Selling Honey in MissouriMissouri
Honey, maple syrup and/or sorghum processors may sell to retail stores when they are inspected and found to comply with the Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) regulations. The DHSS Manufactured Food Program will inspect these processors. Missouri food processors are not issued permits but they must be able to prove compliance with all applicable regulations. This may include local zoning and business licensing regulations.
The basics of the law
TITLE XVII )Chapter 261 Department of Agriculture
Section 261.241
Sellers of honey, no manufacturing facilities required, when--exempt
from health standards and regulations, when--label requirements.
Universal Citation: MO Rev Stat § 261.241 (2015)
261.241. 1. Sellers
of honey whose annual sales of honey are fifty thousand dollars or less
per domicile shall not be required to construct or maintain separate
facilities for the bottling of honey. Such sellers shall be exempt from
all remaining health standards and regulations for the bottling of honey
pursuant to sections 196.190 to 196.271 if they meet the following
requirements:
- (1) Honey shall be bottled in the domicile of the person harvesting and selling the honey;
- (2) Honey shall be labeled with the following information in legible English as set forth in subsection 2 of this section;
- (3) Annual gross sales shall not exceed fifty thousand dollars. The person harvesting such honey shall maintain a record of sales of honey bottled and sold. The record shall be available to the regulatory authority when requested.
- 2. The
honey shall be labeled with the following information:
(1) Name and address of the persons preparing the food;
(2) Common name of the food; and
(3) The name of all ingredients in the food.
(4) In addition to the usual food labeling requirements for cottage food operations (See above and see this page) It is recommended that honey manufacturers/processors include this additional statement to their product label: “Honey is not recommended for infants less than twelve (12) months of age”. - SB 500 was the law that brough about the changes to help small producer-sellers of honey.
Resources
Great helpful books and guides
The Backyard Beekeeper - Absolute Beginner's Guide to Keeping Bees in Your Yard and Garden, Setting up and caring for your own colonies,practical and nontoxic ways to care for your bees, Swarm control
The Backyard Beekeeper's Honey Handbook: A Guide to Creating, Harvesting, and Cooking with Natural Honeys
Beekeeping For Dummies, very popular
The Backyard Beekeeper’s Honey Handbook by Kim Flottum