Home-based vendors alerted of new changes to state law

Anyone who is currently a home-based vendor or is interested in becoming a home-based vendor should know of recent changes to state law.

Indiana recently passed a new law (HB 1149) which includes changes for home-based vendors in Indiana. The Putnam County Health Department and Purdue Extension are hoping to help better understand the changes to the new law as well as who qualifies as a home-based vendor and what food can be sold under the new law.

What has changed under the new law?

Two major changes under the new law include: 1) How and where products can be sold; and 2) The addition of requirements for food handler training.

1. How or where can a home-based vendor sell products?

Home-based vendors may now sell their product in person, by telephone or through the internet and delivered to the end consumer in person, by mail or by a third-party carrier. Sale and delivery are limited to within the state of Indiana.

This does not apply to eggs, poultry and rabbit, which may only be sold at farmer’s markets and roadside stands.

2. All home-based vendors must “obtain a food handler certificate from a certificate issuer that is accredited by the American National Standards Institute” (ANSI). ServSafe Food Handler training fulfills this requirement. This certification is valid for three years. You have two training options to fulfill this requirement. You must provide a copy of the certificate to the local health department in the county where the home-based vendors residence is located.

If you’re a home-based vendor in Putnam County, you can email your food handler certificate to Sarah Owen (sarah.owen@co.putnam.in.us) or Allison McCarty (allison.mccarty@co.putnam.in.us) with the Putnam County Health Department.

If you are needing assistance with registering to take the certified food handler online training or interested in taking the training in person, please contact Abbi Smith with Purdue Extension at 765-653-8411 or asmith22@purdue.edu.

Who is a home-based vendor?

Pursuant to newly-enacted (effective July 1) code: IC 16-42-5.3:

A home based vendor shall prepare and sell only a food product that is:

• not resold; (e.g., you must sell to the end user not someone who intends to resell; if you did this you must be licensed as a wholesaler).

What products may a home-based vendor sell?

Home-based vendors are allowed to sell non-potentially hazardous foods. Non-potentially hazardous foods are those that do not require refrigeration for food safety. This list of allowable foods has not changed and includes baked items; candy and confections; produce, whole and uncut; tree nuts and legumes; pickles processed in a traditional method (e.g., fermentation); honey, molasses, sorghum and maple syrup; mushrooms grown as a product of agriculture (wild mushrooms should be certified); traditional jams, jellies and preserves made from high-acid fruits and using full sugar recipes. (This is the only home-canned food allowed.)

For additional information regarding the home-based vendor rule and the additional requirements it entails, visit www.in.gov/health/food-protection/guidance-documents/. If you have additional questions, you can contact an environmental health specialist with the Putnam County Health Department at 765-301-7660 or Abbi Smith with the Purdue Extension Office at 653-8411.