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The honest answer is "it depends on your state" — but that's not a dodge. Here's how to find out exactly what you're allowed to do, and why the label is where most of the rules live.
If you make food at home to sell — baked goods, jams, candies, dry mixes, and the like — you're operating under what's usually called a cottage food law. And here's the single most important thing to understand: there is no national cottage food law. These rules are written and enforced state by state, and they vary widely. What's perfectly legal for a baker one state over may be off-limits for you.
So when you ask "Can I sell online? Can I ship it? Can I do farmers markets?" — the honest answer is that it depends entirely on where you live and operate. That sounds frustrating, but it's actually good news: it means the answer exists, it's written down, and you can find it. This article will not tell you your state's specific rule (we'd be guessing, and guessing about the law is how people get hurt). Instead, it'll show you what to look for and where to look.
It's tempting to lump "selling online" together with "shipping" and "farmers markets," but states often treat them as separate permissions. Untangling them is the first step to getting a clear answer.
Taking an order online — say, a customer messages you or fills out a form and pays through a payment app — is often treated differently from physically shipping the food by mail or courier. Some states are comfortable with you accepting orders online but require that the customer pick the food up in person or that you hand it to them directly. Others allow delivery within the state but draw a hard line at mailing.
Farmers markets, fairs, and roadside stands are frequently allowed, but sometimes under their own conditions. And shipping is usually the most restricted of all.
Here's the pattern that holds true almost everywhere: cottage food laws are intrastate. That means they generally let you sell to customers within your own state's borders, and they stop there. Shipping across state lines pulls you into interstate commerce, which is regulated federally rather than by your state's cottage food program — and that's a much higher bar most home kitchens aren't set up to clear.
So if your dream is to mail cookies to customers nationwide, it's worth knowing up front that cottage food law is almost certainly not the path that allows it. Doing that legally usually means stepping up to a commercial or licensed kitchen and a different set of rules. That's not a no forever — it's just a different door.
Even within your own state, whether you may ship at all is a state-specific decision. Some states permit in-state mail order; others require every sale to be face-to-face. This is exactly the kind of detail that's spelled out on your state's requirements page — so check there before you promise a customer anything.
If there's one place the rules get concrete, it's the label. Nearly every state requires cottage food products to carry a label, and most require a specific disclaimer telling the buyer the food was made in a home kitchen that isn't inspected the way a commercial facility would be. The idea is honesty: the customer should know what they're buying.
But — and this is the crucial part — the exact wording is not the same everywhere. The precise sentence you must print, whether it has to appear in a minimum font size, whether your permit or registration number belongs on the label, and what else must appear (your name, address, the product name, ingredients, allergens, net weight, and the date) are all set by your state. Copying another state's disclaimer word-for-word can leave you technically non-compliant even if you were trying to do the right thing.
This is precisely why we built a label generator that asks which state you're in first. Get the wording right for your state, and you've handled the part of the rules people most often get wrong.
Cottage food laws generally cover foods that are non-hazardous — shelf-stable items that don't need refrigeration to stay safe, like breads, cookies, many jams and jellies, dry mixes, and certain candies. Foods that need to be kept cold, or that are more prone to growing harmful bacteria — think cheesecakes, most cream-filled items, canned vegetables, or anything requiring refrigeration — are commonly excluded.
But the exact allowed list differs by state, and the boundaries can be surprising. One state may allow a particular pickled or acidified product; another may not. Some states publish a specific list of approved foods; others define categories and leave room for interpretation. Before you build a menu, confirm each item against your state's list — it's a quick check that can save you from investing in a product you can't legally sell.
You don't have to stay stuck in "it depends." Here's the reliable way to turn the general picture into your specific answer.
Start with the agency that runs cottage food in your state — usually the state Department of Agriculture, and in some states the Department of Health. That's the authoritative source: it tells you which foods are allowed, whether you need to register or take a food-safety course, whether there's a sales cap, exactly what your label must say, and whether you may ship or must sell in person. When something you read online conflicts with that agency, the agency wins.
We've organized the essentials — allowed foods, the required label wording, permit details, and shipping rules — onto a page for each state so you can read yours in a few minutes. Head to your state's requirements page, confirm what applies to you, and then generate a label that matches it.
This article is general information to help you ask the right questions, not legal advice. Cottage food rules change, and the details that matter most — wording, limits, and what you may ship — are set by your state and can be updated without much fanfare. Before you start selling, confirm the specifics with your state's agriculture or health department, and treat their guidance as the final word.
Do that, and you can move forward with real confidence: you'll know exactly what you're allowed to make, where you're allowed to sell it, and what your label needs to say. That's the whole point — not to scare you off, but to help you do this properly and sleep easy.
Cottage food law is state-run and generally in-state only: some states allow in-state shipping or online orders, many don't, and shipping across state lines almost never qualifies. The exact allowed foods, required label wording, and shipping rules are set by your state — confirm them on your state's requirements page and with your agriculture or health department before your first sale.
The exact disclaimer wording, its legal font size, and whether a permit number goes on the label are set by your state. Pick yours and get a compliant label in seconds.
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