Health approvals

Letter of Confirmation for higher-risk food at markets

Before you sell a Higher-risk foodFood that bacteria can grow in, or produce toxins in, unless it is kept cold or hot — meat, fish, dairy, eggs, cut fruit, most cooked meals. The law calls it “potentially hazardous food”. It must come from an approved kitchen, never a home one.All terms in the glossary at a farmers’ market — for example anything from an Approved kitchenA kitchen Island Health has approved to make food for sale: its plans were approved before it was built, and it holds an operating permit or approval. A home kitchen is not one, unless it is a separate kitchen that went through the same approval.All terms in the glossary that needs refrigeration, frozen meat or fish, dairy, or a shelf-stable higher-risk food such as a nut butter, flavoured oil or ferment — the health authority reviews each product and confirms it in writing. If you run the kitchen it comes from, your own permit does instead.

A change is coming

  • A new guideline for selling at farmers’ markets — proposed, no date set; it may not happen. What changes
Who issues it
Island Health
How long
Apply at least 30 days before the market; plan on about 14 days to process.
Forms and pages

Do you need it?

You need it if

  • You sell a higher-risk food at a farmers’ market and it is made in an approved commercial kitchen that you don’t own or run.

You don’t need it if

  • You sell only whole fresh fruit and vegetables or Lower-risk foodFood that keeps safely at room temperature because it is too dry, too sugary or too acidic for bacteria to grow — bread, cookies, most jams, hard candy. It is the only kind a home kitchen may make for sale, and only for a farmers’ market.All terms in the glossary.
  • You own or run the approved premises the food comes from — carry a copy of your own permit instead.
Where this comes from

Sources

How to get it

  1. 1

    Make it in an approved commercial kitchen

    Higher-risk food for a market can only come from one. Everyone preparing it needs FOODSAFEBC’s food handler course. The operator of a restaurant, café, food truck or other food service business must hold a FOODSAFE Level 1 certificate or an equivalent.All terms in the glossary Level 1 or an equivalent.

  2. 2

    Describe each product

    For every product: the ingredients, how it is prepared and preserved, a sample of the label, and where it is processed and packed. Add any lab results (bacteria, pH or pH and water activityTwo lab measurements that show whether a food keeps safely at room temperature. pH measures acidity (4.6 or below is acidic enough); water activity measures water available to bacteria (0.85 or below is dry enough).All terms in the glossary) and copies of earlier letters, and list every market you will sell at.

  3. 3

    Send it at least 30 days before the market

    To the health authority where the food is made. Plan on about 14 days for a reply.

  4. 4

    Get your copy back

    The Environmental Health Officer (EHO)Island Health’s inspector. Your EHO reviews your plans, inspects before you open and afterwards, and is the person to ask before you change your menu, equipment or layout.All terms in the glossary signs or stamps the reviewed application and returns a copy — that, or Island Health’s letter, is what you show.

Where this comes from

Sources

Once you have it

  • The letter doesn’t expire, as long as nothing changes. Apply again for a new product, or if you change a recipe or how it is made.
  • It is honoured at other markets and in other health regions — show it to each Market managerThe person in charge of a farmers’ market. They apply to Island Health for the market, keep the list of vendors and their foods, and check each vendor follows the provincial guideline. Without one, home-made food can’t be sold there.All terms in the glossary, and keep a copy at your table.
  • It doesn’t allow processing at the market. Cooking or sampling higher-risk food there needs a Temporary food service permitIsland Health’s permit to cook or serve food at a fair, festival or other event, or to cook or sample higher-risk food at a market. Apply at least 14 days ahead.All terms in the glossary.
  • It doesn’t approve selling the food to shops.
Where this comes from

Sources

What comes next

Federal food labelsCFIA and Health Canada rulesVendor liability insuranceYour insurer — most markets set a requirementTemporary Food Service PermitIsland Health

Which businesses need it

Meat, poultry & egg producersFor selling frozen meat at marketsFishers & seafood sellersFor selling frozen fish at marketsFarmers’ market vendorsFor higher-risk foods

The rules behind this page

Last checked 5 November 2026. We check this guide regularly against Island Health, provincial and municipal sources, but regulations and laws change often and we can’t guarantee it is complete or current. Confirm with Island Health and your municipality before you apply, build or sell.

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