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Home baking laws by state and country
Can you sell baked goods from home? The permission, regulator, sales cap, restricted foods and shipping rules for Australia, 15 US states, Canada, the UK and NZ.
the ibakepro team ·
Yes, you can sell cakes from home almost everywhere in Australia, the US, the UK, Canada and New Zealand, but the permission has a different name in each place, and the rules on sales caps, restricted foods and shipping change at every state or provincial line. The tables below give the answer for each jurisdiction, taken from the official page linked in the row. Rules were checked against those pages in October 2026.
How to read the tables:
- "None stated" means the official page sets no sales cap.
- "check" means the official page did not answer that question. The link goes to the authority that can.
- "Can't sell" is the short version. The common line almost everywhere is anything that needs refrigeration: cheesecake, custard, fresh cream, cream cheese frosting and fresh fruit fillings.
Rules change, and this is general information, not legal advice. Before you sell, confirm your own situation with the authority in your row.
Australia
Every state and territory registers home food businesses under its own Food Act, and in most of them your local council is the body you deal with. No Australian page sets a sales cap. Nationally, FSANZ Standard 3.2.2A has required food safety management tools since December 2023 for businesses handling unpackaged, ready-to-eat, potentially hazardous food, and FSANZ says it may also apply to home-based businesses.
| State | What it is called | Who issues it | Sales cap | Can't sell from home | Ship or deliver |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NSW | Food business notification | Your council if you sell direct to customers; NSW Food Authority if you sell to cafes for resale | None stated | Councils may not approve high-risk foods; a Food Safety Supervisor may be needed for ready-to-eat, potentially hazardous, unpackaged food | check |
| VIC | Class 3 registration for shelf-stable cakes; cream or custard filled cakes are Class 2 | Your council, under the classes set by Safe Food Victoria | None stated | Cream or custard fillings move you to Class 2, as do allergen-free claims | Delivery: unrefrigerated perishable food should reach the customer within 4 hours |
| QLD | Food business licence, if you manufacture food | Your council | None stated | Councils decide; some do not permit certain businesses in a domestic kitchen | Potentially hazardous food transported at 5°C or below |
| WA | Food business registration or notification | Your local government's environmental health service | None stated | Exemptions only for low-risk businesses | Online sales from home are a listed business type; shipping: check |
| SA | Food Business Notification (no fee) | Your council, or SA Health outside a council area | None stated | check | check |
| TAS | Food business registration or notification, depending on risk | Your council's environmental health officer, after a proposal and inspection | None stated | Assessed case by case | check |
| ACT | Food business registration; food safety supervisor training started before you apply | ACT Health Protection Service | None stated | Low-risk only: no cut fruit, fruit purees, cream, custard or curds | Online store sales are mentioned; delivery: check |
| NT | Food business registration | NT Health Environmental Health | None stated | Home-based suits small-scale, low to medium risk food such as baking cakes | check |
New Zealand
| Who | What it is called | Who issues it | Sales cap | Can't sell from home | Ship or deliver |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home makers and decorators of shelf-stable cakes, selling direct to consumers | Exemption from a registered Food Control Plan or National Programme (Food Notice issued by MPI on 30 October 2025, in force until 31 October 2028) | MPI; you must still report unsafe food and be able to recall it | None stated | Cakes that need refrigeration and other bakery products are not covered by the exemption | Direct to consumers only, not for resale or export; delivery: check |
| Everyone else | Food Control Plan or National Programme registration | Usually your council | None stated | Set by your plan or programme | check |
United Kingdom
| Nation | What it is called | Who issues it | Sales cap | Can't sell from home | Ship or deliver |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England, Wales, Northern Ireland | Food business registration, free, at least 28 days before trading | Your local authority | None stated | None stated for home bakers; a food hygiene inspection follows registration | Yes; online and distance sellers must register too |
| Scotland | Food business registration, free, at least 28 days before opening | Your local authority environmental health service | None stated | Approval rather than registration may apply if you supply meat, fish, egg or dairy products to other businesses | check |
United States
Cottage food laws are set state by state. These are the 15 most populous states. Interstate sales sit outside most of these laws, so assume you can only sell inside your own state unless the page says otherwise.
| State | What it is called | Who issues it | Sales cap (per year) | Can't sell from home | Ship or deliver |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | Cottage Food Operation: Class A registration (direct sales) or Class B permit (direct and indirect) | County environmental health | $88,878 (A) or $177,756 (B) for 2026, adjusted yearly | Anything not on the approved cottage food list; nothing potentially hazardous, such as custard pies | Delivery and mail allowed, within California |
| Texas | Cottage food production operation; DSHS registration needed only for foods that need refrigeration | Texas DSHS | $150,000 | Meat, poultry, seafood, ice products, low-acid canned goods, and items containing CBD or THC; refrigerated foods allowed once registered, held at 41°F or below | Personal delivery by you, an employee or a household member, to Texas customers; mail: check |
| Florida | Cottage food operation, no permit needed | FDACS | $250,000 | Anything not on the approved list; no wholesale | Delivery and mail (USPS or commercial carrier) allowed; out of state: check |
| New York | Home Processor Exemption registration (no fee) | NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets | None stated | Anything needing refrigeration, including dairy or egg buttercream and cream cheese frosting | Home delivery yes; internet sales within New York only |
| Pennsylvania | Limited Food Establishment registration | PA Department of Agriculture | None stated | Foods needing refrigeration or hot holding; baked goods with cream fillings | Internet sales included, direct to consumer; out of state may need FDA registration |
| Illinois | Cottage Food Operation, registered yearly | Your local health department | None (removed) | Cheesecake, custard and cream pies, pumpkin pie, potentially hazardous fillings; cream cheese frosting held at 41°F or below | Delivery yes; shipping within Illinois for shelf-stable foods with a tamper-evident seal; not out of state |
| Ohio | Cottage Food Production Operation (no licence); a Home Bakery licence covers cheesecake and cream pies | Ohio Department of Agriculture | None stated | Potentially hazardous foods unless licensed as a home bakery | Ohio only; delivery and mail: check |
| Georgia | Cottage food, no state licence or fee since July 2025 | Georgia Department of Agriculture | None | Potentially hazardous foods: meat, eggs, dairy, fresh fruit garnish | Internet sales to consumers within Georgia; delivery and mail: check |
| North Carolina | Home Processor, with a kitchen inspection | NCDA&CS Food and Drug Protection Division | None stated | Refrigerated products, dairy, bakery products with cream or cream cheese fillings, cheesecakes | Shipping by postal or courier services anticipated; out of state: check |
| Michigan | Cottage food | MDARD | check | check | check |
| New Jersey | Cottage Food Operator permit, with a food protection manager certificate | NJ Department of Health | $50,000 | Any food that needs refrigeration | Delivery to the customer's home in New Jersey; no mail; not out of state |
| Virginia | Home kitchen exemption, no permit or inspection | VDACS | None stated for baked goods | Cheesecake, cream pies, custard, meringue, cream cheese frosting, cakes filled or topped with fresh fruit, whipped cream or mousse | In person, by mail or by delivery service, within Virginia |
| Washington | Cottage Food Operation Permit | WSDA | $35,000 | Cream, custard or meringue pies and cakes, cream cheese fillings, fresh fruit fillings or garnishes, low-sugar frostings | Pickup or in-person delivery only; no shipping or third-party delivery |
| Arizona | Cottage food registration (free), food handler card required | Arizona Department of Health Services | None stated | Meat, poultry, fish, unpasteurised milk, alcohol | Non-dairy, non-meat products can go by third-party carrier; dairy or meat products in person only; out of state: check |
| Tennessee | Food Freedom Act exemption, no licence or inspection | TN Department of Agriculture | None stated | Refrigerated foods allowed since July 2025, except meat, fish, shellfish, unpasteurised milk and alcohol | Shelf-stable: in person, by agent or third-party carrier; refrigerated foods in person only; within Tennessee only |
Finding the other 35 states. Search your state name plus "cottage food" and use the page on a .gov site. In most states it is the department of agriculture, but in some it is the state or county health department (California, Texas, New Jersey and Illinois above are all health departments). The cottage food law glossary entry explains the terms you will meet.
Canada
Home food sales are regulated province by province, and the gap between them is wide: from Alberta, which allows online and mail-order sales of low-risk home food without a permit, to Manitoba, which does not allow home-based food businesses at all.
| Province | What it is called | Who issues it | Sales cap | Can't sell from home | Ship or deliver |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ontario | Notify your local public health unit as a new food operator; low-risk businesses are exempt from some rules | Local public health unit | None stated | Low-risk examples include iced cakes that don't need refrigeration and baked goods without custard | check |
| British Columbia | No home permit; lower-risk home food only at temporary food markets | Your regional health authority | None stated | Whipped cream, cheese or synthetic fillings, custards | Not from home or retail without health authority approval |
| Alberta | Low-risk home-prepared food business, no permit | Alberta Food Regulation; Alberta Health Services | None stated | Anything needing refrigeration; labelled as from an uninspected home kitchen | From home, online or by mail order |
| Quebec | MAPAQ permit (restaurant or retail), inspection and hygiene training | MAPAQ | 100 kg of food a month in a home kitchen | No wholesale or resale through an intermediary | Direct to consumer only; delivery: check |
| Manitoba | Home-based food businesses not permitted | Manitoba Health | n/a | Only shelf-stable foods, sold at farmers' markets, craft sales or bake sales | No |
| Saskatchewan | Home food processing under the Food Safety Regulations | Saskatchewan Health Authority | None stated | Low-risk only, such as bread, cakes and fruit pies | Direct to the public and to stores that do not prepare food; shipping: check |
| Nova Scotia | No permit for low-risk home-baked goods | Environment and Climate Change | None stated | Low-risk only; dairy or egg only in high-sugar, low-moisture products | Markets, bake sales, events or direct to the person eating it; not to stores or restaurants |
| New Brunswick | check | check | check | check | check |
| Prince Edward Island | Exempt from the Food Premises Regulations for low-risk food packaged at home for farmers' markets and special events | Environmental Health | None stated | Low-risk only | Markets and events only; other channels: check |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | Home-based food preparation registration | Government Service Centre | None stated | Cream pastries, meringue pies, cheesecakes; meat, fish and dairy | check |
What the tables have in common
Three patterns hold almost everywhere, and they are worth planning around before you choose your menu:
- Refrigeration is the line. A shelf-stable iced sponge is home-bakeable in nearly every row. Cheesecake, custard, fresh cream and cream cheese frosting move you into a stricter category, a commercial kitchen, or out of home baking altogether.
- Selling to the end customer is the easy case. Wholesale to a cafe, resale through a shop and shipping across a border are usually separate permissions, and often not available from a home kitchen.
- Registration comes before the first sale. The UK asks for 28 days' notice; most other places expect to hear from you before you trade.
For the five questions to ask your regulator, see do I need a license to sell cakes from home.
Once you are registered
The ongoing part is the record: what went into each cake, which allergens it carried and who bought it. ibakepro, bakery software for home bakers and established bakeries in all five countries above, tracks allergens from each ingredient through recipes to every order on every plan (see allergen management), and on Growth and Business keeps the temperature, cleaning and incident records an inspector asks for (see Compliance).