Grains, dried fruit, tea, coffee & noodles
Can I sell whole grains, flour & dry cereal in BC?
Dry foods keep because there is too little water for bacteria to grow. The details matter: coffee must be whole roasted beans, noodles must be dried and egg-free, and a freeze-dried meal is higher-risk.
Grown or raised on your farm
At a farmers’ market
A market with a market manager — farmers’ markets, Christmas markets, craft fairs
Yes, ifIt is on the guideline’s list of lower-risk foods.
- Sold in person at a market with a market manager.
- Prepackaged and labelled: the common name, net quantity, your name and address.
At a festival or event
Fairs, festivals, sports events, fundraisers — anything that is not a market
Yes, ifSealed, packaged food that doesn’t need refrigeration needs no permit at an event — Island Health calls that a product booth.
- Prepackaged and labelled: the common name, net quantity, your name and address; no open food or samples.
From your door, shop or farm gate
Customers buy where you make, grow or sell it
Ask firstA farm stand selling only whole produce and prepackaged food that doesn’t need refrigeration is outside BC’s Food Premises Regulation. Whether cleaning, milling or bagging grain on the farm needs Island Health’s approval isn’t spelled out — ask Island Health.
Online, with pickup or delivery
Orders taken online, by message or by phone
Ask firstA farm stand selling only whole produce and prepackaged food that doesn’t need refrigeration is outside BC’s Food Premises Regulation. Whether cleaning, milling or bagging grain on the farm needs Island Health’s approval isn’t spelled out — ask Island Health.
To shops, cafés & restaurants
Wholesale, or on consignment in someone else’s store
Ask firstA farm stand selling only whole produce and prepackaged food that doesn’t need refrigeration is outside BC’s Food Premises Regulation. Whether cleaning, milling or bagging grain on the farm needs Island Health’s approval isn’t spelled out — ask Island Health.
To customers outside BC
Shipping or selling across a provincial border
Yes, ifFood made or packed in BC for customers in another province comes under federal rules as well as BC’s.
- A Safe Food for Canadians licence from CFIA — not needed by a restaurant, caterer or similar business sending food straight to its customers. For a bakery or maker shipping to a customer, CFIA’s own guidance is unclear; use its licensing tool or ask CFIA.
- Packaged food carries the full federal label in English and French: its common name, ingredients and allergens, net quantity, your name and a physical address, a best-before date if it keeps 90 days or less, a Nutrition Facts table, and a front-of-pack “High in” symbol where it applies.
- Tax: you must register for GST/HST once your taxable sales (zero-rated groceries included) pass $30,000 over four quarters. A registered seller charges the delivery province’s rate — 13% HST in Ontario, for example — on taxable foods: candy, chocolate, chips and snacks, and sweet baked goods sold in packs of fewer than six. Most groceries (bread, jam, flour, produce) are zero-rated everywhere.
The rules behind these answers
Sources
- Guideline for the Sale of Foods at Temporary Food Markets(p. 8 · Appendix I, Lower Risk Foods)BC Centre for Disease Control · August 2020 revision
- Planning Guide for Temporary Events and Food Markets(p. 1 · Temporary Food Markets)Island Health · Revision date April 2026
- Safe Food for Canadians Regulations, SOR/2018-108(s. 214)Government of Canada (Justice Laws) · Current to 2026-09-03 (last amended 2025-09-19)
- Planning Guide for Temporary Events and Food Markets(p. 2 · Temporary Food Product Booth)Island Health · Revision date April 2026
- Food Premises Regulation, B.C. Reg. 210/99(s. 2(e))Province of British Columbia (BC Laws) · Current to September 22, 2026 (last amended October 27, 2025)
- Safe Food for Canadians Regulations, SOR/2018-108(s. 7(2))Government of Canada (Justice Laws) · Current to 2026-09-03 (last amended 2025-09-19)
- Food business activities that require a licence under the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations(Sections 3.2 and 5)Canadian Food Inspection Agency · Date modified 2024-11-20
- Safe Food for Canadians Regulations: Glossary of key terms(“Restaurant or other similar enterprise”)Canadian Food Inspection Agency · Date modified 2026-03-24
- Excise Tax Act, Schedule VI, Part III (Basic Groceries) and s. 148 (small supplier)(s. 148 and Schedule VI, Part III)Government of Canada (Justice Laws) · Current to 2026-09-03 (last amended 2026-06-18)
How it’s classified
In force — 2020 guideline
Sources
- Guideline for the Sale of Foods at Temporary Food Markets(p. 8 · Appendix I, Lower Risk Foods)BC Centre for Disease Control · August 2020 revision
Proposed — 2026 draft
Sources
- Guideline for the Sale of Foods at Temporary Food Markets in British Columbia (draft)(p. 22 · Appendix I, Lower Risk Foods)BC Centre for Disease Control · 2026 draftDraft
- Guideline for the Sale of Foods at Temporary Food Markets in British Columbia (draft)(p. 9 · Table 2, Lower Risk Foods)BC Centre for Disease Control · 2026 draftDraft
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