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Selling homemade food in Louisiana means your label has to follow the Louisiana has no cottage food programme — La. R.S. 40:4.9 is an exemption. It switches off the state Sanitary Code for nine low-risk foods prepared at home (baked goods, candies, cane syrup, dried mixes, honey and honeycomb, jams/jellies/preserves, pickles and acidified foods, sauces and syrups, spices), with no permit, no registration with the Department of Health, no inspection and no training. The exemption stops applying entirely once gross annual sales reach $30,000 (raised from $20,000 by Acts 2022 No. 357). Bakers of breads, cakes, cookies and pies may employ nobody to help, may not sell for resale, and must meet the sanitation conditions written into the statute itself. You may not sell at all without a current parish sales and use tax certificate. Here is exactly what that label must show in 2026 — the required fields, the allergen rule, and the disclaimer and its font size — sourced to the statute and dated.
Louisiana fixes what the label has to say, not the words. Any wording that conveys the same thing complies — this is the version we recommend printing:
No minimum type size anywhere in the law. R.S. 40:4.9(D)(1)(a) asks only for a label that clearly indicates the food was not produced in a licensed or regulated facility — the meaning is fixed, the words are not. Everything else on a Louisiana label (the food's common name, the name and place of business, an accurate quantity statement, the ingredient names) comes from a different statute the exemption never touches: R.S. 40:608, misbranded food. Raw honey that still contains its natural pollen needs no label at all; filter it and the duty returns.
Louisiana does not operate a cottage food permit program. It operates a statutory exemption, found at La. R.S. 40:4.9, titled 'Low-risk foods; preparation in home for public consumption'. Subsection A(1)(a) provides that no provision of the state Sanitary Code, and no other law or regulation requiring any equipment, design, construction, utensils, supplies, preparation or services, applies to the preparation of low-risk foods in the home for sale. The exemption is self-executing: an eligible individual who prepares a listed low-risk food at home may sell it without applying to the Louisiana Department of Health, without a retail food permit and without a facility inspection, because the statute simply switches off the requirements rather than substituting a lighter permit for them. Three conditions define who qualifies. First, the food must be one of the nine categories listed in Subsection E, and none of them may consist of any animal muscle protein or fish protein. Second, gross annual sales must stay below the statutory ceiling in Subsection B. Third, the preparer must be registered to collect applicable local sales and use taxes under Subsection D(2). 'The home' means a dwelling, and — for cane syrup specifically — also an open-sided structure on private property sheltering a cast iron kettle, evaporator or other equipment for preparing cane syrup in the traditional manner. Two important carve-outs narrow the exemption. Under A(1)(b), the Sanitary Code exemption does NOT apply to any preparer of breads, cakes, cookies or pies who employs any individual to assist in preparing that food for sale; hiring even one helper for those four products puts the operation back under the full regulatory regime. And under A(2), a separate set of sanitation conditions applies 'notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary' to the home preparation of breads, cakes, cookies and pies for sale, whether or not anyone is employed. The statute closes by stating it shall not be construed to allow the sale or distribution of any unwholesome food.
Allowed:
Not allowed under the program:
$100,000 in gross annual sales, as amended. This CONTRADICTS the historical figures still circulating. R.S. 40:4.9(B) now reads that the Section 'does not apply to any preparer of low-risk foods made at a home for sale, whose gross annual sales equal one hundred thousand dollars or more'. That figure was set by Acts 2026, No. 801 (House Bill 403 of the 2026 Regular Session, by Rep. Kimberly Coates), which amended and reenacted R.S. 40:4.9(B) to strike 'thirty thousand' and insert 'one hundred thousand'. Act 801 was signed by the Governor on 2026-06-08 with an effective date of 2026-08-01, so the $100,000 ceiling is the law in force today. The prior figure was $30,000 (set by Acts 2022, No. 357); an older $20,000 figure is no longer in force. Note the structure of the ceiling: it is a disqualification, not an allowance. A preparer whose gross annual sales 'equal one hundred thousand dollars or more' loses the exemption entirely and falls back under the Sanitary Code — the statute does not create a scaled or partial exemption above the line. The cap is written against 'any preparer of low-risk foods', with no product-specific carve-out, so it reaches baked goods as well; secondary cottage-food sites asserting that breads, cakes, cookies and pies have 'no cap' are not supported by the text of Subsection B.
Louisiana requires no state permit or registration for a cottage food operation.
Fee: No state food permit fee, because no state food permit is required for a qualifying low-risk home preparer. R.S. 40:4.9 sets no fee of any kind. The cost of the parish sales and use tax certificate required by (D)(2) is set by each parish collector and was NOT verified for this entry; do not publish a figure for it.
Renewal: Not applicable to the food exemption — there is nothing to renew, since the exemption operates by statute and not by permit. The parish sales and use tax certificate must be 'current' under (D)(2), which implies a parish renewal cycle; the interval and any renewal fee were not verified and vary by parish.
None. R.S. 40:4.9 imposes no food handler card, food safety course, ServSafe certificate or training hour requirement on a home preparer of low-risk foods, and none was found anywhere in the statutory text. What the statute substitutes for training, and only for breads, cakes, cookies and pies, is a list of prescriptive sanitation conditions in Subsection A(2): protecting all outside openings against flies and other vermin; constructing the building to exclude rats, mice, roaches and other vermin; excluding domestic pets from any part of the establishment where preparation and baking take place; keeping all equipment used in manufacture, baking, cooking, processing, handling, packing or storage clean, sanitary and free from cracks, and where possible composed of non-corroding metal or other smooth impervious easily cleanable material, with stationary or not readily movable equipment installed for easy cleaning; providing refrigeration so that all perishable food products used in production, distribution or sale of bakery products are held at a temperature not exceeding forty-five degrees Fahrenheit; cleaning equipment too large to wash in the sinks in a manner approved by the state health officer; keeping all barrels, boxes, tubs, pails, kneading troughs, machines, racks, pans and other receptacles clean, sanitary and easily cleanable; and cleaning and sanitizing all food contact surfaces after each day's production. Those are legal obligations, not recommendations, and they apply notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary.
No. There is no routine inspection of a qualifying low-risk home food operation, and no pre-opening inspection, because R.S. 40:4.9(A)(1)(a) exempts the preparation from the Sanitary Code and from any other law or regulation requiring particular equipment, design, construction, utensils, supplies, preparation or services. No inspection provision appears anywhere in the section. Two references to the state health officer survive inside the bakery conditions — equipment too large to wash in the sinks must be cleaned 'in a manner approved by the state health officer' under A(2)(c)(iii), and custard or cream filling apparatus must be cleaned and sanitized after each use 'in a manner approved by the state health officer' under A(2)(g) — so the state health officer retains a standard-setting role for those specific cleaning methods even though no inspection regime is attached. The exemption also falls away in two situations that put the operator back under inspectable regulation: employing an assistant to help prepare breads, cakes, cookies or pies (A(1)(b)), and reaching one hundred thousand dollars or more in gross annual sales (B). Whether the Louisiana Department of Health inspects in response to a complaint or an unwholesome-food allegation was not established from any source read.
The parish is where the only mandatory paperwork sits. R.S. 40:4.9(D)(2) prohibits any individual who prepares low-risk foods in the home from selling them unless he is registered to collect any local sales and use taxes applicable to the sale, evidenced by a current sales tax certificate issued to the seller by the sales and use tax collector for the parish in which the sales occur. Louisiana collects local sales and use tax parish by parish, so a producer selling in more than one parish should verify with each collector whether a separate registration is needed — the statute is written 'the parish in which the sales occur', but no multi-parish guidance was located in a primary source. Separately, the exemption in Subsection A(1)(a) is drafted against the state Sanitary Code and against laws and regulations that require particular equipment, design, construction, utensils, supplies, preparation or services. It is not a zoning or land-use exemption, and it says nothing about parish or municipal occupational licences, home occupation permits, or subdivision and homeowners' association restrictions. Those remain to be checked locally. No parish-level cottage food ordinance was researched for this entry.
Program sources: La. R.S. 40:4.9, 'Low-risk foods; preparation in home for public consumption', full official text of Subsections A through F plus amendment history through Acts 2022 No. 357 — Louisiana State Legislature — https://legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=98431 (NOTE: this codified page still shows the superseded 'thirty thousand dollars' figure in Subsection B and does not yet reflect Acts 2026, No. 801) · Acts 2026, No. 801 (Enrolled House Bill No. 403, 2026 Regular Session, by Rep. Coates et al.), 'To amend and reenact R.S. 40:4.9(B)... to modify the gross sale amount to qualify for low-risk homemade food exemption to the Sanitary Code and other food safety laws' — enrolled Act PDF, showing the strike of 'thirty thousand' and insertion of 'one hundred thousand' — https://legis.la.gov/legis/ViewDocument.aspx?d=1481239 · Official bill history, HB 403, 2026 Regular Session — 'Current Status: Signed by the Governor - Act 801'; 06/08 'Signed by the Governor. Becomes Act No. 801'; 06/08 'Effective date: 08/01/2026'; House final passage 95-0 on 04/09, Senate final passage 38-0 on 05/26, House concurrence 96-0 on 05/29 — https://legis.la.gov/legis/BillInfo.aspx?s=26RS&b=HB403 · Official bill history, HB 150, 2025 Regular Session (Coates), 'Provides for the production of homemade food for sale to the public' — would have repealed R.S. 40:4.9 and enacted R.S. 40:4.13; 'Current Status: Pending Senate and Governmental Affairs' after House passage 70-21 on 06/08/2025, therefore never enacted — https://legis.la.gov/legis/BillInfo.aspx?s=25RS&b=HB150
In Louisiana the LABEL is the entire regulatory footprint. The state issues no cottage-food permit, license, or registration number and runs no application process — the single legally required act is affixing a label that says the food was not made in a licensed/regulated facility. Get that one sentence right and you are compliant; there is nothing else to file. (And raw, unprocessed honey is exempt even from the label.)
Acts 2022 No. 357 (HB 828) raised the threshold from $20,000 to $30,000, and the engrossed bill shows it as a straight substitution of « thirty thousand » for « twenty thousand » in subsection (B). Guides still printing $20,000 are describing a repealed number.
The exemption applies only if gross annual sales stay under $30,000. At $30,000 or more you lose the exemption entirely and fall under the full state Sanitary Code — plan to track revenue, not just per-item labels.
R.S. 40:4.9 bars anyone preparing breads, cakes, cookies, or pies in the home from selling them to any retail business or individual FOR RESALE. Direct-to-consumer only; a coffee shop reselling your cookies breaks the exemption.
Eligible categories are fixed by statute: baked goods, candies, cane syrup, dried mixes, honey/honeycomb, jams-jellies-preserves, pickles & acidified foods, sauces & syrups, and spices — none containing animal muscle or fish protein. Anything outside this list is not covered.
R.S. 40:4.9(D)(2) forbids selling unless you are registered to collect applicable local sales/use taxes and hold a current sales tax certificate from your parish collector. It is not printed on the label, but you cannot legally sell without it.
That single line is all R.S. 40:4.9 asks for, and it is not enough. R.S. 40:608 (misbranded food) still applies to your packages: the common or usual name of the food, the name and place of business of the manufacturer or seller, an accurate statement of quantity by weight, measure or count, and the common name of each ingredient. The cottage food exemption covers equipment, construction, utensils, supplies, preparation and services — labelling is not on that list.
Subsection (B) says the Section « shall not apply » to a preparer whose gross annual sales equal $30,000 or more. Crossing it does not cap you — it removes the exemption, and with it the right to prepare those foods at home for sale at all. Plan the move to a licensed kitchen before the number arrives, not after.
R.S. 40:4.9(A)(1)(b) withdraws the exemption from any preparer of breads, cakes, cookies or pies « who employs any individual to assist in the preparation of such food for sale ». One paid helper on baking day ends the exemption for that whole category. It applies to bakery items only — candy, jams, spices and the rest are not covered by that sentence.
A(2) is a small food code of its own and it is binding: outside openings protected against flies and vermin, a building constructed to exclude rats, mice and roaches, domestic pets kept out of any part of the place where preparation and baking happen, food-contact surfaces cleaned and sanitized after each day's production, refrigeration at or below 45 °F, pasteurized milk only in custard and cream fillings, those fillings cooked to the equivalent of 145 °F for at least 30 minutes and chilled to 45 °F, and no touching the filling by hand after cooking.
R.S. 40:4.9(D)(2) makes it a condition of selling, not an afterthought: you may not sell low-risk home-prepared foods unless you are registered to collect the applicable local sales and use taxes, evidenced by a current sales tax certificate issued by the collector for the parish where the sales occur. It is the only piece of paper Louisiana requires — and it is filed with the parish, not with the health department.
Subsection (C) forbids selling breads, cakes, cookies or pies to any retail business or individual for resale. Direct to the person who will eat it, only. Note the asymmetry: that sentence names bakery items, and does not reach candies, jams, syrups or spices.
D(1)(b) exempts raw honey from the label duty, but only while it is « not pasteurized, filtered, or otherwise processed in such a way as to remove natural pollen ». Filter it and the label requirement returns. Honeycomb products are on the low-risk list too.
Timeline: Immediate — no state permit, inspection, or approval is needed before selling. The only prerequisite is registering with your parish sales-and-use-tax collector and obtaining a current sales tax certificate before your first sale.
Cost: $0 — no permit required. Louisiana charges no cottage-food permit or registration fee (pure statutory exemption). The only incidental cost is obtaining a parish sales/use tax certificate, which is typically free to register.
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Make my Louisiana label →Louisiana does not fix the words — it fixes what the label has to say. The wording below is the one to use: “This food was not produced in a licensed or regulated facility.” The state sets no minimum point size for it. Louisiana fixes the meaning, not the words: R.S. 40:4.9(D)(1)(a) requires a label that clearly indicates the food was not produced in a licensed or regulated facility. Any wording that conveys that complies — and raw honey that still contains its natural pollen needs no label at all.
No. Louisiana does not require a permit or registration number printed on the label.
At minimum: product name — the common name of the food; your business / producer name; the address of the cottage food operation; a complete ingredient list, in descending order by weight (sub-ingredients included); an allergen declaration — the 9 major FDA allergens, in the ingredient list or a “Contains:” line; net weight, in US customary and metric units; the state's required disclaimer (see below).
No. Louisiana requires no state cottage food permit or registration. No state food permit fee, because no state food permit is required for a qualifying low-risk home preparer. R.S. 40:4.9 sets no fee of any kind. The cost of the parish sales and use tax certificate required by (D)(2) is set by each parish collector and was NOT verified for this entry; do not publish a figure for it.
Allowed: Baked goods, including breads, cakes, cookies, and pies (R.S. 40:4.9(E)(1)) — subject to the additional sanitation conditions in Subsection A(2) and to the direct-to-consumer restriction in Subsection C; Candies (E)(2); Cane syrup (E)(3) — for this product only, 'the home' extends to an open-sided structure on private property sheltering a cast iron kettle, evaporator or other traditional cane syrup equipment; Dried mixes (E)(4); Honey and honeycomb products (E)(5) — raw honey that is not pasteurized, filtered or otherwise processed so as to remove its natural pollen is additionally exempt from the labeling requirement under (D)(1)(b); Jams, jellies, and preserves (E)(6); Pickles and acidified foods (E)(7); Sauces and syrups (E)(8); Spices (E)(9); Custard or cream-filled bakery products are permitted as baked goods, but Subsection A(2)(d)-(h) imposes conditions on them: only pasteurized milk or milk products may be used; the mixture must be cooked to at least the equivalent of 145 degrees Fahrenheit for not less than thirty minutes; on completion it must be immediately transferred to previously sanitized containers, covered, chilled as rapidly as possible to 45 degrees Fahrenheit or below and held there until used; the apparatus and food contact surfaces used to add the filling must be of impervious material and be thoroughly cleaned and sanitized after each use, with no cloth filled bags; and the preparer must not touch the filling with their hands after it has been cooked.
$100,000 in gross annual sales, as amended. This CONTRADICTS the historical figures still circulating. R.S. 40:4.9(B) now reads that the Section 'does not apply to any preparer of low-risk foods made at a home for sale, whose gross annual sales equal one hundred thousand dollars or more'. That figure was set by Acts 2026, No. 801 (House Bill 403 of the 2026 Regular Session, by Rep. Kimberly Coates), which amended and reenacted R.S. 40:4.9(B) to strike 'thirty thousand' and insert 'one hundred thousand'. Act 801 was signed by the Governor on 2026-06-08 with an effective date of 2026-08-01, so the $100,000 ceiling is the law in force today. The prior figure was $30,000 (set by Acts 2022, No. 357); an older $20,000 figure is no longer in force. Note the structure of the ceiling: it is a disqualification, not an allowance. A preparer whose gross annual sales 'equal one hundred thousand dollars or more' loses the exemption entirely and falls back under the Sanitary Code — the statute does not create a scaled or partial exemption above the line. The cap is written against 'any preparer of low-risk foods', with no product-specific carve-out, so it reaches baked goods as well; secondary cottage-food sites asserting that breads, cakes, cookies and pies have 'no cap' are not supported by the text of Subsection B.
No. CottageCompliance gives general information based on each state's published rules, dated to when we last verified them. Always confirm with your state or local agency before selling.
Source: La. R.S. 40:4.9 (2024 Louisiana Laws; history ending Acts 2022, No. 357). The amendment that replaced $20,000 with $30,000 read in the engrossed HB 828, 2022 Regular Session, Louisiana Legislature. Label items outside the cottage food statute: La. R.S. 40:608 (misbranded food). Verified 2026-08-10. General information, not legal advice — confirm with your state or local agency before selling.