Cottage Food Label Requirements in Mississippi (2026)

Cottage food rules in Mississippi — the whole program

Who can sell homemade food in Mississippi

Mississippi's cottage food program is a single statutory exemption, Miss. Code Ann. § 75-29-951, titled the Mississippi Regulation of Cottage Food Operations. The statute's operative sentence is that 'a cottage food operation must comply with the applicable requirements of this section but is exempt from the permitting requirements of Section 41-3-18 if the cottage food operation complies with this section and has annual gross sales of cottage food products that do not exceed ... Thirty-five Thousand Dollars ($35,000.00)'. Two consequences follow and define the whole program. First, there is nothing to apply for: the exemption is self-executing, so an operator who stays inside the statute simply begins, with no licence, permit, registration, application or fee from the Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH). Second, the exemption is conditional and self-policing — exceeding the cap, selling a food outside the allowed list, or selling through a prohibited channel does not trigger a penalty box inside the cottage food regime, it removes the operator from § 75-29-951 entirely and makes them an unpermitted food establishment under § 41-3-18. MSDH states that operations not following the regulation 'are considered illegal food establishments or manufacturers' and are subject to enforcement to cease operations plus a monetary fine up to $1,000.00. The production site is narrow and non-negotiable. Cottage food products must be made in the kitchen of the operator's private home — a house, apartment, condominium or rental home where the operator actually lives — and MSDH answers 'No' to whether an outbuilding such as a shed or barn, or a rented kitchen, may be used. Ingredients and finished products may be stored in that private home, in the kitchen or in attached rooms within the home used exclusively for storage, and those rooms must be free of insects and rodents, free of dirt and dampness, and free of other environmental sources of contamination. Home equipment is accepted as-is: MSDH confirms a cottage food operator is not required to replace the stove, refrigerator or other home equipment with commercial-grade units. The statutory annual gross sales figure is computed broadly — § 75-29-951(1)(b) provides that 'a cottage food operation's annual gross sales include all sales of cottage food products at any location, regardless of the types of products sold or the number of persons involved in the operation', and the operation must give MSDH written documentation verifying its annual gross sales on request. Section 75-29-951(6) closes the loop the other way: the section does not apply to a person operating under a food permit issued under § 41-3-18, so a permitted establishment cannot also claim cottage food status. Section 75-29-951(4) preserves federal obligations — the exemption does not relieve a cottage food operation of any federal tax law, rule, regulation or certificate applicable to all cottage food operations.

What you may and may not sell

Allowed:

• Baked goods without cream, custard or meat fillings, such as breads, biscuits, cookies, pastries and tortillas
• Fruit pies
• Candy
• Chocolate-covered nonperishable foods, such as pretzels, nuts and fruit, except melons; whole uncut fruit dipped in chocolate or a sweet coating is allowed, but the coated fruit may not be punctured with a stick or other holding instrument, so caramel or candied apples must be sold intact and the consumer inserts the stick after purchase
• Dried fruit, except melons
• Dried pasta
• Dried spices and dry rubs
• Dry baking mixes
• Granola, cereal and trail mixes
• Nut mixes
• Popcorn
• Vinegar and mustard
• Waffle cones
• Jams, jellies and preserves that comply with the standards of identity in 21 C.F.R. Part 150
• Acidified foods meeting the definition in 21 C.F.R. Part 114 — low-acid foods to which acid(s) or acid food(s) are added, having a water activity greater than 0.85 and a finished equilibrium pH of 4.6 or below; MSDH limits this to acidified canned plant-based foods
• Air-dried hard-cooked eggs with intact shell (the only egg product allowed)

Not allowed under the program:

• Any potentially hazardous food — the statutory limit is to 'nonpotentially hazardous food products as defined by the department', meaning foods that do not require time and/or temperature control for safety, can be safely kept at room temperature, do not require refrigeration even after opening, and have not been found by FDA to support the growth of pathogens
• Meat, fish and poultry
• Dairy products, including custard pies
• Eggs, other than air-dried hard-cooked eggs with intact shell
• Baked goods with cream, custard or meat fillings
• Cooked vegetables, cooked potatoes, legumes, beans and rice
• Raw seed sprouts
• Sliced melons; melons are also excluded from the dried-fruit and chocolate-covered categories
• Garlic and other fresh herbs in oil
• Nut butters
• Fruit and vegetable juices
• Low-acid canned foods — vegetables, meats, seafood and others above pH 4.6; canned fruits and vegetables generally are not cottage foods, only acidified plant-based foods at pH 4.6 or less
• Smoked fish
• Pasteurized and pre-cooked foods
• All beverages and other liquid foods — MSDH excludes them because a cottage food kitchen is not inspected, so the water used cannot be verified as coming from a potable source
• Jams and jellies made with sugar substitutes; sugar-free or reduced-sugar jams and jellies are not cottage foods
• Catering, which MSDH treats as requiring a retail permit rather than qualifying as a cottage food operation
• MSDH states the prohibited list is 'not limited to' the items named, so unlisted products are assessed against the non-potentially-hazardous test rather than presumed allowed

How much you may sell

$35,000 in gross annual sales. The figure is statutory: § 75-29-951(1)(a) sets the exemption threshold at 'Thirty-five Thousand Dollars ($35,000.00)', raised from $20,000 by House Bill 326 of the 2020 Regular Session, approved by the Governor on 25 June 2020 and effective 1 July 2020. It is a gross figure, not net, and § 75-29-951(1)(b) aggregates it across every location, every product type and every person involved in the operation, so two sellers or two market stalls do not double the allowance. MSDH may require written documentation verifying annual gross sales. The cap is a condition of the permit-fee exemption rather than a sales ban: crossing $35,000 does not cap the business, it ends the exemption and moves the operation under the food establishment permitting requirements of § 41-3-18. As of the verification date the cap remains $35,000: every bill filed since 2021 to raise it died in committee, the most recent two on 3 February 2026.

Where you may sell

• Direct sales from the producer to the actual end consumer, person to person, with the producer present to make the sale
• Sales from the operator's private home where the products are made
• Farmers markets; the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce confirms that cottage food operators are the exception to the vendor permit rule at certified farmers markets
• Municipal fairs and county fairs (venues named in Mississippi State University Extension publication P3286)
• PROHIBITED — sales over the Internet. Section 75-29-951(2) states that a cottage food operation may not sell or offer for sale cottage food products over the Internet, by mail order, or at wholesale or to a retail establishment. What HB 326 (2020) added was the proviso that this 'does not prohibit the advertising of cottage food products over the Internet, including through social media'. Advertising online is lawful; taking the sale online is not. Mississippi State University Extension states the position in the same terms: Internet use is permitted for marketing and advertising products only
• PROHIBITED — mail order
• PROHIBITED — wholesale, and any sale to a retail food establishment such as a restaurant, convenience store or grocery store
• PROHIBITED — consignment. MSDH states the sale must be from the producer to the actual customer, that cottage foods may not be sold with or associated with a regulated food business, and that the regulated food establishment involved will itself be subject to enforcement
• PROHIBITED — interstate sales. MSDH states cottage food products may be sold only in Mississippi, and that cottage foods made in other states may not be sold in Mississippi

Permit, registration and fees

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

1. No application, registration, notification or approval is filed with MSDH. Section 75-29-951 grants the exemption from § 41-3-18 permitting by operation of law to any operation that complies with the section; MSU Extension states that cottage food operations are exempt from the requirements of typical food service establishments and that no state licence or permit is required
2. Confirm before starting that every product intended for sale appears on, or fits, the non-potentially-hazardous list, since eligibility is product-driven and there is no agency review to catch an error; MDAC notes some products may need to be evaluated case by case and that documentation of proper processing may be required where there is doubt as to safety
3. Prepackage every product and affix a compliant label before sale — § 75-29-951(3) allows a cottage food operation to sell 'only' products that are prepackaged with a label bearing the required information, so labelling is a condition of the exemption and not a formality
4. Keep records adequate to produce, on MSDH request, written documentation verifying the operation's annual gross sales against the $35,000 threshold
5. Contact the city, or the county if the private home is outside the city limits, to determine whether a business licence or other local permit is required
6. Address taxes, zoning and insurance, which MSDH lists as separate considerations, and observe any federal tax law, rule, regulation or certificate preserved by § 75-29-951(4)

Fee: None. There is no state application, registration, permit or renewal fee for a cottage food operation, because the exemption in § 75-29-951(1)(a) is precisely an exemption from the permitting requirements of § 41-3-18. No fee appears in the statute or in MSDH's guidance. A local business licence, if the city or county requires one, may carry its own fee, and no amount for that is stated in any source read here. The only monetary figure attached to the program is punitive: MSDH states illegal operations are subject to a fine of up to $1,000.00.

Renewal: Not applicable. Nothing is issued, so nothing expires or renews. Compliance is instead continuous and re-tested every year against the $35,000 gross annual sales threshold and the product and channel restrictions.

Food safety training

Not required. MSDH's answer to whether any training or certificate is needed to become a cottage food operator is that 'training and certification is highly encouraged for general food safety education and for acidified canned foods' — encouraged, not mandated, and no course, hour count or certificate is imposed by § 75-29-951. The encouragement is sharpest for acidified and pickled products: MSDH warns that improper acidification can lead to botulism, which has a very high fatality rate, and that improperly acidified or processed home acidified foods are the source of most foodborne outbreaks in that category. MDAC likewise says producers of acidified foods such as salsas and pickled products are highly encouraged to get training in the special requirements and procedures for those foods. On laboratory analysis, MSDH says operators are typically not required to send products to a laboratory for an official ingredient list, but that if a complaint is received and there are serious doubts as to the accuracy of the ingredient list, laboratory testing may be required; acidified food processors are strongly encouraged to send samples for analysis, a service Mississippi State University offers, and for consultation. Separately, operators are expected to store cottage food products in the home following safe food handling guidelines outlined in the U.S. FDA Retail Food Code, to prevent adulteration from insects, household chemicals, water damage or unsanitary conditions.

Inspection

Complaint-triggered only, and this is the structural core of the Mississippi model. Section 75-29-951(5)(a) permits MSDH to investigate any complaint alleging that a cottage food operation has violated the section or a rule adopted under it, and subsection (5)(b) confines entry to that situation in express terms: 'Only upon receipt of a complaint, the department's authorized officer or employee may enter and inspect the premises of a cottage food operation to determine compliance with this section and department rules.' MSDH restates it plainly — an inspection will only be conducted if a complaint is received that adulterated or otherwise unsafe food has been produced, and laboratory confirmation may be required. There is no routine, opening or periodic inspection, and no plan review. Refusal is not a free option: § 75-29-951(5)(b) provides that a cottage food operation's refusal to permit the department's authorized officer or employee entry to the premises, or to conduct the inspection, is grounds for disciplinary action under § 41-3-59. MSDH also explains the trade-off that this design rests on — because cottage food operations are not inspected, the allowable product list has to be limited to foods considered low risk or non-potentially hazardous, whereas operators of licensed and inspected retail food facilities must meet requirements for training, food safety and handling. The same logic drives the exclusion of all beverages and liquid foods: an uninspected kitchen's water source cannot be verified as potable.

What your city or county may add

State exemption is not local permission. MSDH's answer on other permits and licences is 'You may' — operators are told to check with their city, or their county if the private home is outside the city limits, to determine whether a business licence or other permit is required, and to take taxes, zoning and insurance into account. MSU Extension repeats that additional business permits or licences may be required, especially for operations outside city limits. Selling venues add their own layer: at a certified farmers market, MDAC's July 2025 permit requirements confirm cottage food operators are exempt from the health department food permit that other baked goods and processed foods vendors must obtain, but market operators may impose their own vendor rules, and any product outside the cottage food list sold at the same stall reverts to needing an MSDH food permit. Federal obligations are expressly preserved by § 75-29-951(4). No source read here identifies any Mississippi county or municipality that has opted out of, or added conditions to, the state cottage food exemption itself, and none states whether a locality may lawfully do so.

Program sources: Mississippi Legislature, House Bill 326, 2020 Regular Session, 'As Sent to Governor' enrolled text — AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 75-29-951, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972 ... full amended text of § 75-29-951 including the $35,000 threshold, the Internet/mail-order/wholesale prohibition with the advertising proviso, the seven label elements, the ten-point disclaimer, and the complaint-only inspection authority — https://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/documents/2020/html/HB/0300-0399/HB0326SG.htm · Mississippi Legislature, official bill history, HB 326, 2020 Regular Session (DISPOSITION: Law; 06/25 Approved by Governor; EFFECTIVEDATE July 1, 2020) — https://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/2020/pdf/history/HB/HB0326.xml · Mississippi State Department of Health, 'Cottage Food Operation: Frequently Asked Questions', Revised September 2023, 26 questions (sales limit, allowed and prohibited foods, private home requirement, labelling, allergens, training, laboratory analysis, complaint-only inspection, in-state-only sales, internet advertising, wholesale/consignment/catering prohibitions, $1,000 fine) — https://msdh.ms.gov/msdhsite/_static/resources/5375.pdf · Mississippi State Department of Health, 'Cottage Foods Information' program page (links the September 2023 Q&A; Food Protection Division contact) — https://msdh.ms.gov/msdhsite/_static/30,0,77,620.html · Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce, 'Permit Requirements for Farmers Market Vendors', July 2025 (cottage food operators exempt from the MSDH food permit at certified farmers markets; $35,000 gross annual sales; ten-point disclaimer reproduced in lowercase; acidified-food training encouraged) — https://agnet.mdac.ms.gov/agManage/uploads/1796.pdf · Mississippi State University Extension Service, publication P3286, 'Mississippi Cottage Food Operations: Regulations and Guidance', POD-10-23 (no state licence or permit required; $35,000 gross annual sales; direct producer-to-final-customer sales at home, farmers markets, municipal and county fairs; internet permitted for marketing and advertising only; no inspection unless a complaint is filed) — https://extension.msstate.edu/publications/mississippi-cottage-food-operations-regulations-and-guidance · Mississippi Legislature, official bill history, SB 2394, 2026 Regular Session (cottage foods; increase to $120,000; require certified food handler safety training — DISPOSITION: Dead) — https://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/2026/pdf/history/SB/SB2394.xml · Mississippi Legislature, official bill history, HB 1108, 2026 Regular Session (cottage food operations; increase cap to $200,000 — DISPOSITION: Dead; 02/03 (H) Died In Committee) — https://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/2026/pdf/history/HB/HB1108.xml · Mississippi Legislature, official bill histories and all-measures indexes checked for the 2021-2025 sessions, confirming every cottage food measure died: HB 562 (2021), SB 2781 (2021), HB 814 (2022), SB 2537 (2023), SB 2638 (2024), SB 2265 (2025) — https://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/2024/pdf/history/SB/SB2638.xml and https://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/2025/pdf/history/SB/SB2265.xml