Residential Kitchens Questions And Answers
Persons preparing food products
must maintain a standardized recipe
If you have questions about retail residential
kitchen operations, inspections, or licensing,
of the products used in the
contact your local board of health.
Residential
preparation of the food: listing all
ingredients in
If you have questions about wholesale
Kitchens
order of weight. Any change in the
residential kitchen operations, or licensing,
recipe constitutes a recipe deviation,
contact the:
Massachusetts Department of Public Health
and a new analysis may be required.
Bureau of Environmental Health
Are there labeling requirements
Food Protection Program
Questions
for foods manufactured in a
305 South Street
residential kitchen?
Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
617-983-6712
and
Yes. All foods prepared in a
Massachusetts
residential kitchen must be labeled
Answers
Residential Kitchens
with all ingredients (in order of
amount by volume), name of
Regulations
residential kitchen, address and/or
Retail Sale:
phone number, and sell-by date, if
• 105 CMR 590.000 Minimum Sanitation
Standards for Food Establishments,
required.
Chapter X
Are there any personnel, marketing
• 105 CMR 520.000 Massachusetts Labeling
or volume restrictions for
Regulations
residential kitchens?
Wholesale:
•
Yes. First, only household members
105 CMR 500.000 Good Manufacturing
Practices
may be employed in the operation.
• 105 CMR 520.000 Massachusetts Labeling
Regulations
Massachusetts
Second, the use of brokers,
Department of Public Health
wholesalers, and warehouses by
Unofficial copies of all these regulations are
Bureau of Environmental Health
residential kitchen operators to store,
available at: http://mass.gov/dph/fpp/regs.htm
Food Protection Program
sell, and distribute foods prepared in
License Applications
residential kitchens is prohibited.
A residential kitchen that wholesales its product
617-983-6712
is required to obtain a License for Food
305 South Street
Food products manufactured in
Processing and/or Distribution at Wholesale
Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
Massachusetts residential kitchens
from the Massachusetts
may not be sold out-of-state (in
Department of Public Health
interstate commerce), because the
An application for a License to Manufacture
U.S. Food and Drug Administration
and/or Distribute Food at Wholesale is
does not recognize these foods as
available at
originating from an approved source.
http://mass.gov/dph/fpp/pdf/foodapplication.pdf
A guidance document, “Notice for Applicants
The following are answers to some of
Garlic-in-oil products are not
There are an increasing number of
the most commonly asked questions
permitted.
private citizens preparing food
about residential kitchen operations.
products in their home kitchens for
What kinds of foods may be
sale. Massachusetts allows its
prepared in a residential kitchen?
residents to operate home-based
businesses to produce low-risk
What types of processing
Residential kitchens are strictly limited
operations are prohibited in a
foods, such as cakes, cookies,
to the preparation of non-potentially
residential kitchen?
breads, and confectioneries.
hazardous foods (non-PHFs), such as
Currently, the Massachusetts
baked goods, confectioneries, jams
Processing operations that are
Department of Public Health Food
and jellies. Non-PHFs, such as cakes
prohibited include: acidification, hot
Protection Program receives more
and cookies, which have PHF
fill, thermal processing in
than 200 inquiries per year from
ingredients are
hermetically-sealed containers,
citizens interested in starting home-
acceptable.
vacuum packaging, and curing/
based food businesses.
smoking. The only
What kinds of foods may not be
exception is jams and jellies that
Home-based food businesses are
prepared in a residential kitchen?
are thermal-processed in
allowed within specific regulatory
hermetically-sealed containers.
The preparation and sale of potentially
limitations.
hazardous foods (PHF) such as cream-
To evaluate the non-potentially
filled pastries, cheese cake, custard
Retail residential kitchen operations
hazardous status of a food, what
and other foods which can support the
are restricted to sales directly to the
type of laboratory analysis may a
growth of disease-causing bacteria are
consumer, and are inspected and
board of health or the
strictly
Massachusetts Department of
licensed by the local board of health.
prohibited.
Public Health request?
Wholesale operations may sell their
The board of health or the
In addition, perishable foods that
products to retail stores, restaurants,
Massachusetts Department of
require
etc., and are inspected and licensed
Public Health may require
refrigeration, such as cut fruit and
by the Massachusetts Food
laboratory documentation that the
vegetables, tomato and barbeque
Protection Program.
food has a final pH of 4.6 or below
sauce, pickled products, relishes and
or a water activity of 0.85 or below.
salad dressings are not permitted in
At the end of this brochure there
residential kitchens.
is a list of regulations pertaining
When reporting results, the
to retail and wholesale residential
laboratory must reference the
Also, all foods that are manufactured or
kitchens, as well as information
standardized
packaged using processes that require
testing procedure.
state or federal control (e.g.,,
acidification, hot fill, vacuum-
Residential kitchen operators must
packaging, etc) are
keep records of analysis of products
prohibited.
on file for review.
Document Outline
