Cottage foods are made by individuals in their own homes for direct sale to consumers

The Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture awarded $549,694 to the Regents of the University of Minnesota on September 15, 2025, under the Food Safety Outreach Program (CFDA 10.328) to develop and deliver food safety training and technical assistance to cottage food producers.

The award funds development of food safety trainings covering safety aspects of non-potentially hazardous foods, including modules on food safety regulations and methods for measuring water activity and pH using low-cost devices affordable to small producers. The university will create materials and training on recipe development and preparation methods that comply with regulatory standards for non-potentially hazardous foods. A cellphone-based application will be developed to enable producers to calibrate pH and water activity measurement devices, record measurements, and document food safety practices—an approach designed for producers unfamiliar with computer-based tools such as spreadsheets.

The recipient is the Regents of the University of Minnesota, operating through its Office of Sponsored Projects Administration. Work is performed in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The period of performance runs through September 29, 2028.

The cottage food industry has witnessed a rapid increase in number of producers and overall revenue in recent years. Cottage foods are often produced as a side-business by those with primary employment in other sectors, for instance in farming. In most states, including minnesota, cottage food laws allow producers to sell so-called non-potentially hazardous foods without a license or with minimal registration requirements, which lowers the hurdles of entry into the food industry. These non-potentially hazardous foods are legally defined as foods that have a PH below 4.6 and/or a water activity below 0.85, and do not require refrigeration to remain safe during storage. The aim of this project is to develop and implement food safety trainings and provide technical assistance to cottage food producers and their associations. Our project will support these producers through the development of trainings on the safety aspects of potentially non-hazardous foods, including modules on food safety, regulations, and how to reproducibly measure the water activity and PH of a variety of foods using low-cost devices that cottage food producers can afford to purchase for use in their own facilities. We will also provide materials and training to cottage food producers on the development of recipes and preparation methods that result in foods that comply with the regulations for non-potentially hazardous foods.as part of this effort, methods will be developed that cottage food producers can use to select, calibrate and use low-cost PH and water activity devices. To facilitate this, a cellphone-based APP will be developed that producers can use to calibrate their devices, record measurements and document their food safety practice. The project intentionally centers on the development of APP-based tools because many smaller producers are unfamiliar with computer-based tools like excel spreadsheets. However, they do have phones and are familiar with using apps for a wide range of activities.to allow cottage food producers to develop products that comply with the requirements for potentially non-hazardous foods, recipe and recipe variations will be developed and compiled into toolboxes that, next to the recipes, contain directions for producers to adapt their recipes to meet food safety criteria for several high-priority foods as identified by producers' organization.producer engagement, including via learning circles and focus groups, will be used to identify priority foods for these producers as well as understand the potential key messages and strategies to incorporate in the food safety workshops. Individual learning, impact of the trainings and the effectiveness of the toolboxes will systematically be evaluated throughout the project, initially in order to adjust the project and approaches as needed, but with the overarching aim to identify effective ways for food safety O, utreach and training.