Cottage Food Label Requirements in Pennsylvania (2026)

Cottage food rules in Pennsylvania — the whole program

Who can sell homemade food in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania has no statute called a 'cottage food law'. Home food businesses are instead registered by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture (PDA) as a 'Limited Food Establishment' under The Food Safety Act, 3 Pa.C.S. §§ 5721-5737. The Department allows some limited types of food processing to occur in a 'residential-style kitchen' that may not meet the full regulatory code requirements, where the producer intends to offer the products for sale to the public. PDA uses 'limited food processor' or 'residential-style kitchen' to mean a home-style, residential-style or personal-use kitchen regardless of location, on or off an actual residential property; qualifying operations include warehousing (storing) food on a residential property, processing or handling food from a home residential kitchen, and processing or handling food in a residential-style kitchen not meeting regulatory standards in an alternate location such as a church, fire hall, or remodelled garage or out-building. What may be produced is limited to foods that are NOT potentially hazardous foods (PHFs) — foods that support the growth of pathogenic micro-organisms and require temperature control, hot or cold. PHFs can only be produced in a licensed or registered commercial food establishment kitchen meeting the full regulatory requirements, including separation from residential-use areas and adequate plumbing fixtures; that second kitchen may sit on a residential property, but it must be entirely separate from the private home kitchen and personal-use areas. Registration is mandatory: the Food Safety Act states that it is the duty of every person operating a food establishment within this Commonwealth to register, and approval follows a plan review plus an on-site inspection. PDA also warns that its approval does not imply the business complies with local zoning or ordinances.

What you may and may not sell

Allowed:

• Traditional bakery items that are shelf-stable: cakes, breads, cookies, rolls, muffins, brownies, fruit pies and pastries
• Jams, jellies, fruit preserves, fruit butters, conserves, marmalades and spreads (written procedures or formulas required; jams and jellies must meet their standard of identity, with finished soluble solids of not less than 65% Brix)
• Candy of most types, including fudge, lollipops, chocolates, tortes, hard candy and rock candy
• Chocolate-covered fruit, only where the fruit used has a pH of 4.6 or below (for example most apples and strawberries)
• Acidified and canned foods that reach a pH of 4.6 or less on completion of the recipe: salsa, chow-chow, pickled beets, pickled vegetables, hot sauces and barbecue sauce (process flow approved by the sanitarian before registration and sale)
• Acid or fermented foods with a final equilibrium pH of 4.6 or below
• Vinegars
• Non-hazardous beverages and drinks such as root beer, lemonade, lemon iced tea and other acidic drinks, where pH testing shows 4.6 or below
• Juice sold retail only, tested for pH and shown to be a non-PHF at pH 4.6 or below
• Dry goods, dried herbs and nut mixes
• Dehydrated food
• Honey (a registration fee exemption applies where the honey is produced and processed on the same farm)
• Maple syrup and maple products
• Dressings and sauces that pass the required pH and available water (Aw) testing
• Storage or warehousing of food on a residential property with no handling

Not allowed under the program:

• Any potentially hazardous food that supports the growth of pathogenic micro-organisms and requires temperature control, hot or cold
• Cheesecakes, pumpkin pies, and cream, custard or meringue pastries and desserts
• Any food item with sufficient moisture, high pH (low acidity, above pH 4.6) or ingredients that will support the growth of pathogenic micro-organisms
• Baked goods containing meat or cheeses
• Any product that is not shelf-stable at room temperature and requires refrigeration after preparation
• Low-acid canned foods or beverages above pH 4.6, for example most soups, gravies, un-pickled vegetables and fruits in syrups
• Wholesale juice (juice not sold retail only), which must be pasteurised or achieve a verified 5-log pathogen reduction under a HACCP plan — a residential-style kitchen typically lacks the equipment
• Acidified products whose final equilibrium pH cannot be brought to 4.6 or below
• Any food PDA evaluates case by case and determines to be potentially hazardous — products are assessed individually and the published list is not exhaustive

How much you may sell

No cap. Neither The Food Safety Act (3 Pa.C.S. §§ 5721-5737) nor PDA's Limited Food Establishment application packet and web page sets any annual sales, revenue or volume limit. The Pennsylvania limits are on the food type (non-potentially-hazardous only), on the kitchen, and on registration — not on dollars.

Where you may sell

• Retail direct to consumers from the production site
• Retail from a satellite of the production site owned by the producer, such as a farmers market, roadside stand or fair
• Wholesale, in state and out of state (the application asks the producer to declare retail only, wholesale only, both, or internet sales)
• Internet sales, declared on the registration application
• Interstate sales: PDA directs processors wishing to sell interstate, which it says includes internet sales, to contact their local FDA office and register with FDA to do so
• A retail satellite location or a retail store at the processing site may additionally need a Retail Food License from PDA or from the local health jurisdiction, using a Retail or Farmers Market Vendor Plan Review Packet

Permit, registration and fees

Registration is handled by Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Food Safety and Laboratory Services (general line 717-787-4315; plan review, 2301 N. Cameron St, Room 112, Harrisburg PA 17110, RA-AGPLANREVIEW@pa.gov, fax 717-787-1873). Applications are handled by the PDA regional office covering the applicant's county (seven regions, from Meadville and Montoursville to Greensburg, Martinsburg, Harrisburg, Tunkhannock and Collegeville)..

1. Contact the local municipality (city, township or borough office) to confirm that local ordinances and zoning allow a food business at the chosen property, and record the municipality name and contact date in Section 2 of the application
2. If the site uses a non-public water supply such as a well, have the water tested for coliform and nitrate/nitrite at a laboratory approved by the Department of Environmental Protection, and attach the result; coliform must then be tested annually, and nitrate/nitrite results below 5 MCL need no further testing. No water testing is needed on a municipal or public supply
3. Arrange and pay for any laboratory testing the product requires, and submit the results with the plan review application: pH for acidified, acid, fermented foods and beverages; pH and available water (Aw) for dressings, sauces, salsa and for moist breads, cakes and some pies; soluble solids for jams and jellies; pH and/or Aw for any questionable product
4. Complete the 'Application for Food Establishment Registration - Limited Food Establishment', including the business plan attachment (ingredient suppliers, storage, equipment, production and packaging methods, transportation, how and where the products will be sold, and the addresses of all selling locations)
5. Submit a sample or draft of the intended product label; packaged products must show the name of the product, ingredients in descending order by weight, an allergen declaration if needed, the name and address of the manufacturer or distributor, and net weight or count on the bottom third of the primary panel in no less than 8 pt font
6. Confirm sales tax status and certify that no animals are kept on the premises of the food establishment (Section 4 of the application)
7. Return the completed packet with all attachments to the PDA regional office for the county; PDA recommends applying 60 days before the intended opening date and allows three to five weeks for plan review processing
8. On approval, notify the Food Sanitarian or regional office at least ten days before production to arrange the registration inspection
9. Pass the on-site inspection. The sanitarian collects the $35 registration fee at the time of inspection, after which production and sales may begin; the inspection report serves as official approval until the registration card arrives, which PDA sends within 60 days

Fee: $35. The application itself carries no fee; the $35 registration fee is collected at the time of the first inspection, payable to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The statutory fee at 3 Pa.C.S. § 5734 is $35 per food establishment per year, and several food establishments at the same location operated by one person count as one establishment for fee purposes. A registration fee exemption exists for honey processors where the honey is produced and processed on the same farm, though those processors must still register and be inspected if selling off the processing farm.

Renewal: Annual. Renewal is $35, and PDA's Limited Food Establishment page states that renewal notification is sent roughly 45 days before expiry, with online renewal available through pafoodsafety.pa.gov; the application packet describes annual renewal at $35 via USPS.

Food safety training

No food handler certificate, food safety course or training hour requirement is stated for a Limited Food Establishment in PDA's application packet or on PDA's Limited Food Establishment page, and none appears in 3 Pa.C.S. § 5734. What the packet does require in place of training is an employee health policy, written or verbal, established before opening, covering how ill employees are handled, which symptoms bar work, and what the alternative production plan is if the producer falls ill.

Inspection

Yes — inspection is central to the Pennsylvania model and is what most distinguishes it from a true cottage food exemption. Plans are first reviewed by the regional Food Sanitarian or supervisor, who approves or disapproves in writing; a disapproved application may be re-submitted at any time. Once approved, the sanitarian schedules and conducts an on-site inspection of the production site, discusses the standards and good manufacturing practices expected, and only after a compliant inspection and payment of the $35 fee may the operator produce, store and sell. Registration then carries routine inspection of the food production site by the Department. Standing conditions checked include: no animals or pets in the home at any time where the personal home kitchen is used; no children in the kitchen area during business food processing; restricted use of the residential-style kitchen during business food processing; business ingredients kept separate from personal-use ingredients on separate shelves or cupboards and properly labelled, stored and protected; sanitary conditions maintained in the kitchen and storage areas; and product test results kept at the establishment for review by the sanitarian. Refusing an inspection at a food establishment is among the prohibited acts listed at 3 Pa.C.S. § 5723, as is failure to register under § 5734.

What your city or county may add

Local approval is a prerequisite, not an afterthought. PDA states plainly that Department approval does not imply the business will be in compliance with any local zoning or ordinance, and that all businesses should confirm and receive approval from their local authority for zoning and other code enforcement issues such as sewage disposal. The application requires the applicant to name the municipality contacted and sign that the property or home kitchen may be used for the limited food business. For on-lot (non-public) sewage disposal, the applicant must contact the municipality's certified Sewage Enforcement Officer and confirm the system is adequate. Separately, retail selling locations in a local health department jurisdiction obtain their Retail Food License from that local health department directly rather than from PDA — Allegheny County and Philadelphia being the well-known examples of county and city health jurisdictions. Section 5734 also states that local licensing requirements of counties, cities and townships remain separate obligations.

Program sources: Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Food Safety and Laboratory Services, 'Application Packet - Limited Food Establishment' (cover letter, 'Requirements for Producers in Limited Food Establishments', and Application for Food Establishment Registration), revision 2/2015, 16 pp. — https://www.pa.gov/content/dam/copapwp-pagov/en/pda/documents/consumer_protection/foodsafety/retail-food/retail-food/documents/APPLICATION%20PACKET%20-%20LIMITED%20FOOD%20ESTABLISHMENT.pdf · Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, 'Limited Food Establishment' program page (definition, submission address, 15-business-day plan review, $35 initial and $35 annual renewal, ~45-day renewal notice, online renewal at pafoodsafety.pa.gov, program specialist contacts) — https://www.pa.gov/agencies/pda/food/food-safety/limited-food-establishment- · 3 Pa.C.S. § 5734 (Food Safety Act — registration of food establishments; $35 per food establishment per year; honey/farm exemption; local licensing preserved), FindLaw reproduction — https://codes.findlaw.com/pa/title-3-pacsa-agriculture/pa-csa-sect-3-5734.html · 3 Pa.C.S. § 5723 (Food Safety Act — prohibited acts, including refusing inspection and failure to register under section 5734), FindLaw reproduction — https://codes.findlaw.com/pa/title-3-pacsa-agriculture/pa-csa-sect-3-5723.html · 3 Pa.C.S. § 5722 (Food Safety Act — definitions, including 'food establishment'), FindLaw reproduction — https://codes.findlaw.com/pa/title-3-pacsa-agriculture/pa-csa-sect-3-5722.html · Penn State Extension, 'Food for Profit: Registering Your Business' (PDA jurisdiction under Title 3 Pa.C.S. Part VII Ch. 57 Subch. B; sanitarian visit then registration) — https://extension.psu.edu/food-for-profit-registering-your-business