Category
Rules & licensing
Guides on Rules & licensing.
Cottage food laws by state: what changes when you cross a state line
There is no federal cottage food law, so six things change from state to state: the allowed foods, whether you need a permit, a sales cap, where you may sell, your label's exact wording, and training. Here is how to read any state's rules and find yours.
7 min readWhat is a cottage food? What counts, what doesn't, and why
A plain-English definition of cottage food, the shelf-stability line that decides what qualifies, the categories usually allowed and usually excluded, why the list changes from one state to the next, and how to confirm whether your product makes the cut.
6 min readSelling jams and preserves at a farmers market (and why salsa is different)
Jams and jellies are the classic cottage food, and there is a specific regulatory reason why. The acidity line that separates them from salsa and pickles, what a process authority is, naming your product honestly, and how to label and sell it.
7 min readSelling honey at a farmers market: labeling, claims, and hive rules
Honey sells itself, but its label is closely governed. What you may legally call your honey, when you can name a floral source, the claims that get vendors in trouble, hive registration, and where to confirm your state's rules.
6 min readSelling soap and candles at a farmers market: the rules are not what you think
Soap and candles are not cottage foods, and they are not regulated like food. The FDA test that decides whether your soap is soap or a cosmetic, the claims that turn it into a drug, what governs candles, and how to label both.
6 min readWho regulates your food business in Texas: DSHS, your county, and the Comptroller
Texas has four agencies that touch food vendors. Learn which one you actually need and what they control.
4 min readTexas cottage food law: what you can sell from home
Senate Bill 541 lets you make and sell food from your home kitchen in Texas. Learn what foods you can make, how to label them, where to sell, and what registration you need.
6 min readDo you need a food handler's card to sell at a farmers market?
The honest answer is: it depends on your state, your county, and what you sell. Here is what a food handler's card actually is, who usually needs one, and how to find your exact requirement in about 15 minutes.
6 min readFlorida cottage food law: what you can sell from home
How Florida's cottage food law lets you sell homemade shelf-stable foods without a permit: what counts as a cottage food, the sales-limit and storage rules, selling online and by mail, the exact label statement Florida requires, and where to confirm the current rules.
6 min readWho regulates your food business in Florida: FDACS, DBPR, and DOH
Florida splits food oversight across three agencies, and picking the wrong one wastes weeks. A plain-English guide to what FDACS, DBPR, and DOH each regulate, the question that sorts most vendors, and the official tool that routes you to the right permit.
6 min readHow to label homemade food for sale: a cottage food labeling guide
What most cottage food labels must include, the home-kitchen disclosure statement, how to list ingredients and allergens correctly, stating net weight, where the exact rules come from, and how to keep a compliant label looking good.
6 min readDo you need insurance to sell at a farmers market?
When a market requires coverage, the difference between general liability and product liability, what a certificate of insurance and "additional insured" mean, where small vendors get covered, what drives the cost, and how to have it ready before your first market.
5 min readSelling eggs at a farmers market: the rules first-timers miss
Eggs are popular and more regulated than they look. A plain-English walk through state egg rules, cleaning and candling and grading, carton and labeling requirements, keeping eggs cold, how flock size can change the rules, and where to confirm before you sell.
6 min readDo you need a license to sell at a farmers market?
A direct answer plus the full permit landscape: business registration, a sales tax permit, food permits, what the market itself requires, and scales for selling by weight, with exactly where to verify what applies to you.
6 min readCottage food laws 101: what you can sell from home
What a cottage food law is, the foods usually allowed, why the details change from state to state, and exactly where to find the rules that apply to you.
5 min read