State-by-State Inspection/Sales Regulations for Alpaca Meat
As the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) does not treat alpacas as an amenable species, open to voluntary inspection by the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), the processing of alpacas into meat necessarily comes under the purview of the laws and regulations of the of the various individual States. As a result, it can be daunting to make sense of those regulations for those alpaca producers wishing to pursue terminal market options as part of their respective business plans. Bearing that in mind, the Alpaca Coalition of America has built a database which attempts to highlight the regulatory landscape on a state-by-state basis. The database will continue to grow and evolve with the changing landscape of state policies as ACOA pushes for broader acceptance of alpaca meat and other terminal markets for the US alpaca industry.
PLEASE NOTE: As regulations and/or their interpretations often change, ACOA strongly encourages anyone wishing to pursue the processing of their alpacas into meat, to contact their respective State Department or Agency of Agriculture (or its equivalent) prior to proceeding.
Those states noted with an * can be clicked on for more information.
| STATE | State Inspection of Alpaca Meat Offered | Retail Sale of Alpaca Meat Alowed | Inspection Required for Retail Sale of Alpaca Meat | Allow Meat Inspected by Other States To Be Sold | Contact Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Dr. Issac Barrett |
| Alaska* | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Dr. Robert Gurlach |
| Arizona | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Rick Mann |
| Arkansas | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | April Cullins |
| California | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | David Schurr and CDPH |
| Colorado | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Steven Blunt and CODPH |
| Connecticut | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Frank Greene |
| Delaware* | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Andrea Jackson |
| Florida | No | N/A | N/. | N/A | Bureau of Food and Meat Inspection |
| Georgia | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Glen Echols |
| Hawaii* | No | No | Yes | Yes | Joseph Realdine |
| Idaho | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Dr. Debra Lawrence |
| Illinois* | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Dr. John Okeefe |
| Indiana* | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Dr. David Bough |
| Iowa* | Yes | Yes | Yes | N/A | Dr. Larson |
| Kansas | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Tony George |
| Kentucky | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Warren Beeler |
| Louisiana | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Jim Jenkins |
| Maine | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Henrietta Beaufait |
| Maryland* | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Animal Health Department |
| Massachusetts | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
| Michigan | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | James Padden |
| Minnesota | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Jennifer Stephes |
| Mississippi | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
| Missouri | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Dr. Harold Treese |
| Montana* | Yes | Yes | Yes | N/A | Bonnie Marceau, Dept. of Livestock |
| Nebraska | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Dr. Kevin Gillespie |
| Nevada | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Dr. Michael Greenly |
| New Hampshire* | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Cindy Heisler and Royann Bossidy |
| New Jersey* | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Dr. Sebastian Reist |
| New Mexico* | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Larry Dominguez and Dr. Joe Baker |
| New York | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Sharon Pretel |
| North Carolina | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
| North Dakota | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Cody Kreft |
| Ohio | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Jody Taylor |
| Oklahoma | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Jon Pruitt |
| Oregon | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | William Fargo |
| Pennsylvania* | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Bobby McLean |
| Rhode Island | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Kathy White |
| South Carolina | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Patrick Smith |
| South Dakota | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Rory Fischer |
| Tennessee* | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Shanna Lively, Food and Dairy Administrator |
| Texas | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Lindsay Baerwald |
| Utah | Yes | Yes | Yes | N/A | Noel McSpadden |
| Vermont | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Katherine McNamara |
| Virginia | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Jackie Teter and Ryan Davis |
| Washington* | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Lucy Severs |
| West Virginia* | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Robert Pitts |
| Wisconsin | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Cindy Klug |
| Wyoming | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Jon Cecil |