Cottage Food Laws by State: Labels, Sales Caps and Permits

Last reviewed: October 2026. Cottage food laws change often. Several states rewrote theirs in 2025 and 2026. Each state page links to the official agency so you can check the current rules before you sell.

If you bake, can, or candy-make at home and want to sell it, your state's cottage food law decides almost everything: what you can make, where you can sell it, how much you can earn, and what has to be printed on the label. These laws differ a lot from state to state. Florida lets home producers sell up to $250,000 a year with no permit at all. Washington requires a permit, a kitchen inspection, and a $355 fee, and caps sales at $35,000. Arizona allows many refrigerated foods. Missouri allows only baked goods, jams and jellies, and dried herbs.

We wrote these guides because the label is where most home producers get tripped up. Almost every state requires a specific sentence on the package, telling buyers the food was made in a home kitchen that isn't inspected. That wording is set by law, and "close enough" usually isn't. The exact sentences are quoted on each state page.

The details vary, but most cottage food labels include:

• The product's common name
• Your name or business name, and an address or a state-issued ID number
• Ingredients, in descending order by weight
• Net weight or volume, sometimes in both U.S. and metric units
• Allergens, following the federal major-allergen list, which has included sesame since 2023
• The state's required home-kitchen disclaimer, often at a minimum type size

Usually not, but there's a catch. Most states don't require a Nutrition Facts panel on cottage foods. Several say it becomes required once you make a nutrition claim. Federal rules work the same way: the small business exemption in 21 CFR 101.9(j) disappears when the label or your advertising makes a nutrient content or health claim. "Low sugar", "high protein", "keto", "gluten-free with only 2 g net carbs" are all examples. If you make claims like these, or a retailer asks for a panel, you'll need a full Nutrition Facts label. You can build one with our standard vertical format, or use the simplified format if most nutrients round to zero.

Start with your state page and read the label section closely. Then open the official agency link and compare it against what we've written. If anything differs, the agency wins. Tell us, and we'll update the page. When your label wording is settled, you can lay out a Nutrition Facts panel in our builder for free, and download it as a print-ready PDF for $4 if you need one.