The Senate Resources Committee spent Tuesday afternoon working through the technical definitions that would determine which homemade foods could no longer be sold under proposed packaging restrictions.

The discussion centered on two key terms: potentially hazardous foods and reduced oxygen packaging. Foods that require time or temperature control would fall under the potentially hazardous category, according to testimony from state officials. That includes soups, sandwiches, salads, and cooked dishes.

Reduced oxygen packaging includes vacuum-sealed plastic bags, jars processed with heat to create a vacuum seal when cooled, and containers that vacuum seal using residual heat from their contents. The restrictions would apply to homemade foods sold commercially, not foods prepared for personal consumption.

Senators pressed for clarity on which common homemade products would be affected. One senator asked whether plastic wrap over a bowl of soup would trigger the restrictions. Another asked about sous vide preparations, steaks cooked in pressurized, oxygen-free containers that are reheated before eating.

State officials said a food prepared in a pressure cooker and then kept at temperature would be considered potentially hazardous but not reduced oxygen packaging. The distinction matters because the proposed restrictions target the packaging method, not the food itself.

Jams, jellies, and fruit spreads made through water bath canning would remain exempt because they are high-acid foods, officials said. The exemption would continue to cover berries and other sweet spreads.

One senator asked whether the restrictions would affect people who prepare meals at home and sell them online through social media. Officials could not answer definitively during the hearing and offered to provide a written response.

The committee also examined Alaska's botulism case history. Between 2017 and 2024, the state reported 24 cases of foodborne botulism, often accounting for half the cases reported nationwide in a single year. Officials said most cases came from Alaska Native traditional foods, with one exception: home-canned salmon prepared in Alaska in August 2019. That case involved a seal that was not adequate, fish that had not been brined, and a container that had not been pressure cooked properly.

The University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension provided the committee with detailed lists of packaging methods and food categories that would be affected by the restrictions. Officials said they would follow up with additional written clarification on specific scenarios senators raised.

The committee took no action on the legislation Tuesday. The hearing was designated for discussion only.