Cottage food law

Cottage food law

Cottage food law is the United States umbrella term for the rules that let someone produce certain foods in a domestic kitchen and sell them without a commercial licence or a commercial premises.

There is no single cottage food law

It is set state by state. There is no federal statute, and each state writes its own version of four things: the list of approved foods, the sales channels allowed, an annual revenue cap, and the labelling that must appear on the product. A product lawful in one state can be unlawful in the next, so the only reliable source is your own state's department of agriculture or health.

The thread running through most of them is the shelf-stable distinction. Foods that need time or temperature control to stay safe tend to be excluded, which in a bakery usually catches dairy and egg fillings, cheesecakes, cream and most buttercreams containing milk.

Outside the US

The same activity exists under different names. In the UK, the EU, Australia, New Zealand and Canada it is usually registration with a local council, municipality or food authority: normally free, normally required before you trade, and paired with an inspection and a written food safety plan rather than a revenue cap.

Whichever system applies, two obligations are near universal: a defined label format, and a declaration of allergens.