Licensing and Regulation of Wineries in Ohio by ODA not likely legal.

I believe the licensing and regulation in Ohio by the Food Safety Div are in violation of Ohio codes. We are licensed and regulated for all production and sales activity by the Federal government Alcohol &Tobacco Tax & Trade Bureau (TTB) and the Ohio Div of Liquor Control. Under federal codes CFR 27 we are more regulated for what we can use to make wine than any regular food product. Any exceptions like a vegetative wine like mint or dandelion or additions of spices have to go through a formula approval process. Nothing like in the food regulation world by the FDA. On the state level of "food processing establishment" here is the relevant code:

*ORC3715.021 Standards and good manufacturing practices for food processing establishments.
(A) As used in this section, "food processing establishment" means a premises or part of a premises where food is processed, packaged, manufactured, or otherwise held or handled for distribution to another location or for sale at wholesale. "Food processing establishment" includes the activities of a bakery, confectionery, cannery, bottler, warehouse, or distributor, and the activities of an entity that receives or salvages distressed food for sale or use as food. A "food processing establishment" does not include a cottage food production operation; a processor of tree syrup who boils sap when a minimum of seventy-five per cent of the sap used to produce the syrup is collected directly from trees by that processor; a processor of sorghum who processes sorghum juice when a minimum of seventy-five per cent of the sorghum juice used to produce the sorghum is extracted directly from sorghum plants by that processor; a beekeeper who jars honey when a minimum of seventy-five per cent of the honey is from that beekeeper's own hives; or a processor of apple syrup or apple butter who directly harvests from trees a minimum of seventy-five per cent of the apples used to produce the apple syrup or apple butter.

(B) The director of agriculture shall adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code that establish, when otherwise not established by the Revised Code, standards and good manufacturing practices for food processing establishments, including the facilities of food processing establishments and their sanitation. The rules shall conform with or be equivalent to the standards for foods established by the United States food and drug administration in Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

Note the exception in Section (B), "when otherwise not established by the Revised Code." This which it seems can only apply to alcoholic beverages, is otherwise established in Title 43 of the ORC::

*ORC4301.10 Division of liquor control powers and duties.
(A) The division of liquor control shall do all of the following:
(1) Control the traffic in beer and intoxicating liquor in this state, including the manufacture, importation, and sale of beer and intoxicating liquor;

*ORC4301.01 Liquor control definitions.
(A) As used in the Revised Code:

(1) "Intoxicating liquor" and "liquor" include all liquids and compounds, other than beer, containing one-half of one per cent or more of alcohol by volume which are fit to use for beverage purposes, from whatever source and by whatever process produced, by whatever name called, and whether they are medicated, proprietary, or patented. "Intoxicating liquor" and "liquor" include cider and alcohol, and all solids and confections which contain one-half of one per cent or more of alcohol by volume.

(8) "Manufacture" includes all processes by which beer or intoxicating liquor is produced, whether by distillation, rectifying, fortifying, blending, fermentation, or brewing, or in any other manner.

On the Federal level the FAA (Federal Alcohol Administration Act) cedes authority for wine under 7% to the FDA. But, in Ohio the Revised code says any over 1/2% shall be controlled by the Division of Liquor Control not the ODA.

As for the Retail level for Retail Food Establishments and Food Service Operations the codes are:

*ORC3717.22 [Effective 10/17/2019] Excluded operations and entities.
(A) The following are not retail food establishments:
(3) A business or that portion of a business that is regulated by the federal government or the department of agriculture as a food manufacturing or food processing business, including a business or that portion of a business regulated by the department of agriculture under Chapter 911., 913., 915., 917., 918., or 925. of the Revised Code.

*ORC3717.42 Exclusions - exemptions from license requirement.
(A) The following are not food service operations:
(3) A business or that portion of a business that is regulated by the federal government or the department of agriculture as a food manufacturing or food processing business, including a business or that portion of a business regulated by the department of agriculture under Chapter 911., 913., 915., 917., 918., or 925. of the Revised Code.

It does not mention which federal agency our food processing is regulated by. So it is irrelevant whether it is FDA, USDA, or the TTB (alcoholic beverage processing regulator).

If a business chooses to produce a product such as grape juice or other grape product they are given permission to do so in the Ohio liquor codes and would then be subject to licensing and regulation for those products by the Title 37 licensing and regulation. This duplicate licensing and regulation of alcoholic beverages especially on the state level by the Food Safety Division runs counter to the indications in the ORC and provide out of state producers advantage as they may not necessarily be subject to the same real food based licensing and regulation. Many states exempt form this. A permit to wholesale from Liquor control and one from the Food safety division run counter to aspects of the Commerce Clause discrimination prohibitions decisions as well as equal protection under the laws and the states responsibility to have consistent regulation (14th Amendment). Let alone the aspect of the ORC Title 37 and OAC 901:3 that are antithetical to my principles of winemaking. So much for artistic and economic liberty in favor of economic fascism. Wine can be made in about any conditions safely as in the cellar where no real food could be produced as wine kills human pathogens and beer is brewed and pathogens are not sustainable in it either. Wine and beer have a better food safety history than any of the products given limited exemptions in ORC 37 above.