WV regulation?

[Mountainstate mapler]

Very new to the business end of maple syrup. Regulations are apparently hard to come by in West Virginia. We have 400 taps and are using a 6x5 syrup pan. We however do not have a structure over our set up. Does anyone know if that will create a problem in selling our product?

[happy thoughts]

I have no idea what WV requires but figure it may be a while until someone else from WV checks in. From what I found, it appears that your state has cottage food laws that may or may not apply to maple syrup sales I believe your local health departments are responsible for overseeing the cottage food industry. Call them. If anything, if they do not regulate maple syrup sales as a cottage food or can not tell you what might be required for syrup sales, they should be able to direct you to the right place for more info. They should also be able to tell you about any federal requirements for registering with the FDA under the Food Safety and Modernization Act. That's not as scary as it sounds, costs nothing, and requires just a few minutes of your time online. I would suggest you find out the regs soon as you may need to apply for permits and may be subject to inspection prior to producing a drop of syrup depending on what your state requires.

Hope that helps a little :)

[BreezyHill]

Don't have to worry about a dust free ceiling. lol