House Bill 2864 Summary

• Amends Arizona Revised Statutes section 36-136 to expand the definition of allowable cottage food products prepared in home kitchens for commercial purposes to include precut and processed freeze-dried fruits and vegetables.

• Maintains existing cottage food product exemptions including fruit jams and jellies, dry mixes, honey, dry pasta, and roasted nuts, adding freeze-dried produce to this list.

• Requires cottage food preparers to register with an online registry maintained by the department, complete food handler training from an accredited program, and maintain active certification.

• Mandates that all cottage food products include labeling with the preparer's name and registration number, ingredient list, production date, and a statement that the product was made in a home kitchen not subject to public health inspection.

• Defines "cottage food product" as non-potentially hazardous foods or time/temperature control foods prepared in a registered home kitchen, explicitly excluding foods requiring refrigeration, perishable baked goods, salsas, sauces, fermented products, meat, fish, shellfish, beverages, acidified foods, nut butters, and reduced-oxygen packaged products.