Florida Senate - 2010                                    SB 2376
       
       
       
       By Senator Lynn
       
       
       
       
       7-01501-10                                            20102376__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to honey; amending s. 500.03, F.S.;
    3         revising the definitions for “food establishment” and
    4         “raw agricultural commodity” to exclude the packaging
    5         or sale of honey from regulatory requirements relating
    6         to food establishments; amending s. 500.12, F.S.;
    7         exempting beekeepers who produce, bottle, and sell
    8         their own honey directly to consumers from the
    9         requirement to obtain a food permit; requiring the
   10         Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to
   11         establish a workgroup to develop best-management
   12         practices for bottling honey in a home environment;
   13         providing an effective date.
   14  
   15  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   16  
   17         Section 1. Paragraphs (n) and (y) of subsection (1) of
   18  section 500.03, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
   19         500.03 Definitions; construction; applicability.—
   20         (1) For the purpose of this chapter, the term:
   21         (n) “Food establishment” means any factory, food outlet, or
   22  any other facility manufacturing, processing, packing, holding,
   23  or preparing food, or selling food at wholesale or retail. The
   24  term does not include any business or activity that is regulated
   25  under chapter 509 or chapter 601. The term includes tomato
   26  packinghouses but does not include any other establishments that
   27  pack raw agricultural commodities fruits and vegetables in their
   28  raw or natural states, including those fruits or vegetables that
   29  are washed, colored, or otherwise treated in their unpeeled,
   30  natural form before they are marketed.
   31         (y) “Raw agricultural commodity” means any food in its raw
   32  or natural state, including:
   33         1. All fruits or vegetables that are washed, colored, or
   34  otherwise treated in their unpeeled natural form before prior to
   35  marketing; and
   36         2. Liquid, crystalline, or comb honey, or a mixture
   37  thereof, which has been bottled in its raw natural state.
   38         Section 2. Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section
   39  500.12, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
   40         500.12 Food permits; building permits.—
   41         (1)(a) A food permit from the department is required of any
   42  person who operates a food establishment or retail food store,
   43  except:
   44         1. Persons operating minor food outlets, including, but not
   45  limited to, video stores, that sell commercially prepackaged,
   46  nonpotentially hazardous candy, chewing gum, soda, or popcorn,
   47  provided the shelf space for those items does not exceed 12
   48  linear feet and no other food is sold by the minor food outlet.
   49         2. Persons subject to continuous, onsite federal or state
   50  inspection.
   51         3. Persons selling only legumes in the shell, either
   52  parched, roasted, or boiled.
   53         4. Persons selling sugar cane or sorghum syrup that has
   54  been boiled and bottled on a premise located within the state.
   55  Such bottles must contain a label listing the producer’s name
   56  and street address, all added ingredients, the net weight or
   57  volume of product, and a statement that reads “This product has
   58  not been produced in a facility permitted by the Florida
   59  Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.”
   60         5. Beekeepers registered under chapter 586 who produce,
   61  bottle, and sell their own honey directly to consumers.
   62         Section 3. The Department of Agriculture and Consumer
   63  Services is directed to establish a workgroup that includes
   64  representation from the Florida State Beekeepers Association,
   65  the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural
   66  Sciences, and registered beekeepers who produce less than
   67  $15,000 per year in gross retail honey sales. The purpose of the
   68  workgroup is to develop common sense, best-management practices
   69  for small beekeepers and honey producers relating to bottling
   70  honey for retail sale in a home environment. The department
   71  shall prepare a report summarizing the progress and
   72  recommendations of the workgroup, which shall be published on
   73  the department’s website by July 1, 2011.
   74         Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2010.