{"id":91359,"date":"2026-02-16T16:48:34","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T19:48:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ces.einnews.com\/article\/892845714"},"modified":"2026-02-16T16:48:34","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T19:48:34","slug":"new-rules-new-opportunities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/2026\/02\/16\/new-rules-new-opportunities\/","title":{"rendered":"New Rules, New Opportunities"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Inside Alaska\u2019s Homemade Food Expansion with UAF Cooperative Extension\u2019s Sarah R-P. Lewis<\/h2>\n

Recent changes in Alaska have expanded both the types of homemade foods for sale and where those foods can be sold. In the summer of 2024, HB251, which included the homemade food exemption, was signed into law. This exemption was added to the Alaska Food Code, and in November of 2025, the Anchorage Assembly unanimously approved measures to align Anchorage\u2019s food code with state code. Homemade foods are food products made in uninspected, privately owned or leased home kitchens and they can be sold in Alaska without a food permit. The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has the most up-to-date guidelines about home kitchens and allowed food products and ingredients on its website.<\/p>\n

A partnership between the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service (CES) and the Alaska DEC around homemade foods goes way back, starting with education and outreach in the early 2010s. Sarah R-P. Lewis, UAF Professor of Extension based in Juneau, joined CES in 2013. She created food entrepreneurship classes and presentations, blending food safety, practical skills, and business strategies. Fast-forward to 2024 and the new homemade food exemption. DEC\u2019s comprehensive homemade foods web pages are a great resource, especially regarding definitions and regulations, but they don\u2019t have the capacity to offer one-on-one help for people to develop their products. That\u2019s where CES comes in. Extension agents can provide guidance and consultation about homemade food products, processes, selling methods, and more. Lewis is the only extension agent with this program focus, and she handles her role of homemade foods adviser with professionalism and enthusiasm. We chatted to get the latest on this opportunity for Alaska makers and eaters.<\/p>\n

How are you feeling about homemade foods in Alaska now?<\/strong><\/p>\n

In 2024, while I was teaching new homemade foods classes and sharing information with participants, new questions regularly arose that tested the completeness of the regulations and even helped DEC finetune them. I learned to keep records of conversations with homemade foods producers in case I needed to call them back with a new, or more nuanced, answer based on updated interpretations of the law. After the first year or so, things began to stabilize. In addition, in November of 2025, the Municipality of Anchorage moved into alignment with the state, removing their own permitting requirements for cottage foods businesses. I was nervous at first about food safety outcomes and still have some significant concerns. For example, home-canned low-acid foods like soups and stews are a particularly high risk for public safety because botulism toxin can form in vacuumsealed jars or cans of low-acid foods if they haven\u2019t been processed correctly. But the DEC allows them to be sold under the homemade food permit exemption as \u201cnon-potentially hazardous\u201d because they don\u2019t require temperature control, like refrigeration, after they are canned or jarred. Temperature control is the main criteria differentiating potentially hazardous from non-potentially hazardous foods within the statute, and my hope is that low-acid foods in vacuum-sealed containers are more correctly considered potentially hazardous foods, or even better, disqualified for the homemade food permit exemption.<\/p>\n

You get a variety of questions about homemade foods. What are some themes or repeat topics?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The biggest question is how to tell the difference between potentially hazardous and non-potentially hazardous homemade foods. First, I define those for the caller and then move into the different sales requirements of the two categories. A homemade food producer can\u2019t sell potentially hazardous foods through a third party because of the greater risk and need for traceability, for example. Additionally, homemade food business owners come from different backgrounds, not necessarily from the culinary industry. I talk with them about food safety practices and the science behind them.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re an educator, and one of your roles is providing consultations to entrepreneurs in this homemade food space. Walk me through a consultation.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I find out where they\u2019re located and what products they are making or thinking about making. I go through the DEC\u2019s website with them and cover the requirements for their specific products, including labeling and selling requirements. Products need to be labeled and have adequate signage, so the consumer knows what they are eating and how it was prepared. I explain that all of the product preparation needs to happen in the home or leased kitchen and not on-site at a booth or market.<\/p>\n

I help people think through options, like how to make their products available to the public. For example, someone making fresh pizzas for sale may find that frozen pizzas can be picked up on a flexible timeline and reheated by the buyer, resulting in a higher-quality product with less risk of spoilage or bacterial contamination. Sandwiches can be packaged ahead of time, then refrigerated, bagged, and sold away from home, like during lunch hour at a busy office building. With some homemade food businesses, people need to consider other regulations, like zoning in their community. Where will buyers park and pick up the food, from the home or a food cart, or will the producer deliver the food?<\/p>\n

We talk about risks\u2014both to consumers and to themselves and their business. Homemade foods are not regulated, so no one is going to come to your home kitchen to inspect it. Enforcement would be \u201ccrowdsourced,\u201d like over social media, and that\u2019s hard on a small business, hard to defend yourself. If someone does get sick or has other concerns with your food, and it\u2019s reported to DEC, that would trigger an investigation.<\/p>\n

What other resources are available to homemade food producers?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Alaska Manufacturing Association and the Alaska Small Business Development Center are great resources to make a business plan, go through insurance options, and get marketing assistance.<\/p>\n

Even though it\u2019s a homemade food business, it\u2019s a real business with real potential. I encourage people to think about how to scale up and consider doing that work up front. Get the label and the branding now; investigate grants and business loans for industrial infrastructure like ovens, specialized appliances, or freeze dryers.<\/p>\n

What role do you see homemade foods playing in Alaska\u2019s food systems?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Alaska has such a diversity of communities and foods available. I travel to many small communities, especially in Southeast, and understand how important it is to families to be able to offer, for example, hot \u201cplate meals\u201d at events. Those used to not be legal, and now it\u2019s an opportunity. In communities where there is no restaurant or [ones] only during the summer season, it\u2019s terrific for a family to have a home-based microbakery (or to sell those frozen pizzas!). It\u2019s good for the business owner as a revenue stream and as a community resource. The lack of access to DECinspected kitchens is no longer an obstacle for businesses, and where they can, folks are moving into fully inspected food businesses. People in all communities, both small and large, deserve to have safe food, though, so homemade food producers need to educate themselves. Most homemade food entrepreneurs want to do it right and are learning more about food safety because they want to offer good products to their communities.<\/p>\n

Is there anything else you\u2019d like to share?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I love how excited people are when they discover that this is a possibility. Starting a homemade food business is something they\u2019ve thought about doing for a while, perhaps, and they are happy to discover that it\u2019s completely feasible for them in their community. That it\u2019s going to augment their household economy at a time when people need that, and it opens a way into an industry where they thought they didn\u2019t have a place. They can reasonably, legally, and with support and good food safety information, give it a try.<\/p>\n

MEET TWO MAKERS FEEDING ALASKANS UNDER THE HOMEMADE FOOD EXEMPTION<\/h2>\n

Kodiak Bear Hot Sauce
Julia Dissen
Kodiak, AK
instagram.com\/kodiakbearhotsauce<\/a><\/h3>\n

Julia crafts four flavors of hot sauce using locally sourced ingredients such as carrots and onions from her partner\u2019s garden and locally roasted coffee beans in her vinegar infusion. Julia started Kodiak Bear Hot Sauce in 2023 after repeated requests from enthusiastic friends. The homemade food exemption made it financially and logistically possible for her to start a small business without investors, and the ability to sell in retail spaces like the Kodiak Harvest Food Cooperative has greatly expanded her reach. Kodiak Bear Hot Sauce is available at that local co-op and Rendezvous Bar and Grill, Slim Jones Ink, and seasonal markets and bazaars.<\/p>\n

Common Root
Mary-Ellen Garner
Anchorage, AK
commonrootak.com<\/a><\/h3>\n

Mary-Ellen started Common Root in 2020, combining her background in agriculture with her years of passion and practice fermenting foods. Common Root\u2019s sauerkrauts, kraut-chis, kvass and other seasonal ferments are made exclusively from Alaskan produce. While this creates limitations, it also provides opportunity to creatively explore flavors that leverage Alaska\u2019s intense seasonality. Fermenting in a home kitchen allows for optimal storage flexibility and tight cleanliness control during long fermentation periods. Rooted in communal care, her work fosters connections among the land, farmers, customers, and microbial communities. Common Root also offers a Pay-What-You-Want pricing model to increase accessibility. You can purchase goods online at commonrootak.com, visit Anchorage Greens, Organic Oasis, and at the Midtown Farmers\u2019 Market in Anchorage<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/strong> <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

… Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service (CES<\/span>) and the Alaska DEC … Extension based in Juneau, joined CES<\/span> in 2013. She created … their products. That\u00e2\u0080\u0099s where CES<\/span> comes in. Extension agents … have adequate signage, so the consumer<\/span> knows what they are eating …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-91359","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91359","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91359"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91359\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}