or ovens, which may be a double oven, designed for residential 28
use. "Home kitchen" does not include commercial equipment typically 29
used for large wholesale manufacturing; 30
(7) "Permitted area" means the portion of a private residential 31
dwelling that contains a home kitchen where the preparation, 32
packaging, storage or handling of cottage food products occurs; and 33
(8) "Potentially hazardous food" means a food that requires time 34
and temperature control for safety to limit pathogenic microorganism 35
growth or toxin formation. 36
Sec. 2. Section 21a-24b of the general statutes is repealed and the 37
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2019): 38
(a) As used in this section, "residential farm" means property (1) 39
being utilized as a farm, as defined in subsection (q) of section 1-1, as 40
amended by this act, and (2) serving as the primary residence of the 41
owner of such property. 42
(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 21a-91 to 21a-120, 43
inclusive, and any regulations adopted thereunder, the preparation 44
and sale of maple syrup on a residential farm shall be allowed in a 45
room used as living quarters and shall be exempt from inspection by 46
any state or local agency. Each container of maple syrup offered for 47 Substitute Bill No. 233
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sale on such farm shall have on its label, in ten-point type: "Not 48
prepared in a government-inspected kitchen." 49
(c) The Department of Agriculture shall be responsible for the 50
enforcement of the provisions of this section. 51
Sec. 3. Section 21a-24 of the general statutes is repealed and the 52
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2019): 53
(a) As used in this section, "honey" means the natural product of the 54
honey bee taken from the nectar of flowers, transformed by such bee, 55
taken from the honeycomb and marketed in a liquid, candied or 56
granulated condition. 57
(b) No person who sells, exposes or offers for sale any product or 58
article which does not contain honey as an ingredient, shall use the 59
word honey or any combination of words including the word honey 60
on the label or in the brand name of such product or article. No person 61
who sells, exposes or offers for sale any product or article which is 62
made from honey and any other substance, compound or mixture shall 63
use the word honey or any combination of words including the word 64
honey on the label or in the brand name of such product or article 65
except when said word is printed in the same size type as are the other 66
ingredients of such product or article. 67
(c) Any person who violates any provision of this section shall be 68
imprisoned not more than six months or fined not more than five 69
hundred dollars or both. 70
(d) The Department of Agriculture shall be responsible for the 71
enforcement of the provisions of this section. 72
Sec. 4. Subsection (q) of section 1-1 of the general statutes is repealed 73
and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 74
2019): 75
(q) Except as otherwise specifically defined, the words "agriculture" 76 Substitute Bill No. 233
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and "farming" shall include cultivation of the soil, dairying, forestry, 77
raising or harvesting any agricultural or horticultural commodity, 78
including the raising, shearing, feeding, caring for, training and 79
management of livestock, including horses, bees, the production of 80
honey, poultry, fur-bearing animals and wildlife, and the raising or 81
harvesting of oysters, clams, mussels, other molluscan shellfish or fish; 82
the operation, management, conservation, improvement or 83
maintenance of a farm and its buildings, tools and equipment, or 84
salvaging timber or cleared land of brush or other debris left by a 85
storm, as an incident to such farming operations; the production or 86
harvesting of maple syrup or maple sugar, or any agricultural 87
commodity, including lumber, as an incident to ordinary farming 88
operations or the harvesting of mushrooms, the hatching of poultry, or 89
the construction, operation or maintenance of ditches, canals, 90
reservoirs or waterways used exclusively for farming purposes; 91
handling, planting, drying, packing, packaging, processing, freezing, 92
grading, storing or delivering to storage or to market, or to a carrier for 93
transportation to market, or for direct sale any agricultural or 94
horticultural commodity as an incident to ordinary farming 95
operations, or, in the case of fruits and vegetables, as an incident to the 96
preparation of such fruits or vegetables for market or for direct sale. 97
The term "farm" includes farm buildings, and accessory buildings 98
thereto, nurseries, orchards, ranges, greenhouses, hoophouses and 99
other temporary structures or other structures used primarily for the 100
raising and, as an incident to ordinary farming operations, the sale of 101
agricultural or horticultural commodities. The term "aquaculture" 102
means the farming of the waters of the state and tidal wetlands and the 103
production of protein food, including fish, oysters, clams, mussels and 104
other molluscan shellfish, on leased, franchised and public underwater 105
farm lands. Nothing herein shall restrict the power of a local zoning 106
authority under chapter 124. 107
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Substitute Bill No. 233
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Section 1 October 1, 2019 21a-62b
Sec. 2 October 1, 2019 21a-24b
Sec. 3 October 1, 2019 21a-24
Sec. 4 October 1, 2019 1-1(q)
ENV Joint Favorable Subst.