ARKANSAS HOMEMADE FOOD PRODUCTION GUIDE
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3. Raw Fresh Fruits and Vegetables
Whole, uncut fresh fruits and vegetables may be offered for sale without a permit or
inspection from ADH.
4. Maple Syrup, Sorghum, or Honey
Maple syrup, sorghum, or honey that is produced by a maple syrup, sorghum producer, or
beekeeper may be sold. Creamed honey (whipped) and honey flavored with dry non-TCS
ingredients (ground cinnamon, nutmeg, etc.) may be sold. Honey with TCS ingredients as
additives or flavorings is not allowed.
Food Items that must be prepared or manufactured at ADH permitted and
inspected facilities:
All the items listed below must be prepared and packaged at an ADH permitted and inspected
Retail Food Establishment or Food Processing Plant.
1. Canned Low-Acid Foods
Canning is the process of preserving food by packing the food into glass jars and heating
the jars to kill organisms that would create spoilage or cause illness. Canning is typically
used to preserve fruits, vegetables, and sometimes meat.
Growth of the bacterium Clostridium Botulinum in canned food may cause botulism, a
deadly form of food poisoning. Botulinum spores are very hard to destroy at boiling water
temperatures; the higher the canner temperature, the more easily they are destroyed.
Therefore, low-acid foods (canned foods with a finished equilibrium pH greater than 4.6
and a a
w
greater than. 0.85) require much stricter controls to protect public safety and can
only be produced under a permit from the Arkansas Department of Health.
Low-Acid Canned foods include, without limitation, canned: beans, broccoli, carrots,
cabbage, cauliflower, celery, corn, artichoke, asparagus, okra, olives, spinach, onions,
squash, peas, green beans, fish, meat, poultry, broth, and eggs.
2. Smoked, Cured, or Dried Meats
Smoking, curing, and drying meat is a preservation process that removes the available
moisture in the meat. By removing moisture, enzymes cannot contact or react with the
food. There are concerns of various illness-causing organisms that can survive the drying
or curing process. Even though the organisms will not continue to grow in the dried food
there could be enough present to cause illness once ingested.
The Food Freedom Act does not allow for the sale of any products that contain meat,
poultry or seafood and a permit is required to produce these products. Further, permitted