Can I sell eggs in Utah?

Do I need a license to sell eggs in Utah?

Not a license from the Department of Agriculture and Food, on the chapter’s words, when you are a “small producer.” Utah’s egg chapter says “Except as provided in this section, a small producer and the shell eggs produced by a small producer are exempt from regulation by the department” (Utah Code 4-4-107(1); “this section” is 4-4-107, subsections (1) to (8), and “this chapter” is 4-4-102 to 4-4-108). A “small producer” is “a producer of shell eggs” “having less than 3,000 layers” and “who is exempt from 21 C.F.R. Chapter 1, Part 118, Production, Storage, and Transportation of Shell Eggs” (4-4-103(11)(a), (b)). The Department’s Eggs and Poultry page (undated) says “Small egg producers with less than 3,000 egg-laying birds may sell the eggs with the following considerations: Small egg producers selling directly to consumers may voluntarily notify UDAF regulatory services. Small egg producers selling wholesale are required to notify the department.”

The exemption leaves the health side in place. The chapter says “The Department of Health and Human Services has the authority to investigate foodborne illness” (4-4-107(2)), the Department “may assist, consult, or inspect shell eggs and a small producer’s operation when requested by a small producer” (4-4-107(3)), and “Nothing in this section affects the authority of the Department of Health and Human Services or the department to certify, license, regulate, or inspect food or food products that are not exempt from certification, licensing regulation, or inspection under this section” (4-4-107(4)). It also limits what a health department can do to a sale: it “may not prevent the sale of shell eggs from a small producer to an end consumer unless the Department of Health and Human Services, or the county health department, establishes that the shell eggs” are “addled or moldy” or contain “black spot,” “black rot,” “white rot,” “blood ring,” “adherent yolk” or “a bloody or green albumen” (4-4-107(5)).

The chapter still binds a small producer in places the exemption sentence does not mention. “It is unlawful for any person to sell, offer, or expose for sale for human consumption any egg: (a) that is addled or moldy or that contains black spot, black rot, white rot, blood ring, adherent yolk, or a bloody or green albumen; or (b) without a sign or label that conforms to the standards for display and grade adopted by the department” (4-4-104(1)), and “For the purpose of bulk wholesale, it is unlawful for a small producer to commingle or combine eggs from a source other than the small producer’s operation” (4-4-104(2)). The exemption’s only carve-out is “this section,” yet 4-4-104(2) and 4-4-108 speak to a small producer directly, and the sources read do not say how the two fit: whether 4-4-104(1)(b)’s “standards for display and grade” or the candling records in 4-4-105 reach a small producer is left open. Ask the Department.

A food establishment registration is a separate question. The Utah Wholesome Food Act says “The owner or operator of a food establishment shall register with the department before operating a food establishment” (4-5-301(1)(b)) and defines a food establishment as “a grocery store, bakery, candy factory, food processor, bottling plant, sugar factory, cannery, farm, rabbit processor, meat processor, flour mill, cold or dry warehouse storage, or other facility where food products are manufactured, canned, processed, packaged, stored, transported, prepared, sold, or offered for sale.” In that chapter a “farm” is “an agricultural operation, under management by one entity, that grows or harvests crops,” and “does not include an entity that is exempt under 21 C.F.R. 112.4(a) or 21 C.F.R. 112.5” (4-5-102(6)), so the open hook is the catch-all, “or other facility ... sold, or offered for sale.” The food establishment definition “does not include” “a farmers market” or “a food service establishment, as that term is defined in Section 26B-7-401” (4-5-102(11)(a), (b)(ii), (iii); “this chapter” is 4-5, the Wholesome Food Act). That definition and the small-producer exemption in 4-4-107(1) do not refer to each other, and no source read says whether a small producer’s egg sale is a food establishment that registers. Ask the Department.

Two other Utah acts let a home producer sell food outside licensing, and neither names a shell egg. The Cottage Food Act’s “cottage food product” is “a nonpotentially hazardous baked good, jam, jelly, or other nonpotentially hazardous food produced in a home kitchen,” and “potentially hazardous food” means “a food of animal origin,” raw seed sprouts, or a food that needs time or temperature control for safety (4-5-501(1)(b), (d)). The Home Consumption and Homemade Food Act exempts a producer “from state, county, or city licensing, permitting, certification, inspection, packaging, and labeling requirements, except as described in this section, related to the preparation, serving, use, consumption, or storage of food and food products if: (a) the producer complies with the requirements of this chapter; and (b) the homemade food or homemade food product is: (i) produced and sold within the state; (ii) sold directly to an informed final consumer; (iii) for personal or home consumption; and (iv) not exempted under Subsection 4-5a-105(1)” (4-5a-104(1); “this section” is 4-5a-104 and “this chapter” is 4-5a, 4-5a-102 to 4-5a-105). A “homemade food product” is “a food product that is prepared in a private home kitchen that can be used, or prepared for use, as food or nonalcoholic drink, subject to the limitation described in Subsection 4-5a-105(1)” (4-5a-102(6)), and “Notwithstanding Subsection (1), a producer shall comply with business license requirements in accordance with Section 10-1-203” (4-5a-104(2)), under which “the legislative body of a municipality may license for the purpose of regulation any business within the limits of the municipality” (10-1-203(2), which opens “Except as provided in Subsections (3) through (5) and Subsection (7)”). Shell eggs are not among the sales 4-5a-105(1) excludes (raw dairy, and meat with exceptions), and no source read says an egg from a coop is a food “prepared in a private home kitchen” or “produced in a home kitchen.” This page does not lean on either act.

Two common ways farms sell today, a listing with a price and an online request for pickup, are not addressed. The egg chapter (4-4-102 to 4-4-108), rule R70-410 and the Department’s page do not mention a listing, a price, the internet, delivery or pickup. The unlawful-acts section reaches “any person” who will “sell, offer, or expose for sale for human consumption any egg” “without a sign or label that conforms to the standards for display and grade adopted by the department” (4-4-104(1)(b)); the Wholesome Food Act defines an “advertisement” as “a representation, other than by labeling, made to induce the purchase of food” (4-5-102(1)) and says “An advertisement of a food is considered to be false if it is false or misleading in any way” (4-5-206). No source read says whether a farm’s post with a price is an “offer,” a “sign” or an “advertisement” of an egg, whether it must carry the carton statements, or whether an egg picked up after an online request is a sale “directly to consumers” (the Department’s page) or a sale to an “end consumer” (4-4-103(8)) like any other. Ask the Department of Agriculture and Food.

Nothing here says a seller is legal. It says what Utah’s sources say and where they leave it open.

Source: Utah Code Title 4, ch. 4, Utah Code Title 4, ch. 5, Utah Code Title 4, ch. 5a, Utah Code 10-1-203 and UDAF, Eggs and Poultry.

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

The line is in birds, not dozens. A small producer has “less than 3,000 layers” (Utah Code 4-4-103(11)(a)) and is also “exempt from 21 C.F.R. Chapter 1, Part 118” (4-4-103(11)(b)), and the Department’s page says “less than 3,000 egg-laying birds.” The chapter defines neither “layers” nor a count by farm, flock or producer, and the federal rule speaks of “3,000 or more laying hens at a particular farm that does not sell all of your eggs directly to consumers and that produces shell eggs for the table market” (21 CFR 118.1(a)). A flock of 3,000 or more fails the first condition whatever the second says. The chapter, the rule (R70-410) and the Department’s page set no dozens-a-week or dozens-a-month line on a sale.

Above the line, the federal rule takes over. It says “If you are 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 and that produces shell eggs for the table market, you are covered by some or all of the requirements in this part, as follows: (1) If any of your eggs that are produced at a particular farm do not receive a treatment as defined in § 118.3, you must comply with all of the requirements of this part for egg production on that farm. (2) If all of your eggs that are produced at the particular farm receive a treatment as defined in § 118.3, you must comply only with the refrigeration requirements in § 118.4(e) for production of eggs on that farm and with the registration requirements in § 118.11” (21 CFR 118.1(a)). No Utah egg license appears in the egg chapter, the rule or the Department’s page.

The chapter on hens’ housing has its own 3,000 line. “Beginning on January 1, 2030, a farm owner or operator may not knowingly confine an egg-laying hen in an enclosure: (1) that is not a cage-free housing system; or (2) that has less than the amount of usable floor space per hen as required by the 2017 edition of the United Egg Producers’ Animal Husbandry Guidelines for U.S. Egg-Laying Flocks: Guidelines for Cage-Free Housing” (4-4a-103), and “This chapter does not apply to the production of shell eggs in the state by a farm with fewer than 3,000 egg-laying hens” (4-4a-105; “this chapter” is 4-4a, 4-4a-102 to 4-4a-107). It reaches a “farm” that is “wholly or partially used for the commercial production of animals or animal products used for food” (4-4a-102(4)(a)).

Source: Utah Code Title 4, ch. 4, Utah Code Title 4, ch. 4a, UDAF, Eggs and Poultry and 21 CFR 118.1.

Can I sell eggs at a farmers market in Utah?

The sources read do not say. The egg chapter, the rule (R70-410) and the Department’s exemption prose name no farmers market, and the exemption in 4-4-107(1) is not tied to a place. The Department’s page does name farmers markets in its table headed “Code and Administrative Rules Relating to the Sale of Eggs by Small Producers”: rows for 4-5a-103 (“Regulation of a direct-to-sale farmers market”) and “Direct-to-Sale Farmers Market Signage” (R70-570), beside aquaculture, feed and brand rows. Those rows were not read as egg law, and eRules’ current-rules search did not return R70-570. A market shopper is an “end consumer,” which is “a household consumer, restaurant, institution, or any other person who has purchased or received shell eggs for consumption” (Utah Code 4-4-103(8)), and a health department “may not prevent the sale of shell eggs from a small producer to an end consumer” except on the defects 4-4-107(5) lists.

The Wholesome Food Act defines a farmers market narrowly: “a market where a producer of a food product sells only a fresh, raw, whole, unprocessed, and unprepared food item directly to the final consumer” (4-5-102(7)), and a “food establishment” “does not include” “a farmers market” (4-5-102(11)(b)(ii)). No source read says a shell egg, or a carton of them, is a “fresh, raw, whole, unprocessed, and unprepared food item.” The Homemade Food Act has its own “direct-to-sale farmers market,” a place “where producers gather on a regular basis to sell directly to an informed final consumer fresh food, locally grown products, and other food items that have not been certified, licensed, regulated, or inspected by state or local authorities” (4-5a-102(3)), but that act covers a “homemade food product” (see the license question).

On the health side, a “food service establishment” is “any place or area within a business or organization where potentially hazardous foods, as defined by the department under Section 26B-7-410, are prepared and intended for individual portion service and consumption by the general public” (26B-7-401(13)), and the Department of Health and Human Services’ food rule applies to food service establishments (R392-100). Section 26B-7-411(1) says the following “are not subject to the provisions of Section 26B-7-410”: “temporary event food services approved by a local health department” and “vendors and other food service establishments that serve only commercially prepackaged foods and beverages as defined by the department by rule” (26B-7-411(1)(b), (c)). No source read says whether a stall selling cartons of eggs is a food service establishment, or what a local health department, a city or a market’s own rules ask of it. Ask the Department of Health and Human Services and your local health department.

Source: Utah Code Title 4, ch. 4, Utah Code Title 4, ch. 5, Utah Code Title 4, ch. 5a, Utah Code Title 26B, ch. 7, part 4 and Utah Admin. Code R392-100.

Can I sell my eggs to a store or restaurant in Utah?

The sources treat a store and a restaurant differently, and they do not reconcile the restaurant. A store buys wholesale: “Wholesale” means, “with respect to the sale of an egg by an egg producer, the transfer for sale or sale of an egg to a person other than the end consumer, including a retailer or an industrial or business purchaser” (Utah Code 4-4-103(12)). “A small producer that sells eggs wholesale shall notify the department about the small egg producer’s operation, including: (a) the operator’s name; (b) the operator’s contact information; (c) the species of egg products offered for sale; and (d) other information required by department rule regarding notification” (4-4-107(6)), and the Department’s page says “Small egg producers selling wholesale are required to notify the department.” A grocery store label says more: “A small producer shall label the small producer’s eggs that are sold in a grocery store with a statement that the eggs: (i) are exempt from 21 C.F.R. Chapter 1, Part 118, Production, Storage, and Transportation of Shell Eggs; and (ii) are not from an inspected source” (4-4-108(2)(a)), “in addition to” the carton label (4-4-108(2)(b)), and “Any egg produced by a small egg producer and sold in a grocery store shall be displayed separately in the grocery store from eggs not from a small producer” (4-4-108(5)). The Department’s page says “Small egg producers selling eggs to a retail facility must also include the following on the label,” the same two statements; the statute says “grocery store,” the page “retail facility,” and no source read says whether a small shop or a farm store is either.

A restaurant sits on both sides. The chapter’s “end consumer” includes a “restaurant, institution” (4-4-103(8)), and “wholesale” is a sale to “a person other than the end consumer” (4-4-103(12)), so on the definitions a restaurant is not a wholesale buyer. Yet the rule’s purpose is “to provide guidelines for small producers selling shell eggs wholesale or to a restaurant” (R70-410-2), the statute lets the Department make rules on eggs “sold by a small producer to a restaurant or wholesale” (4-4-107(7)(a)), and the notice in 4-4-107(6) is for a producer that “sells eggs wholesale.” No source read says whether a sale to a restaurant takes the notice, or is a sale “directly to consumers” that the Department’s page says may notify “voluntarily.” Ask the Department.

The rule’s first paragraph is for these two buyers: “A small producer who sells shell eggs wholesale or to a restaurant shall: (a) comply with the following temperature control procedures: (i) Immediately refrigerate and store cleaned eggs at 45 degrees Fahrenheit or less. (ii) Transport refrigerated egg packages, cartons, or both while maintaining a temperature of 45 degrees Fahrenheit or less; (b) meet the following cleaning and sanitization standards” (R70-410-4(1)). Its later paragraphs say “A small producer” only, and ask, for example, “a designated work area separate from domestic living areas” and “a refrigerator in the designated work area equipped with a suitable thermometer” ((3)(a), (c)); the rule does not say whether they reach a producer who sells only to households.

The health rule names the small producer too. It adds “Small producer” to the Food Code’s definitions, with “the same meaning as provided in Subsection 4-4-103(11)” (R392-100-4(3)(a)(viii)), and changes the egg section for a buyer that is a food establishment: “Except for shell eggs that are purchased from a small producer, shell eggs may not exceed the restricted egg tolerances for U.S. Consumer Grade B as specified by Rule R70-410” (R392-100-4(3)(e), amending Food Code 3-202.13(B)). R70-410 as filed sets no tolerances. The statute says “Eggs sold by a small producer in accordance with this chapter are exempt from the restricted egg tolerances for United States Consumer Grade B as specified in the United States Standards, Grades, and Weight Classes for Shell Eggs, AMS 56.200 et seq.” (4-4-107(8)), and no source read says how the rule’s cross-reference is meant.

The Homemade Food Act closes a door on its own foods: “homemade food or a homemade food product that is exempt from certain regulations as described in this chapter may not be sold to, or used by, a restaurant or commercial establishment,” except “a raw, unprocessed fruit or vegetable” (4-5a-104(5)(a), (b); “this chapter” is 4-5a). This page does not rely on that act for eggs. The buyer’s own permits are the buyer’s to answer.

Source: Utah Code Title 4, ch. 4, Utah Code Title 4, ch. 5a, Utah Admin. Code R70-410, Utah Admin. Code R392-100 and UDAF, Eggs and Poultry.

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

The statute lists five things. “A small producer shall package the small producer’s eggs in clean packaging that bears a label with the following information: (a) the common name of the food, ‘eggs’; (b) the quantity or number of eggs; (c) the name and address of the small producer; (d) the statement ‘Keep Refrigerated’; and (e) the statement ‘SAFE HANDLING INSTRUCTIONS: To prevent illness from bacteria: Keep eggs refrigerated, cook eggs until yolks are firm, and cook foods containing eggs thoroughly.’” (Utah Code 4-4-108(1)). The Department’s page lists the same items and words the first one differently: “the common name of the food (‘eggs’ if chicken eggs, ‘name of bird + eggs’ if not from a chicken).” The statute says “eggs” only.

Dates are optional and bounded. “A small producer may state a ‘pull date’ or ‘best by’ date,” which “may be hand written on the end of the packaging or in a conspicuous location that is clearly discernible,” “shall first show the month then the day of the month,” and “A recommended ‘pull date’ or ‘best by’ date is 30 days after production, but the date may not exceed 45 days after production” (4-4-108(3)(a) to (d)).

A grade or size is a separate matter. “If the eggs of a small producer are ungraded and not weighed, the packaging for the eggs may not be labeled with a grade or size” (4-4-108(4)), and the Department’s page says “Any producers wanting to label their eggs with a standard, grade or weight class are required to contact the USDA and subscribe to the standards set forth.” A sale in a grocery store takes two more statements (see the store question).

Federal rules put the "Safe Handling Instructions" statement on every carton of shell eggs that has not been specially treated: “The label of all shell eggs, whether in intrastate or interstate commerce, shall bear the following statement” (21 CFR 101.17(h)(1)), with “SAFE HANDLING INSTRUCTIONS” “in bold type” on the principal display panel, the information panel or the inside of the lid, and “set off in a box by use of hairlines” ((h)(2), (3)); eggs “specifically processed to destroy all viable Salmonella” are exempt ((h)(4)). The Utah statute does not restate the bold type or the box, and no Utah source read says whether they are asked of a small producer. The federal wording is “keep eggs refrigerated” in lower case.

No source read says whether a used carton may be reused. The statute asks “clean packaging,” and the rule lists “a storage area for new packaging materials” among what an operation includes (R70-410-4(3)(b)), in a rule whose purpose sentence is for small producers “selling shell eggs wholesale or to a restaurant” (R70-410-2).

Source: Utah Code Title 4, ch. 4, Utah Admin. Code R70-410, UDAF, Eggs and Poultry and 21 CFR 101.17(h).

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

For a sale to a restaurant or wholesale, the rule gives a number: “A small producer who sells shell eggs wholesale or to a restaurant shall: (a) comply with the following temperature control procedures: (i) Immediately refrigerate and store cleaned eggs at 45 degrees Fahrenheit or less. (ii) Transport refrigerated egg packages, cartons, or both while maintaining a temperature of 45 degrees Fahrenheit or less” (R70-410-4(1)(a)). Its paragraph (3)(c), which says “A small producer shall ensure their operation includes,” adds “a refrigerator in the designated work area equipped with a suitable thermometer, to routinely verify that the temperature is 45 degrees Fahrenheit or less.” The statute authorizes temperature rules only for eggs “sold by a small producer to a restaurant or wholesale” (Utah Code 4-4-107(7)(a)).

For a sale to a household, the sources read set no temperature. The carton carries “Keep Refrigerated” (4-4-108(1)(d)), and the safe-handling statement says “Keep eggs refrigerated” (4-4-108(1)(e)). The Department’s page and the chapter give no number for a direct sale, and the health rule incorporates by reference “the 2022 version of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Food Code (Food Code), Chapters 1 through 8, Annex 1 Parts 8-6 through 8-9 and the December 2024 version of the Supplement to the 2022 Food Code, with the stated exceptions and amendments” (R392-100-4(1)(b)). This page did not read the Food Code or its Supplement.

The federal rule’s “You must hold and transport eggs at or below 45 °F ambient temperature beginning 36 hours after time of lay” (21 CFR 118.4(e)) is for a farm covered by Part 118, with 3,000 or more laying hens, which is not a Utah small producer (21 CFR 118.1(a)).

Source: Utah Code Title 4, ch. 4, Utah Admin. Code R70-410, Utah Admin. Code R392-100, 21 CFR 118.1 and 21 CFR 118.4(e).

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

The chapter’s definition of an egg is not limited to a chicken’s, and its count and the Department’s label wording leave the question open. A “shell egg” is “an egg in the shell as distinguished from a dried or powdered egg” (Utah Code 4-4-103(10)), not only a chicken’s, and the notice a wholesale producer files names “the species of egg products offered for sale” (4-4-107(6)(c)). The Department’s page says the label carries “eggs” “if chicken eggs” and “name of bird + eggs” “if not from a chicken.” The statute’s label item is the common name “eggs” (4-4-108(1)(a)).

The count is the open part. A small producer has “less than 3,000 layers” and is “exempt from 21 C.F.R. Chapter 1, Part 118” (4-4-103(11)), and “layers” is not defined. The federal rule’s “Shell egg (or egg) means the egg of the domesticated chicken” (21 CFR 118.3), so Part 118 is about a chicken’s egg. The housing chapter is chicken only: “Egg-laying hen” means “a female domesticated chicken kept for the purpose of commercial egg production” (4-4a-102(2)). Whether a flock of ducks or quail counts toward the 3,000, and whether a duck egg producer is a “small producer,” are not said. Ask the Department.

Source: Utah Code Title 4, ch. 4, Utah Code Title 4, ch. 4a, UDAF, Eggs and Poultry and 21 CFR 118.3.

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

The rule’s washing conditions are in its first paragraph, for “A small producer who sells shell eggs wholesale or to a restaurant”: “Clean eggs to remove debris and stains, as needed, soon after collecting,” with hands washed “before and during egg handling,” “clean and dry nest boxes,” eggs gathered “at least once daily,” and a “smooth, non-absorbent, and easily cleanable work surface” (R70-410-4(1)(b)). As filed, the rule prints two paragraphs numbered (3). The water tests are in the second one, which says “A small producer” without the wholesale or restaurant words, not in (1)(b), and reads: “A small producer shall use water in the cleaning process that meets one of the following criteria: (a) potable water meeting the drinking water standards established by the Utah Department of Health and Human Services; (B) commercially bottled water; or (C) water from a private well, annually tested for bacteriological contamination, including total coliform and E.coli.” It adds “A small producer may not use the following egg cleaning methods: (a) submerging shell eggs in water or any other solution; or (b) using cleaners that are not food grade and approved for shell egg cleaning” (R70-410-4(5)). The statute authorizes cleaning and sanitization rules only for eggs “sold by a small producer to a restaurant or wholesale” (Utah Code 4-4-107(7)(a)). No source read tells a producer selling to a household whether to wash.

Candling records are in the statute: “A person who sells, offers, or exposes eggs for sale or exchange shall maintain candling records as prescribed by the department” and “All candling records shall be open for examination by accredited inspectors or representatives of the department at reasonable times” (4-4-105(1), (2)). “Candling” is “the act of determining the condition of an egg by holding it before a strong light in such a way that the light shines through the egg and reveals the egg’s contents” (4-4-103(7)). The small-producer exemption sits in a different section (4-4-107) and does not mention 4-4-105, R70-410 does not mention candling, and no source read says whether a small producer keeps candling records or what the Department prescribes. Ask the Department.

Source: Utah Code Title 4, ch. 4 and Utah Admin. Code R70-410.