Farmers' Market
Food Sales and Licensing at the Farmers' Market
- A Temporary Restaurant License can be used to sell meals at a farmers market if:
a) the meals are served only during the period in which the farmers market is in operation and;
b) the total number of nonconsecutive days selling meals at any one farmers market is limited to 20 days or less per year.
Definition: “Temporary restaurant” means a FOOD ESTABLISHMENT that operates at a fixed location for a period of no more than 14 consecutive days (or no more than 20 nonconsecutive days at a fixed location) in conjunction with a single event or celebration such as a fair, carnival, circus, public exhibition, anniversary sale or OCCASIONAL sales promotion.
If the above restrictions are not met the seller must posses a Mobile Restaurant license or be a non-profit organization selling meals fewer than 4 days per year to allow meal sales. - Ready to eat potentially hazardous foods that may be considered a meal cannot be sold at a farmers market under a Retail Food license. A Mobile or Temporary Restaurant license must be obtained.
- a) Potentially hazardous foods that are not meals, may be sold at a farmers market as long as they are made at a properly licensed facility, are properly labeled, correct holding temperatures are maintained, and the vendor possesses a Mobile Retail Food license issued by the Eau Claire City/County Health Department (ECCCHD), State of Wisconsin, or other local jurisdiction within the State of Wisconsin. Selling potentially hazardous foods requires a Mobile Retail Food license for the farmers market sales location regardless of whether the operator holds a license at any other fixed location. The only exception would be a Mobile Retail Food license that is reused for sales of frozen meat or poultry that has been processed and labeled at a state or federally licensed wholesale processing plant, from a freezer kept at the licensee’s home. In this case both the farmers market and the home would be considered mobile sales locations.
b) Licensed processing facilities that may supply food for sale at a farmers market include licensed restaurants, retail food establishments, state or federally licensed wholesale processing plants, dairy plants or cheese plants, as well as either state or federally licensed meat plants. Some restrictions apply to meat products obtained from restaurants and retail food establishments. The ECCCHD should be contacted regarding food obtained from these sources. - Non-potentially hazardous foods may be sold at farmers markets without a license provided they are obtained from licensed processing facilities. The only foods that may be obtained from unlicensed sources are raw uncut fruits and vegetables, and raw honey. Maple syrup, processed honey and sorghum must also be obtained from a licensed source, except when the seller at the farmers market is also the producer of the product. In this case no license is required of the seller/producer either at the farmers market or at the site the product is produced.
- An inspection fee will be charged by the ECCCHD if an inspection is conducted at any mobile or temporary food establishment licensed by a jurisdiction other than Eau Claire County.
- Restaurants cannot wholesale any food product.
- Retail Food Establishments may engage in wholesaling non-meat-containing foods that they produce themselves or any prepackaged non-meat-containing food. Wholesale receipts may not exceed 25% of their total food sales.
- Retail Food Establishments may wholesale cured, cooked, smoked, seasoned or canned meat that is prepackaged, remains in its original packaging, and is obtained from a state or federally licensed meat plant.
- Retail food establishments cannot wholesale any cured, cooked, smoked, seasoned or canned meat that they produce themselves or remove from its original packaging.
- Retail Food Establishments may wholesale whole-muscle meats, ground beef and poultry products that are processed on-site as long as total meat wholesale receipts are restricted to no more than 25% of their total retail meat sales or a maximum wholesale meat sales volume of $28,800 annually.
Additional Information
