General Discussion
Regulation
The Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) and the local Health Department are the two agencies that are responsible for regulating sales of meat in Ohio. ODA oversees the processing plants and sets the food safety regulations for the state. The local health department enforces the food safety regulations at the local level.
Producers can slaughter and sell their own chickens (up to 1,000 birds), rabbits, or non-amenable meats directly at the farm without a license if that’s the only food they’re selling, or with a farm market registration if selling non-amenable meats along with other low risk foods. In order to sell “higher risk” meat products (including cattle, hogs, sheep and goats) to the public, producers must have their animals processed at a fully inspected plant under state or federal meat inspection.
Meat processed in a fully inspected state processing plant will have a label in the shape of Ohio stating, “OHIO inspected and passed by Department of Agriculture.” Federally inspected product will have a circle on the label that reads the same, substituting “OHIO” with “U.S.” If producers are making special claims (organic, grass feed, all natural) will also need to work with the fully inspected meat processor to develop an ODA approved label. In Ohio there are also custom exempt plants. Products processed in custom exempt plants are intended for the producer’s own use, the meat cannot be resold. These products will be labeled “Not for Sale.” More information is available at https://agri.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/oda/divisions/food-safety.
Depending on the marketing strategy, selling meat from a fully inspected plant can require licensing. If a producer sells meat by taking orders, delivering the animal to the processing plant and then the customer picks up the product when the processing is complete; no retail license is required. If you want to deliver pre-ordered frozen meat you do not need a license from your local health department, so long as the meat is delivered directly to the individual from the meat processing facility, without intermediate storage. If you are storing your meat you will need a storage location, which is considered a warehouse, and this must be registered and inspected by ODA Food Safety Division. A home cannot be a warehouse, but you may be able to use your garage or an outbuilding to hold your freezers.
Some local health departments only require a warehouse registration when selling a fully inspected product from your residence, but some require additional licensing. In order to sell a fully inspected meat product from a farm market or farmers market, it is necessary to get either a mobile food establishment license or temporary food establishment license. A mobile food establishment license is for individuals that sell from a portable structure that routinely changes locations. This is the license that is used most often by farmer’s market vendors. A temporary food establishment license is for operations that operate for short periods of time. These licenses are obtained from local health departments. Each local health department sets fee and requirements for license in their area. Producers should work with the local health department when considering marketing options. For more information on licensing check out, “Selling Food from the Farm: When do you need a license?” at https://farmoffice.osu.edu/sites/aglaw/files/site-library/Food%20Sales%20at%20Farm%20law%20bulletin%20final.pdf
Addtional information can be found: Direct marketing of meat – Ohio Ag Net | Ohio's Country Journal (ocj.com)