Cottage Food Label Requirements in Michigan (2026)

Cottage food rules in Michigan — the whole program

Who can sell homemade food in Michigan

Michigan's cottage food exemption sits inside the Michigan Food Law (2000 PA 92). A 'cottage food operation' is defined at MCL 289.1105(1)(j) as a person who produces or packages cottage food products only in a kitchen of that person's primary domestic residence within Michigan. MDARD reads 'single family domestic residence' as the place where you actually live, owned or rented, so a house, apartment, condominium or rental home qualifies, while group or communal settings such as group homes, sororities and fraternities do not. A second home, vacation home, cottage, motor home, or an outbuilding such as a shed or barn does not qualify, and neither does a rented commercial kitchen: renting a licensed kitchen means you need a food establishment licence instead. Ingredients and finished products must be stored in that same primary residence (MCL 289.4102(6)); a garage, shed, barn or other outbuilding may not be used for storage. A nonprofit organization cannot be a cottage food operation because it has no single family domestic residence, and out-of-state producers cannot use the Michigan exemption because the home kitchen must be physically located in Michigan. The product side of the definition is at MCL 289.1105(1)(k): a cottage food product is a food that is not a time/temperature control for safety food as that term is defined in the food code, and the statute names jams, jellies, dried fruit, candy, cereal, granola, dry mixes, vinegar, dried herbs and baked goods that do not require temperature control for safety as examples. The exemption at MCL 289.4102(1) is only from the licensing and evaluation provisions of the Food Law: it is not an exemption from the adulteration and other standards of the act, and MDARD keeps its enforcement powers under section 5101. Equipment need not be NSF-approved. Home well water must be potable, and MDARD advises annual testing for coliform bacteria and partial chemistry.

What you may and may not sell

Allowed:

• Baked goods and cookies; cakes including celebration, birthday, anniversary and wedding cakes and cupcakes
• Shelf-stable pies, including cooked fruit pies with crusts made with butter, lard or shortening
• Breads, quick breads and muffins (for example pumpkin bread, zucchini bread, blueberry muffins), including breads with herbs, spices or nuts, with shredded hard cheese worked into the dough before baking, or with finely chopped dried or freeze-dried fruits or vegetables
• Fruit jams, jellies and preserves as defined in 21 CFR part 150, in glass jars that can be stored at room temperature
• Confections and candies made without alcohol: hard candies, lollipops, peppermints, maple candy, cotton candy, freeze-dried candy, coated or uncoated nuts, and chocolate-covered pretzels, marshmallows, graham crackers, Rice Krispies treats, strawberries, pineapple or bananas
• Flavored maple syrups and flavored honey
• Icings and frostings made entirely with shelf-stable ingredients, commercially prepared shelf-stable frostings, and buttercream made from either of the two lab-tested recipes MDARD accepts (Kansas State University 'Simple Buttercream Frosting' and Texas Come and Bake It 'American Buttercream Frosting'), followed exactly
• Granola, dry baking mixes, dry dip mixes, dry soup mixes, dry bread and instant bread mixes, and dry herbs and herb mixtures
• Dehydrated or freeze-dried fruits and vegetables, except melon, tomato and leafy greens; whole and sliced dehydrated fruits; vegetable or herb chips such as kale or root vegetable chips
• Dried pasta, made with or without eggs
• Popcorn
• Roasted coffee beans, ground roasted coffee, powdered drink mixes and dry tea mixes
• Dried herbal teas labelled and advertised as a conventional food, with no health claims and no dosing instructions
• Vinegar and flavored vinegars; flavored oils containing no fresh or dried garlic
• Peanut butter, almond butter and similar nut butters made from ground nuts
• Flavoring extracts such as vanilla extract, and other extracts of foods that do not require temperature control for safety
• Cultivated or wild foraged mushrooms, raw or dried, with proof that wild foraged mushrooms were identified by a certified mushroom expert
• Shelf-stable dry bulk mixes repackaged into a cottage food product

Not allowed under the program:

• Any time/temperature control for safety food: meat, poultry, fish, shellfish, eggs, milk and dairy products, cooked plant foods such as cooked rice, beans, vegetables or mushrooms, baked potatoes, raw sprouts, tofu and soy-protein foods, and untreated garlic-and-oil mixtures
• Foods regulated under 21 CFR parts 108, 113 and 114 including salsa; canned low-acid fruits or acidified vegetables; canned foods other than standardized jams, jellies and preserves under 21 CFR part 150 (MCL 289.1105(1)(k))
• Canned pickled products such as pickles, corn relish or sauerkraut; pickled fruits or vegetables such as beets, cocktail onions or cherry peppers; fruit or vegetable salsas
• Pies and cakes needing refrigeration for safety: banana cream, pumpkin, lemon meringue and custard pies, cheesecake, and any cake with a glaze or frosting requiring refrigeration, including cream cheese frosting
• Buttercream frostings other than commercially prepared shelf-stable ones or the two lab-tested recipes MDARD accepts
• Beverages of every kind, including fruit and vegetable juices, apple cider, kombucha, ready-to-drink beverages such as lemonade, and concentrates; also home-produced ice products (MCL 289.1105(1)(k))
• Sauces and condiments: barbecue sauce, hot sauce, ketchup, mustard, salad dressings, tomato and spaghetti sauces, hummus; garlic in oil or garlic-flavored oil
• Apple butter, pumpkin butter and other fruit or vegetable butters; vegetable jams and jellies such as hot pepper jelly; low-sugar and no-sugar jams and jellies
• Fermented foods and beverages, including kombucha, olives and sourdough starter, and freeze-dried or dehydrated sourdough starter
• Confections containing actual alcohol, such as truffles or liqueur-filled chocolates; caramel apples; simple syrups; elderberry syrups
• Cut tomatoes, chopped or shredded leafy greens, raw seed sprouts, cut or dehydrated melons and tomatoes, and any product made with cooked vegetables
• Freeze-dried dairy and any product that required refrigeration before being freeze-dried, such as ice cream; frozen products and ice
• Fresh pastas; breads with fresh or frozen vegetables, soft cheese or large chunks of hard cheese
• Tinctures, dietary supplements in any form, herbal teas with dosing instructions or health claims; CBD, cannabis and foods containing them; pet food and treats, which need a commercial feed licence
• Honey and maple syrup in their own right, which are not cottage foods but have separate licensing exemptions under Michigan law

How much you may sell

$50,000 in gross sales annually, rising to $75,000 annually if the operation sells cottage food products at a price of $250.00 or more per unit. Both figures come from MCL 289.4102(5) as enacted by 2025 PA 51 (House Bill 4122), which raised the previous $25,000 limit, and both are confirmed on MDARD's own cottage food pages. Gross sales are computed on a per-person basis within or at a particular domestic residence, so two people in the same household who each run their own cottage food business each get the full limit, while household members who are not cottage food operators do not add anything. MDARD may request written documentation to verify the annual gross sales figure, and you must keep sales records and produce them to an MDARD food inspector on request. The statute also sets up indexing: beginning October 1, 2026, and each October 1 after that, MDARD may adjust the limits by an inflation adjustment factor equal to the 3-year average July-June Consumer Price Index for the current fiscal year divided by the same average for the preceding fiscal year, as determined by the Department of Treasury using the Detroit Consumer Price Index (the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn index from the Bureau of Labor Statistics), rounded to the nearest whole dollar. That first adjustment date has not yet arrived, so $50,000 and $75,000 are the figures in force today.

Where you may sell

• Direct from the cottage food operation to the consumer; this is the general rule of MCL 289.4102(4)
• Farmers markets, farm stands, roadside stands and similar direct venues
• Internet and mail order sales, and delivery to a consumer through a third-party food delivery platform, allowed since 2025 PA 51 provided the operation gives the consumer an opportunity to directly interact with it before the sale — a face-to-face meeting or a virtual meeting with two-way communication where participants can see or be seen and hear or be heard
• Phone orders, with delivery through a third-party food delivery platform on the same direct-interaction condition
• Online advertising and marketing on your own website or social media, with payment collected in person or through a payment app
• Free samples at market, provided the sample stays a non-potentially hazardous food and follows MDARD's guidelines for safe food samples at farmers markets
• In-state only: any cottage food product sold by internet or mail order or delivered by a third-party platform must go to a consumer in Michigan (MCL 289.4102(4)); to sell into another state you must satisfy that state's own rules
• Not allowed: wholesale, consignment, and sales to wholesalers, brokers, distributors, restaurants or grocery stores (MCL 289.4102(4))
• Not allowed: donating products for someone else to give away, for example a fundraiser auction, silent auction basket or soup kitchen; you may personally give product away from your own sales booth
• Not allowed: a retail market or farm stop acting as a go-between that stores pre-sold cottage food for consumer pickup, which MDARD states is not delivery to the consumer

Permit, registration and fees

Michigan requires no state permit or registration for a cottage food operation.

1. No application, no registration and no licence or permit is required from MDARD: MDARD states there are no forms to complete and no registration process for a qualifying cottage food operation
2. Make and package the products only in the kitchen of your primary Michigan residence, and store ingredients and finished products in that same residence
3. Make only foods that are not time/temperature control for safety foods, checking MDARD's allowable food product list category by category
4. Prepackage and label every product before sale (MCL 289.4102(2))
5. Put on each label: the name and physical address of the business (a P.O. Box is not accepted), or, if you have registered with the MSU Product Center, the name, telephone number and registration number instead; the name of the product; the ingredients in descending order of predominance by weight, including sub-ingredients of any prepared item used; the net weight or net volume, with the metric equivalent; allergen labelling as required by federal rules; and federal-standard labelling for any nutritional claim made (MCL 289.4102(3) and (9))
6. Add the statement 'Made in a home kitchen that has not been inspected by the Michigan Department of Agriculture & Rural Development' in at least the equivalent of 11-point type, about one eighth of an inch tall, in a color that clearly contrasts with the background; hand-printed labels are acceptable if legible, in durable permanent ink and large enough
7. Keep sales records showing you stay under the gross sales limit and hand them to an MDARD food inspector on request
8. Optional: register with the MSU Product Center under MCL 289.4102(8), which may issue a document evidencing registration with a unique identifying number and may charge a one-time registration fee of not more than $50.00; the main practical benefit is being able to keep your home address off your labels. Information collected under this program is exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act
9. Check separately with your local unit of government, and with the Michigan Department of Treasury on sales tax; a DBA may be required by your county or municipality
10. If your plans outgrow the exemption — a higher turnover, wholesale, or a food that needs temperature control — apply to MDARD for a food establishment licence instead

Fee: No fee. MDARD charges nothing because there is nothing to apply for. The only fee anywhere in the programme is the optional MSU Product Center registration, which MCL 289.4102(8)(b) caps at a one-time $50.00; the amount the Center actually charges was not confirmed from a primary source.

Renewal: No renewal, because there is no licence or registration to renew with MDARD. The MSU Product Center registration is described in statute as carrying a one-time fee, and no renewal period for it appears in MCL 289.4102.

Food safety training

No food safety training, food handler card or certification course is required of a Michigan cottage food operation. Neither MCL 289.4102 nor MDARD's cottage food pages impose any training condition, and MDARD confirms there is no paperwork of any kind to file. MDARD does expect safe food handling, good hygiene and proper storage in the home kitchen, and it points cottage food producers to its guidelines for providing safe food samples at farmers markets when they hand out samples.

Inspection

There is no routine inspection. MCL 289.4102(1) exempts a cottage food operation from the licensing and evaluation provisions of the Food Law, and that is exactly what the mandatory label statement discloses to buyers. MDARD is clear that the exemption is narrow: cottage food operations are still considered food establishments, food offered to the public must be safe and unadulterated wherever it is made, and the operator carries the responsibility for that. If a complaint is filed or a foodborne illness is linked to a product, MDARD will investigate, and as part of that investigation it may enter and inspect the production and storage areas, view and copy records, and take photographs. MDARD may also seize product suspected of being adulterated, order corrections of label violations, and require an operator to stop making unapproved products. Separately from any complaint, MDARD may request written documentation to verify the annual gross sales figure, and sales records must be produced to a food inspector on request.

What your city or county may add

The state exemption only removes MDARD licensing and routine inspection; MCL 289.4102(7) says it does not affect the application of any other state or federal law or any applicable ordinance of a local unit of government. MDARD tells producers to contact their own local unit of government about local regulations, which typically means zoning for a home-based business, and a DBA may be required by the county or municipality. Farmers markets and other direct-marketing venues are entitled to set their own conditions: MDARD confirms a market may require its vendors to hold a food establishment licence or meet other requirements even though they qualify as cottage food operations. Two home-infrastructure points involve the local health department rather than MDARD: water from a private well should be tested at least annually for coliform bacteria and partial chemistry, and the local health department can advise on drinking water quality and well construction; and because added bakery wastewater can shorten the life of a septic system, MDARD recommends having the local health department evaluate the septic system before starting production. Bake sales and potlucks are not covered by the cottage food exemption, though bake sales run by charitable, religious, fraternal or other nonprofit organisations serving only home-prepared foods have their own licensing exemption under the Food Law.

Program sources: Michigan Public Act 51 of 2025 (Enrolled House Bill 4122), amending MCL 289.1105, 289.1111 and 289.4102 of the Food Law, 2000 PA 92, approved December 23, 2025 — full text read — https://legislature.mi.gov/documents/2025-2026/publicact/pdf/2025-PA-0051.pdf · MCL 289.4102, Cottage food operation; exemption from licensing and evaluation provisions; requirements (as amended by 2025 PA 51) — https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-289-4102 · MCL 289.1105, definitions including 'cottage food operation' and 'cottage food product' (as amended by 2025 PA 51) — https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-289-1105 · House Fiscal Agency Legislative Analysis, 'Cottage Food Law Amendments', House Bill 4122 as reported from committee, revised 4-22-25 — https://legislature.mi.gov/documents/2025-2026/billanalysis/House/pdf/2025-HLA-4122-48CD5RBQ.pdf · MDARD, Cottage Food — Getting Started and FAQ — https://www.michigan.gov/mdard/food-dairy/cottage-food/getting-started-faq · MDARD, Cottage Food — What Can I Make? (allowable food products list by category) — https://www.michigan.gov/mdard/food-dairy/cottage-food/what-can-i-make · MDARD, Cottage Food — Labeling — https://www.michigan.gov/mdard/food-dairy/cottage-food/labeling · MDARD, Cottage Food — Selling and Samples — https://www.michigan.gov/mdard/food-dairy/cottage-food/selling-and-samples