SB418

Your home kitchen is not dedicated to be utilized for food production, they are used for personal activities which can introduce pathogens from pets, cleaning, storage restrictions and other activities within that area. There are several parameters to consider when preparing and selling food to the public and this in itself would be reason enough to oppose this bill: temperature controls, hygiene practices, sanitation, time management and environmental factors. And on the owner of the business significant risks are legal liability from food borne illness outbreaks, regulatory non-compliance and local zoning conflicts.

I find it deeply disturbing that people without any type of health and sanitation training will be allowed to make and sell anything they want from their home kitchens. Are the sponsors of this bill even familiar with food recall process and public notifications of illness? How about the number of foodborne illness in the US? I strongly oppose this bill as it stands. Not requiring any type of safe food handling knowledge, even an online course, is putting the health of NH residents in jeopardy. I strongly encourage the committee to vote against it.

Dear Committee Members I am a former State Representative and the former Deputy Director for the Manchester health Department. New Hampshire prides itself, at least in theory, on local control. The people at the town and city level of government know best what is best for their community, especially with regard to issues like public health. For example, Manchester and a number of other communities have decided to operate their own food inspection programs. In doing so, they have relieved the State of having to license and inspect food service establishments on a regular basis, saving the State a great deal of money. These communities know how to manage and insure safe food for their community. Allowing the manufacturing of certain food items in potentially unsanitary facilities, with no requirements for inspection control is a clear threat to public health. Commercial facilities must adhere to the standards established by the State in their rules, which are adapted by all self-inspecting communities. to allow private individuals the ability to compete with them without having to meet these same standards provides an unfair competitive advantage to those private vendors. This bill is an attempt to fix a problem that does not exist and is in response to an issue that the Manchester Board of Alderman already corrected. Please vote this bill ITL thank you.

Dear Chair and Members of the Committee, I write to respectfully urge you to oppose SB 418. At first glance, this bill appears to support small, home-based food producers. And let me be clear—I strongly support local entrepreneurship, small businesses, and the ability of residents to participate in New Hampshire’s growing local food economy. But SB 418 goes too far. By prohibiting municipalities from requiring licenses for homestead food products, this bill removes a critical layer of public health protection and strips local communities of the flexibility they need to respond to real, on-the-ground conditions. Local health officers are not bureaucratic obstacles—they are our first line of defense in preventing foodborne illness, ensuring safe preparation practices, and protecting consumers. They understand the specific needs and risks of their communities in a way that no one-size-fits-all statewide mandate ever can. This bill replaces that local judgment with a blanket prohibition. That is not local control. It is state preemption. And it comes with real consequences. Without even basic licensing or oversight authority, municipalities lose the ability to: Track and respond to potential outbreaks of foodborne illness Ensure minimal sanitation and labeling standards Provide consumers with confidence in the safety of the food they purchase Equally important, this bill creates an uneven playing field. Restaurants, bakeries, and other small food businesses must meet licensing and safety requirements to operate. SB 418 removes those expectations for others selling similar products—undermining fairness and potentially eroding trust in our local food system. There is a better path forward. We can support small-scale producers while still maintaining reasonable, common-sense safeguards—such as simplified licensing, reduced fees, or exemptions for low-risk foods. Many municipalities already strike that balance successfully. SB 418 does not. Instead, it eliminates local discretion entirely. At a time when we should be empowering communities—not restricting them—this bill moves us in the wrong direction. For these reasons, I respectfully urge the Committee to recommend Inexpedient to Legislate (ITL) on SB 418. Thank you for your consideration and for your continued work on behalf of the people of New Hampshire. Respectfully submitted, Rep. David Preece Hillsborough District 17