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Selling homemade food in Nebraska means your label has to follow the Nebraska cottage food / "Producer of food at a private home" exemption under the Nebraska Pure Food Act, Neb. Rev. Stat. § 81-2,280 (applying to a producer described in subdivision (7) of § 81-2,245.01); enacted/expanded by LB 304 (2019) and amended by LB 262 (2024). Administered by the Nebraska Department of Agriculture (NDA), Food Safety & Consumer Protection. Here is exactly what that label must show in 2026 — the required fields, the allergen rule, and the verbatim disclaimer and its font size — sourced to the statute and dated.
Print this statement on the label, word for word:
IMPORTANT — Nebraska is a 'notification' state, not a label-disclaimer state. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 81-2,280(5)(a) does NOT require any statement to be printed on the product label. Instead the producer must inform the consumer by a 'clearly visible notification' that the food (i) was prepared in a kitchen that is not subject to regulation and inspection by a regulatory authority, and (ii) may contain allergens. For sales at a farmers market, fair, festival, craft show, or other public event, the notification must be provided at the sale location (§ 81-2,280(5)(b)); for pickup or delivery sales it must be provided at the producer's private home, on the producer's website (if such website exists), and in any print, radio, television, or Internet advertisement for such sales (§ 81-2,280(5)(c)). The statute fixes the two required elements rather than one exact verbatim string, so equivalent wording conveying both is acceptable. No minimum font size is specified. The product label itself (§ 81-2,280(6)) need only carry the producer's name and address — plus, for TCS foods, ingredients in descending order of predominance. Confirm size/placement with NDA (agr.foodsafety@nebraska.gov / 402-471-3422). Printing the statement only on the label, but not posting it as a visible notification at the point of sale / website / ads, does not meet the requirement.
Nebraska breaks the common pattern: the 'made in an uninspected home kitchen / may contain allergens' statement is NOT a printed label line — it is a clearly-visible NOTIFICATION at the point of sale, and (for pickup/delivery) at the home, on the website, and in every advertisement (§ 81-2,280(5)). The product label itself (§ 81-2,280(6)) only needs the producer's name and mailable address, plus — for TCS foods only — an ingredient list in descending order by weight. Sellers who copy other states' 'Made in a Home Kitchen' label rules over-label and still miss the actual requirement, which is a visible posted/online notice.
§ 81-2,280(5) requires a 'clearly visible notification' at the sale location, and for pickup/delivery at the home, on the website (if any), and in every print/radio/TV/Internet advertisement. Printing it on the jar but never posting it at the market or on your listing page fails the statute — and it is not statutorily required on the label at all.
The statute does not fix one verbatim string; it requires the notice to convey (i) prepared in a kitchen not subject to regulation and inspection by a regulatory authority, and (ii) may contain allergens. Don't treat any one sentence as the legally required text — convey both elements and confirm phrasing with NDA.
Per § 81-2,280(6), only time/temperature control for safety (TCS) foods must list ingredients in descending order of predominance. Most classic cottage foods (breads, cookies, jams, dry mixes, candies) are non-TCS and are not required to list ingredients — though allergen awareness still applies via the notification.
§ 81-2,280(3) requires completing a food-safety/handling course and § 81-2,280(4) requires registering with NDA before any sales (registration also needs private-well nitrate/bacteria water-test results if you use well water). The carve-out is narrow: a producer selling NON-TCS food directly to the consumer at a farmers market is exempt from the course and registration — but must still post the notification, label name/address, and follow county/city/village food-safety rules.
Timeline: Complete a nationally-accredited food-safety/handling course, then register with NDA (no state fee) before your first sale — allow a few business days for processing. A producer selling only non-TCS food directly to consumers at a farmers market is exempt from both the course and registration. No pre-sale inspection of the home kitchen is required.
Cost: $0 — the statute prescribes no state fee for NDA cottage-food registration; confirm current fee status with NDA (402-471-3422).
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Make my Nebraska label →Nebraska requires this exact statement on a cottage food label: “Not a state-prescribed verbatim string. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 81-2,280(5)(a) requires the clearly-visible notification to inform the consumer that the food: (i) 'was prepared in a kitchen that is not subject to regulation and inspection by a regulatory authority'; and (ii) 'may contain allergens.' Equivalent wording conveying both elements is acceptable — NOT verbatim; confirm exact phrasing/placement with NDA.” The state sets no minimum point size for it.
No. Nebraska 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); a telephone number for the operation.
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: Neb. Rev. Stat. § 81-2,280 and § 81-2,245.01 (verbatim reproduction via National Agricultural Law Center): https://nationalaglawcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/assets/cottagefood/Nebraska.pdf ; Nebraska Legislature statute page (source of record, unreachable at check time): https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=81-2,280 ; Nebraska Dept. of Agriculture cottage food page: https://nda.nebraska.gov/fscp/foods/cottagefood ; UNL Cottage Food Law: https://cottagefoodlaw.unl.edu/ Verified 2026-08-10. General information, not legal advice — confirm with your state or local agency before selling.