Can I sell eggs in Missouri?

Do I need a license to sell eggs in Missouri?

Not an egg license, for eggs from your own flock sold on your own premises. Missouri’s egg law says “No person shall buy, sell, trade or traffic in eggs in this state without a license with the following exceptions: (1) Those who sell only eggs produced by their own flocks, provided such eggs are not sold at an established place of business away from the premises of such producer” (RSMo 196.313). The Department of Agriculture’s rule says the same (2 CSR 90-36.015, subsec. 1(A)). Its FAQ answers the farm question directly: “No, if customers strictly come to your house or farm to purchase the eggs, there is no license required.”

Away from the farm, a retailer’s license. The rule says “A ‘retailer’s license’ is required for any person selling eggs to a consumer” (2 CSR 90-36.015, subsec. 2), and the FAQ names a farmers market as its example. The application takes a “No Tax Due” letter from the Department of Revenue, sent again at each renewal. The rule’s fee schedule reads $25 for a retailer who “sells at farmers markets or roadside stand” (R1) and $25 for a store (R2), against the statute’s $100 ceiling (RSMo 196.316). The license year runs July 1 to June 30, licenses are not prorated, and one is issued for each separate place of business. The FAQ adds that “all licensees are subject to at least an annual inspection by a state inspector.”

The two departments word it differently. The Department of Health and Senior Services answers “Do I need a license to sell farm eggs?” with “Yes, and the Missouri Department of Agriculture issues licenses to people selling eggs in retail, wholesale or processor settings,” and does not repeat the farm-premises exception. The statute, the rule and the Department of Agriculture’s FAQ agree with one another, and the sources do not reconcile them with the health department’s shorter answer. Ask the Department of Agriculture.

“Established place of business away from the premises” is not defined in the sources read. The rule’s fee line names “farmers markets or roadside stand,” and the FAQ names customers who come “to your house or farm.” They do not say where a stand at the end of the farm’s own drive falls, or a pickup at a meeting place, or a pickup arranged online. Ask the Department.

The health side is the Department of Health and Senior Services and the local health agency. The Department’s page lists “farmer’s market booths” among the food establishments local agencies inspect, says counties and cities “can adopt stricter rules,” and says “Requirements can vary quite a bit depending on where you plan to operate.” The Missouri Food Code, which 19 CSR 20-1.025 adopts as published June 3, 2013, defines “food establishment” to include a “market” and to leave out “an establishment that offers only prepackaged foods that are not potentially hazardous foods,” and its “potentially hazardous food” includes, “in raw shell eggs, the growth of Salmonella Enteritidis.” The sources read do not say whether a farm’s own egg sales, on the farm or at a market, are a food establishment needing a local permit. Ask your local health department.

Source: RSMo ch. 196, secs. 196.311 to 196.361, 2 CSR 90-36, Missouri Agriculture FAQ: Selling Eggs in Missouri, Department of Agriculture, Device & Commodity Program, Department of Health and Senior Services, Retail Food Safety, 19 CSR 20-1 and Missouri Food Code.

How many eggs can I sell without a license in Missouri?

None in the sources read. Neither the statute (RSMo 196.313) nor the rule (2 CSR 90-36.015) names a flock size or a dozen limit for the farm-premises exception, and no weekly dozen line is in them. Licensed sellers are counted in cases: a dealer’s fee is $40 for “0-100 cases per week” and $50 over that, and the rule’s sampling table calls a case 30 dozen (2 CSR 90-36.010, subsec. 1(A)). That is a fee tier, not a cap.

The federal line is separate: a shell egg producer with “3,000 or more laying hens at a particular farm that does not sell all of your eggs directly to consumers” (21 CFR 118.1). The sources read do not say whether Missouri asks a small farm anything about its hen count.

Source: RSMo ch. 196, secs. 196.311 to 196.361, 2 CSR 90-36, Missouri Agriculture FAQ: Selling Eggs in Missouri and 21 CFR 118.1.

Can I sell eggs at a farmers market in Missouri?

Yes, with a retailer’s license. The Department of Agriculture’s FAQ answers “I am planning on selling my eggs at the farmers’ market. What type of license do I need to do that?” with “You would need a Retailer’s License (R1),” which the rule prices at $25 a year for a retailer who “sells at farmers markets or roadside stand” (2 CSR 90-36.015, subsec. 5). The license needs a “No Tax Due” letter from the Department of Revenue with the application and each renewal (subsec. 2), and the eggs at the stall are the ones the grading, carton and 45°F rules below reach.

The market has its own side. The Department of Health and Senior Services lists “farmer’s market booths” among the food establishments its local agencies inspect and says a county or city can require its own permit or training. The sources read do not say what a local agency or a market’s manager asks of a stall that sells only eggs, and they do not mention an online listing or request. The license exception turns on a sale “at an established place of business away from the premises,” and the sources do not say whether an egg request made online and picked up at the farm or at a market is such a sale. Ask the Department of Agriculture and your local health department.

Source: 2 CSR 90-36, RSMo ch. 196, secs. 196.311 to 196.361, Missouri Agriculture FAQ: Selling Eggs in Missouri and Department of Health and Senior Services, Retail Food Safety.

Can I sell eggs to a restaurant, a store or someone who resells them in Missouri?

Yes, with a license, on the Department of Agriculture’s FAQ. It answers “I have a flock of chickens and want to sell my eggs to a local convenience store or restaurant. What type of license do I need for this?” with “You will need a Dealer’s License. The license is then based on the number of cases sold,” at $40 for 0-100 cases a week and $50 over that (the FAQ calls the upper tier D2 and the rule D4; the fees agree). The dealer’s license does not cover sales to consumers: “any dealer desiring to sell eggs to consumers shall obtain a retailer’s license in addition” (RSMo 196.316). A licensee keeps a record of eggs bought and sold for two years, except eggs sold at retail (2 CSR 90-36.010, subsec. 3), and a dealer selling to a retailer sends an invoice showing size and quality (RSMo 196.338). Eggs a dealer packs for retailers carry the dealer’s name and address (city and state) or approved number and the day, month and year graded, in letters at least three-sixteenths of an inch high (2 CSR 90-36.010, subsec. 1(B)).

The statute’s words point elsewhere. A “dealer” is a person who “purchases eggs from the producers thereof, or another dealer,” to sell to another dealer, a processor or a retailer, which a producer selling its own eggs is not. A “consumer” includes “any restaurant, hotel, boardinghouse, bakery, or other institution or concern which purchases eggs for serving to guests or patrons thereof, or for its own use in cooking,” and a “retailer” is “any person who sells eggs to a consumer” (RSMo 196.311). On those words a sale to a restaurant would take a retailer’s license, and a sale to a store, which is neither, is not named. Section 196.313 separately leaves “hotels, restaurants, and other public eating places where all eggs purchased are served in the establishment” out of licensing, which speaks to the restaurant as a buyer and not to the farm selling to it. The sources read do not reconcile that with the FAQ. Follow the FAQ and ask the Department.

Source: Missouri Agriculture FAQ: Selling Eggs in Missouri, RSMo ch. 196, secs. 196.311 to 196.361 and 2 CSR 90-36.

Do I need to grade or label my eggs in Missouri?

For eggs graded for sale to consumers, each container is marked with “the full, correct and unabbreviated designation of size and quality of the eggs therein, according to the standards established by the director, together with the name and address of the producer, dealer, retailer, or agent by or for whom the eggs were graded or marked,” in boldface “not less than three-eighths of an inch in height on the outside top face” of a container under fifteen dozen (RSMo 196.326). The Department’s FAQ lists the same in short: “the size, grade, name and address of the person or business packing/grading the eggs, and the pack date.” Mixed species, or any other than chicken, must be marked with the species (RSMo 196.333). Federal rules put the "Safe Handling Instructions" statement on every carton of shell eggs (21 CFR 101.17(h)).

Reuse is allowed: “Yes, as long as the cartons are in clean and sound condition. All markings on the carton that do not pertain to eggs currently in the carton must be removed and updated” with the packer’s name and address, the size, the grade and the pack date (FAQ; RSMo 196.326).

A farm selling on its own premises has a narrower exception: “No markings are required on containers or subcontainers of eggs … When sales are made without advertising, by the producer, from eggs produced on his own premises and are not sold at an established place of business away from premises of such producer” (RSMo 196.328). It ends with advertising. The sources read do not say whether an online list of what a farm has today is advertising.

On a price: “No person shall advertise by sign, placard, or otherwise, the price at which eggs are offered for sale without marking the full, correct, and unabbreviated designation of size and quality of such eggs on such advertisement, in conjunction with the price,” in boldface at least half the size of the price (RSMo 196.336). The rule adds that “all advertising including newspapers, handbills, radio, and window signs shall carry” the size and quality (2 CSR 90-36.010, subsec. 2). Neither names a web page or an online list, and the sources do not say whether a listing that shows a price per dozen must carry a grade and size. Ask the Department.

Source: RSMo ch. 196, secs. 196.311 to 196.361, 2 CSR 90-36, Missouri Agriculture FAQ: Selling Eggs in Missouri and 21 CFR 101.17(h).

Do eggs have to be refrigerated to sell in Missouri, and at what temperature?

The Department of Agriculture says 45°F. Its FAQ: “What temperature are eggs required to be stored, transported and displayed at? Eggs are required to be at 45°F or below,” and an inspector checks that “eggs are being stored at 45°F or below.” The rule is worded for graded eggs: shell eggs “officially identified as U.S. Grade AA, A, or B” go “under refrigeration at an ambient temperature no greater than forty-five degrees Fahrenheit (45°F) seven and two-tenths degrees Centigrade (7.2°C) promptly after packaging” (2 CSR 90-36.010, subsec. 5).

The Missouri Food Code, for food establishments, says “Eggs that have not been treated to destroy all viable Salmonellae shall be stored in refrigerated equipment that maintains an ambient air temperature of forty-five degrees Fahrenheit (45°F) or less.” The sources read do not say whether the rule’s wording or the FAQ’s reaches a farm selling only on its own premises, or whether a farm’s egg stand is a food establishment. Ask the Department.

Source: Missouri Agriculture FAQ: Selling Eggs in Missouri, 2 CSR 90-36 and Missouri Food Code.

Can I sell duck, quail or other eggs in Missouri?

Yes, on the statute’s words, and the same egg rules reach them. “Eggs” means “the shell eggs of a domesticated chicken, turkey, duck, quail, goose, or guinea that are intended for human consumption” (RSMo 196.311; 2 CSR 90-36.005), so the license, the grade rule and the carton rule speak of those eggs too. The container or a sign must say which species: “No person shall sell or represent eggs from any other species of fowl as chicken eggs, or sell mixed eggs from more than one species of fowl … without marking the containers and subcontainers of such eggs or otherwise indicating fully by sign, placard or other inscription the species of fowl from which such eggs were produced” (RSMo 196.333).

The sources read do not say how a duck or quail egg is graded under the standard the rule adopts, or what is said of an egg from a bird the definition does not list. Ask the Department.

Source: RSMo ch. 196, secs. 196.311 to 196.361 and 2 CSR 90-36.

Do I have to wash or candle eggs to sell them in Missouri?

Candle and grade, on the Department of Agriculture’s FAQ: “All eggs sold to consumers must be candled and graded. Candling is used determine the grade of eggs as listed in the ‘USDA Grading Manual’.” The statute says “Only eggs of the quality standard designated Grade ‘AA’, Grade ‘A’, Grade ‘B’, or Grade ‘C’, shall be sold to any consumer by any person” (RSMo 196.323), and the rule holds shell eggs to the USDA’s standards, grades and weight classes (AMS 56) “dated July 20, 2000,” with no later amendments (2 CSR 90-36.010, subsec. 1). The FAQ points a first-timer to the USDA Egg Grading Manual, and an inspector looks for eggs that are “clean and undamaged.”

The exception for a farm’s own premises (RSMo 196.313, 196.328) is written about the license and the carton marking. The sources read do not say in so many words whether a farm selling only on its own premises may sell eggs uncandled or ungraded, or what proof of grade an inspector expects of a farm with no license. Ask the Department.

Washing: no Missouri statute, rule or FAQ read says how, or whether, to wash an egg for sale. The USDA manual the Department points to is a handbook, not a Missouri rule, and gives precautions for washing: water “at least 20 °F (11.1 °C) warmer than the internal temperature of the eggs and at a minimum of 90 °F (32.2 °C),” a compatible detergent, potable water, a rinse, an approved sanitizer and drying. The sources do not say whether a small farm is held to them. The Department’s repacking rule says a retailer’s eggs and cartons “must not be washed or cleaned in any way” to reuse them, which speaks to a store repacking damaged cartons (2 CSR 90-36.020). Ask the Department.

Source: Missouri Agriculture FAQ: Selling Eggs in Missouri, RSMo ch. 196, secs. 196.311 to 196.361, 2 CSR 90-36 and USDA Egg-Grading Manual.