The Alaska Senate Resources Committee set aside a bill Tuesday that would have restricted sales of potentially hazardous homemade foods in reduced oxygen packaging. Lawmakers struggled with complex food safety definitions and enforcement questions.

The bill would have prohibited home food producers from selling low-acid foods such as vegetables, meats, and soups that are canned in jars or vacuum-sealed. The restriction aimed to prevent botulism risk. Committee members raised concerns about how the law would apply to common preservation methods.

Sarah Lewis is a University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service food safety specialist. She explained that botulism becomes a concern when low-acid foods are sealed in containers that remove oxygen. Alaska has never had a multiple-case botulism outbreak related to home-canned food, though the state has recorded 24 individual botulism cases over several decades.

"The real concern with botulism, if you are looking at homemade food sales, is it is not ever going to be just one jar," Lewis said. "It is going to be large batches. So if you have a botulism case, it is going to be multiple regardless of what community it is."

The bill generated confusion during the hearing as lawmakers tried to understand which preservation methods would be allowed. Under the proposed law, a farmer could sell frozen green beans in a regular plastic bag but not in a vacuum-sealed bag. Water-bath canned vegetables would be prohibited because the jars create a reduced oxygen environment, even though pressure canning is the recommended safe method.

Committee members questioned whether the definition of potentially hazardous food was clear enough. The existing statute defines it as food requiring time or temperature control to limit pathogenic microorganism growth. Lewis said that definition covers bacterial risks but does not specifically address the unique botulism hazard in reduced oxygen packaging.

The bill would not have affected honey, jams, or jellies. Those are high-acid foods that do not support botulism growth. It also would not have changed existing law that prohibits all sales of home-canned seafood.

Lewis said the Cooperative Extension Service has been educating Alaskans about safe home canning for decades. That may explain why the state has avoided major outbreaks. But she noted that home-canned foods were never legal to sell to the public before the homemade food law passed two years ago.

The committee chair said the bill raised more questions than expected and would be pursued in the future. No timeline was set for bringing the measure back.