Cottage Food Label Requirements in Vermont (2026)

Cottage food rules in Vermont — the whole program

Who can sell homemade food in Vermont

Vermont does not run a stand-alone 'cottage food law' the way most states do. It runs a licensing statute — 18 V.S.A. § 4351, which provides that 'A person shall not operate or maintain a food manufacturing facility, retail food establishment, lodging establishment, children's camp, seafood vending facility, or any other place in which food is prepared and served, unless he or she obtains and holds from the Commissioner a license authorizing such operation' — and then carves exemptions out of it. Everything a home producer needs sits in that carve-out, and the carve-out was rewritten in 2025. The instrument is Act 42 of 2025, 'An act relating to exemptions for food manufacturing establishments' (H.401): the Governor signed it on June 2, 2025 and Sec. 7 provides that 'This act shall take effect on July 1, 2025.' Act 42 did three things. It created, at 18 V.S.A. § 4301(a)(4)-(6), the first statutory definitions of 'cottage food operation', 'cottage food operator' and 'cottage food product' in Vermont law. It replaced the old dollar test in § 4358(b) — which had exempted 'an individual manufacturing and selling bakery products from his or her own home kitchen whose average gross retail sales do not exceed $125.00 per week', a figure struck by Act 42 § 5 and no longer in force since July 1, 2025 — with a cross-reference to thresholds in the fee schedule. And it added a threshold to that fee schedule at § 4353(a)(3)(C): 'Food manufacturing establishments; cottage food operations — Gross receipts of $30,000.00 or less from the sale of cottage food products are exempt pursuant to section 4358 of this title.' So the correct way to read Vermont is as three tiers, not two. Tier 1, the pure exemption with no filing, does not exist here: Vermont has no tier where a home producer simply sells and tells no one. Tier 2 is license-exempt but registration-required — the tier this fiche is about. There are two doors into it, and § 4358(c) plus Manufactured Food Rule § 6.1 impose the same annual filing and the same annual training on both. Door A is the cottage food operator exemption: Manufactured Food Rule § 6.1.1.2 exempts from the requirement to obtain a license 'A cottage food operation, as defined in this rule, that has gross annual sales of $30,000 or less from the sale of cottage food products.' Door B is the small food processor exemption at Rule § 6.1.1.1: 'A non-bakery food manufacturing establishment that has gross annual sales of $10,000 or less'. The Health Department's own guidance says the two doors stack: 'you can make up to $30,000 worth of cottage foods under the cottage food operator exemption, plus up to $10,000 of processed foods under the exemption for food processors with annual sales of $10,000 or less.' Tier 3 is a full licence with a fee and an opening inspection — a Home Bakery licence at $100.00 under § 4353(a)(3)(B)(I), or a Home Caterer licence at $155.00 under § 4353(a)(1)(VII) — and it is where you land the moment you exceed a threshold, prepare TCS food, or work out of a kitchen you do not own. Who qualifies for Door A is drawn tightly. § 4301(a)(5): a 'cottage food operator' is 'any person who produces or packages cottage food products solely in the home kitchen of the person's private residential dwelling or a kitchen on the person's personal property.' The word 'solely' does work. The Department's guidance answers the rented-kitchen question flatly: 'No. The cottage food operator exemption applies only to the production of cottage foods in the kitchen of a food manufacturer's private, residential dwelling or in a kitchen on the food manufacturer's personal property. If a food manufacturer rents kitchen space, even if it is a licensed commercial kitchen facility, they would need to be licensed to sell the products made there.' A second kitchen on your own land is fine — 'a kitchen on the person's personal property' is in the statute — but an hour in a shared commissary voids the exemption for those products. Note also what the regulator is: the Vermont Department of Health, Food and Lodging Program, not the Agency of Agriculture. Manufactured Food Rule § 3.0 excludes from its scope 'establishments that process food solely under the regulatory oversight of the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food, & Markets, or the Vermont Cannabis Control Board', and § 4301(a)(10) excludes from 'food manufacturing establishment' any 'place where only maple syrup or maple products, as defined in 6 V.S.A. § 481, are prepared for human consumption' — a Vermont-specific carve-out that puts a sugarmaker outside this chapter entirely rather than inside the cottage food exemption.

What you may and may not sell

Allowed:

• The statutory list, verbatim from 18 V.S.A. § 4301(a)(6) and reproduced word for word as Manufactured Food Rule § 4.1.6: 'food sold by a cottage food operator that does not require refrigeration or time or temperature control for safety'. The list is illustrative, introduced by 'such as', not exhaustive
• Nonpotentially hazardous baked goods — § 4301(a)(6)(A). Manufactured Food Rule § 4.1.15 defines 'nonpotentially hazardous baked good' as a bakery product that can be stored at room temperature without risk of growth of pathogens
• Candy — § 4301(a)(6)(B)
• Jams and jellies — § 4301(a)(6)(C)
• Dry herbs — § 4301(a)(6)(D)
• Trail mix — § 4301(a)(6)(E)
• Granola — § 4301(a)(6)(F)
• Cereal — § 4301(a)(6)(G)
• Mixed nuts — § 4301(a)(6)(H)
• Flavored vinegar — § 4301(a)(6)(I)
• Popcorn — § 4301(a)(6)(J)
• Coffee beans — § 4301(a)(6)(K)
• Dry tea — § 4301(a)(6)(L)
• Home-canned pickles, vegetables or fruits — § 4301(a)(6)(M), and this is the most conditional item on the list. The food must have 'an equilibrium pH value of 4.6 or lower or a water activity value of 0.85 or less', AND be 'made using recipes: (i) approved by the National Center for Home Food Preservation; or (ii) reviewed by a food processing authority for safety'. Vermont therefore lets a home canner sell without a licence, but only on a validated recipe: either an NCHFP recipe used as written and free of charge, or your own recipe put through a process authority. The Department's training deck states that 'If you want to use a special recipe for your home-canned cottage food product, you must have a process authority review completed to ensure it is safe', and defines a process authority as a person with expert knowledge of thermal processing of low-acid foods in hermetically sealed containers or of the acidification and processing of acidified foods
• Any other good the Commissioner adds — § 4301(a)(6)(N), 'any other good defined by the Commissioner in rule or policy'; the rule's parallel provision, § 4.1.6.14, reads 'any other goods defined by the Commissioner in policy or pursuant to law'. This is a live expansion route, so a food absent from the list above is not automatically barred. NOT CONFIRMED: whether the Commissioner has yet issued any policy adding goods beyond the thirteen statutory categories; no such policy document was located
• Non-cottage shelf-stable processed foods, but through the OTHER door and under a much lower ceiling: Manufactured Food Rule § 6.1.1.1 exempts 'A non-bakery food manufacturing establishment that has gross annual sales of $10,000 or less'. This tier is not limited to the § 4301(a)(6) list and is not limited to a home kitchen, but $10,000.00 is the whole allowance and bakeries are excluded from it by its own words
• Self-determination is the default, with an optional safety net. Rule § 6.1.2 provides that where a product is not on the list 'or is unclear whether the food product being manufactured falls within the definition of a cottage food product, the cottage food operator may submit a request to the Department for a determination'. The Department's guidance is explicit that this is optional: 'manufacturers do not need to seek approval from the Health Department to determine whether the product they are producing is a "cottage food product"'. The mechanism is the Cottage Food Product Review Request Form, hosted on a third-party survey platform (survey.alchemer.com). NOT CONFIRMED: the turnaround time for a determination, and whether it is issued in writing

Not allowed under the program:

• Anything requiring refrigeration or time/temperature control for safety. This is the operative test, not a list: § 4301(a)(6) admits only food 'that does not require refrigeration or time or temperature control for safety'. Manufactured Food Rule § 7.4 incorporates by reference 'the definition of "time/temperature control for safety food" from the FDA 2022 Food Code, January 18. 2023 version, not including any further editions or amendments thereof' — so the operative definition is a fixed federal text, and a later Food Code revision does not move Vermont's line
• Refrigerated baked goods, named as the trap they are. The Department's guidance: 'foods that need to be cooked for a certain length of time or kept at a certain temperature to prevent risks of illness from consumption, such as baked goods that need to be kept cold, like quiche, cheese danish, and cheesecake, are not cottage foods and do not qualify for the exemption'
• Meat (beef, pork, lamb) — listed by the Department as a TCS food
• Poultry (chicken, turkey, duck) — listed as TCS
• Fish, shellfish and crustaceans — listed as TCS
• Eggs — listed as TCS
• Milk and dairy products — listed as TCS
• Cooked plant-based foods such as cooked rice, beans or vegetables — listed as TCS
• Baked potatoes — listed as TCS
• Mushrooms — listed as TCS
• Raw sprouts — listed as TCS
• Tofu and soy-protein foods — listed as TCS
• Untreated garlic and oil mixtures — listed as TCS
• Dehydrated meats, and — this one surprises people — dehydrated fruits and vegetables. The Department answers the question directly: 'No. Meats are a potentially hazardous food and are not cottage food products that fall under the exemption. Dehydration of fruits and vegetables is a specialized process that requires special equipment to ensure the food is consistently processed to a water activity value that would make the food non-potentially hazardous.' Several states expressly allow dried fruit as a cottage food; Vermont's Health Department does not
• Prepared meals and food cooked later at an event. Department guidance: 'If you make prepared food/meals for sale direct-to-customer or prepare food for cooking later at a special event or at a farmers market, you need a Home Caterer License. You may also need a Temporary Food Service License for the event.' A caterer is a food SERVICE establishment under § 4301(a)(11), a different rule and a different licence — not a cottage food operation
• Home-canned low-acid foods on an unvalidated recipe. A low-acid food is defined at Manufactured Food Rule § 4.1.14 as one 'with a finished equilibrium pH greater than 4.6 and a water activity (aw) greater than 0.85'; § 4301(a)(6)(M) admits home-canned goods only at pH 4.6 or below or aw 0.85 or less, on an NCHFP or process-authority recipe. Canned green beans, plain vegetable soups and similar low-acid packs are outside the exemption
• Maple syrup and maple products are not prohibited — they are outside this chapter altogether. § 4301(a)(10) excludes from 'food manufacturing establishment' a place where only maple syrup or maple products as defined in 6 V.S.A. § 481 are prepared. A maple producer should ask the Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets, not the Health Department, and should not file a Health Department exemption for syrup alone. NOT CONFIRMED: the Agency of Agriculture's own registration duties for maple; not researched for this fiche

How much you may sell

$30,000.00 in gross annual receipts from the sale of cottage food products, set by 18 V.S.A. § 4353(a)(3)(C) as amended by Act 42 (2025) and restated in Manufactured Food Rule § 6.1.1.2. Read the wording carefully: the statute says 'Gross receipts of $30,000.00 or less', so $30,000.00 exactly is inside the exemption and $30,000.01 is outside; the rule phrases the same test as 'gross annual sales of $30,000 or less'. It is gross, not net — no deduction for ingredients, booth fees or packaging — and it is measured on cottage food products specifically, not on total household income. The former ceiling was far lower and is repealed: until Act 42 took effect on July 1, 2025, § 4358(b) exempted a home baker only where 'average gross retail sales do not exceed $125.00 per week', wording struck by Act 42 § 5 and no longer in force, and the Legislature said plainly in Sec. 1(4) of the act that its intent was that producers 'benefit from raising the limit of the existing licensing exemption for at-home bakery products to adjust for inflationary cost changes occurring since the initial statutory enactment'. Any guidance still quoting $125.00 per week, or the roughly $6,500 a year it implied, is describing a superseded regime. A second and separate ceiling exists for the other exempt door: $10,000.00 gross annual sales for a non-bakery food manufacturing establishment, per Manufactured Food Rule § 6.1.1.1 and § 4353(a)(3)(A)(III). The Department's guidance says the two stack — $30,000 of cottage foods plus $10,000 of other processed foods — and a producer using both is exempt from licensure on both. Wording caution: the Health Department guidance sheet describes the smaller tier as sales 'of less than $10,000.00', while both the statute and the adopted rule say '$10,000.00 or less'; at exactly $10,000.00 trust the statute, not the guidance. Crossing $30,000.00 does not end the business, it ends the exemption: § 4353(a)(3)(B)(I) prices a Home Bakery licence at $100.00 a year, and the Department warns that 'Non-exempt food manufacturers that operate without a license may be subject to legal actions, including monetary penalties or a health order requiring that operations cease.' NOT CONFIRMED: how the Department treats the year you cross the line — whether you must be licensed before the sale that breaks $30,000 or by some grace date after the calendar year — and whether the $30,000 figure is indexed going forward. Neither Act 42 nor the rule contains an indexation clause; ask the Food & Lodging Program.

Where you may sell

• No channel list, and that is the notable thing. Neither 18 V.S.A. §§ 4301, 4351, 4353 or 4358 nor Manufactured Food Rule §§ 4.0 or 6.0 enumerates permitted venues. Vermont did not write the 'farmers markets, roadside stands, community events' list that most cottage food statutes contain, so the exemption is defined by the food, the kitchen and the dollar figure — not by where the sale happens
• One hard prohibition, and it is a real limit: no sales to restaurants or other licensed food establishments. Department guidance, twice: 'Food made under a license exemption cannot be sold to restaurants or other licensed food establishments', and 'Food service establishments, like restaurants, may only purchase food products from licensed food manufacturers per Health Regulations for Food Service Establishments Rule Section 5-204.' The bar is in the food service rule that binds the BUYER, so the restaurant is the party in breach, but the effect on the exempt producer is the same. NOT CONFIRMED as read text: Section 5-204 of the Health Regulations for Food Service Establishments was cited by the Department but was not opened for this fiche; the wholesale-to-restaurant prohibition rests on the Department's own statement of it
• Retail to stores appears open. The fee schedule at § 4353(a)(3) describes a food manufacturing establishment as a person who processes 'food for resale to restaurants, stores, or individuals', and the Department's prohibition names restaurants and licensed food establishments — not grocery or retail shops, which are not food service establishments. NOT CONFIRMED: whether the Food & Lodging Program treats a Vermont general store or co-op as a 'licensed food establishment' for this purpose. This is the single question most likely to change a wholesale plan, and it should be put to FoodLodging@vermont.gov in writing before any store order is accepted
• Farmers markets: nothing in the statute or the rule bars an exempt cottage food operator from a farmers market, and the Department's own guidance discusses farmers markets only to say that PREPARING food for cooking later at a market requires a Home Caterer licence and possibly a Temporary Food Service licence. Selling pre-packaged, correctly labelled cottage food at a market is not treated as a separate regulated activity
• Interstate and shipping: not prohibited by Vermont, but not blessed either. Department guidance: 'Food products crossing state lines are considered interstate commerce and subject to applicable federal rules and regulations. The laws of the state where you are selling the product may also apply. Check with the state jurisdiction where you are interested in selling your food product for applicable requirements for your business.' Vermont neither authorises nor forbids out-of-state shipment of cottage food; it hands the question to federal law and to the destination state. Practical reading: the exemption is from a Vermont licence, and it cannot exempt anyone from another state's law
• Online ordering: no provision addresses it either way. NOT CONFIRMED — treat internet sales into Vermont addresses as permitted on the same terms as any other direct sale, since no channel restriction exists, but confirm with the Food & Lodging Program before building a shipping business on the exemption
• Bulk (unpackaged) sales are contemplated and get lighter labelling. The Department: 'Food that is sold in packaged form needs to be labeled. Food items sold from bulk containers do not need to be individually labeled, but can instead display a clearly visible sign, placard or table tent at the service location that bears the label information'

Permit, registration and fees

Registration is handled by Vermont Department of Health, Food and Lodging Program. Statutory basis: 18 V.S.A. § 4301(a)(3) defines 'Commissioner' as the Commissioner of Health, § 4301(a)(7) defines 'Department' as the Department of Health, and Manufactured Food Rule § 1.0 states that the rule 'is adopted pursuant to 18 V.S.A. §§ 4303 and 4353'. Published contact points, read on the Department's own pages: FoodLodging@vermont.gov and 802-863-7221 (the guidance sheet's footer also carries HealthVermont.gov/FoodLodging). The filing itself is made in the Department's licensing portal at vtdoh.safefoodinspection.com. This is NOT the Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets — a distinction that matters in Vermont, where farm and maple products sit with Agriculture and the same producer may deal with both agencies..

1. Classify the product before anything else. Test it against § 4301(a)(6): does it require refrigeration or time/temperature control for safety? If yes, there is no exemption and the question becomes which licence. If the product is not on the thirteen-item list and you are unsure, either reason it out against the FDA 2022 Food Code TCS definition incorporated by Manufactured Food Rule § 7.4, or file the optional Cottage Food Product Review Request Form; the Department is explicit that its approval is not required
2. Check the kitchen. § 4301(a)(5) requires production or packaging 'solely in the home kitchen of the person's private residential dwelling or a kitchen on the person's personal property'. A rented or shared commercial kitchen defeats the exemption for anything made there, per the Department's own FAQ
3. Pick the door and the ceiling. Cottage food products: $30,000.00 gross receipts or less (§ 4353(a)(3)(C), Rule § 6.1.1.2). Non-bakery processed food that is not a cottage food product: $10,000.00 gross annual sales or less (Rule § 6.1.1.1). Both may be used at once
4. Complete the training BEFORE you begin. Manufactured Food Rule § 6.2.2.1: 'Both before beginning manufacturing and annually thereafter, a license exempt food manufacturing establishment shall complete training approved by the Department in food handling, cleanliness, sanitation, and healthfulness and attest to the completion of the training as required by Section 6.1 of this Rule.' The approved training is the Department's own 'License Exempt Food Processors and Cottage Food Operators Training', published as a slide deck on healthvermont.gov and free
5. If you use a private well, test the water first. Department guidance: 'If you use a private well for water, test water annually for total coliform bacteria and E. coli at a certified lab. You must submit a copy of acceptable test results before an inspection can be done.' Note the wording — the test is annual and is a precondition to an inspection, and it is listed among the steps for home-based food operations generally. NOT CONFIRMED: whether an exempt cottage food operator on a private well must submit the results at filing time or only if and when an inspector comes
6. File the licensing exemption in the online portal at vtdoh.safefoodinspection.com. § 4358(c) as amended by Act 42: 'Annually, a food manufacturing establishment claiming a licensing exemption pursuant to this title shall submit to the Department a licensing exemption filing as required by rule. The licensing exemption filing shall require the food manufacturing establishment to attest to the completion of any training required by rule pursuant to section 4303 of this title.' Rule § 6.1 adds that the filing is due 'In each calendar year on or before a date established by the Department' and must contain 'such information requested by the Department to demonstrate compliance with this Rule'. It is a self-attestation, not an application: the Department's FAQ says 'You will receive an email notice that the exemption attestation was received. There is no other documentation or certificate that is sent to you. Once you've completed the online training and filed the exemption attestation, you are ready to operate under the license exemption.' Do not expect a certificate to frame or a number to print
7. Label every packaged product to Manufactured Food Rule § 6.2.1.1, including the verbatim disclaimer 'Made in a home kitchen not inspected by the Vermont Department of Health.' in at least 10-point type in a clearly contrasting colour (§ 6.2.1.1.7). Use the physical address of the home kitchen, not a post office box — the Department's FAQ: 'The purpose of including an address on product labels is to be able to locate the business in case of a recall or traceback'. No permit or exemption number is issued, so none appears on the label
8. Handle the non-food-safety obligations separately, all of them named in the Department's guidance: get the landlord's or property manager's permission if you rent; check municipal land use, development and zoning for residential property with your city or town; register with the Secretary of State if your business structure requires it (sos.vermont.gov); and open a tax account with the Vermont Department of Taxes if necessary
9. Renew every year by January 15, and take the training again each year. If you have filed before, the Department's steps are: re-read the current guidance to confirm you still qualify, review the training, and 'File a new license exemption in the online portal before January 15, 2026, and by January 15 each year after that'

Fee: $0.00. There is no fee for the exemption filing, and that is the point of the exemption rather than an administrative courtesy: § 4358(b) removes 'The obligation to obtain a license and the associated licensure fees' for a qualifying cottage food operation, and the Department states that 'Those who can claim a licensing exemption do not need to obtain a license or pay a fee to operate a food manufacturing establishment.' The required training is also free — it is a Department-published document, not a paid third-party course. Costs the exemption does not cover, all of them real: a private-well water test at a certified lab, a process authority review if you home-can on your own recipe rather than an NCHFP recipe, Secretary of State registration if applicable, and the licence fees you owe the moment you leave the exemption — Home Bakery $100.00, small commercial bakery $200.00, large commercial bakery $350.00, non-bakery food manufacturing establishment $175.00 at gross receipts of $10,001.00 to $50,000.00 and $275.00 above $50,000.00, Home Caterer $155.00, all annual and all from § 4353(a). NOT CONFIRMED: the cost of a process authority review, which is set by the reviewer and not by the State.

Renewal: Annual, on a fixed calendar date: on or before January 15 each year, in the online portal, with a fresh training attestation each time. The statutory duty is annual ('Annually, a food manufacturing establishment claiming a licensing exemption ... shall submit to the Department a licensing exemption filing', § 4358(c)); the rule leaves the date to the Department ('In each calendar year on or before a date established by the Department', § 6.1); and the Department has set that date as January 15, stating it three separate times in its guidance, its FAQ and its site page — 'File a Health Department exemption in the online portal each year before January 15' and 'File a new license exemption in the online portal before January 15, 2026, and by January 15 each year after that'. Two timing points a new operator will otherwise get wrong. First, the January 15 date is a renewal deadline, not a start date: Rule § 6.2.2.1 requires the training 'Both before beginning manufacturing and annually thereafter', so a person starting mid-year trains and files before selling rather than waiting for January. Second, the first cycle under Act 42 was a transition — the Department's training deck instructed producers to 'File a Health Department exemption form after October 2025 and before the deadline of January 15, 2026', and existing exemption holders were told to file a NEW form even though they had filed under the old regime. That transition is over; the standing rule is January 15 annually. NOT CONFIRMED: whether the Department sends a renewal reminder, and what happens to a producer who misses January 15 — no lapse, grace period or reinstatement provision appears in § 4358 or in Rule § 6.0.

Food safety training

Mandatory, annual, free, and a genuine change from the pre-2025 regime, where a Vermont home baker under the old weekly dollar limit had no training duty at all. Act 42 § 3 amended 18 V.S.A. § 4303(a) to add subdivision (7): 'There shall be training requirements for food manufacturing establishment operators and employees to ensure cleanliness, sanitation, and healthfulness.' Act 42 § 5 then wired the duty into the exemption itself: the licensing exemption filing 'shall require the food manufacturing establishment to attest to the completion of any training required by rule pursuant to section 4303 of this title' (§ 4358(c)). The rule that implements it is Manufactured Food Rule § 6.2.2.1: 'Both before beginning manufacturing and annually thereafter, a license exempt food manufacturing establishment shall complete training approved by the Department in food handling, cleanliness, sanitation, and healthfulness and attest to the completion of the training as required by Section 6.1 of this Rule.' Three features are worth pinning down. It is a prerequisite, not a follow-up — 'before beginning manufacturing'. It is annual, not once — 'and annually thereafter'. And it is satisfied by attestation in the exemption filing rather than by a certificate: there is no test score, no proctor, and no card. The approved training is the Department's own 'License Exempt Food Processors and Cottage Food Operators Training' (dated July 2025), a slide deck published free on healthvermont.gov covering what changed in Vermont law, the two exemption types, the cottage food product definition, time/temperature control for safety, home canning and process authority review, and foodborne illness risk factors. No ServSafe certificate, no food handler card and no paid course is required, and none is mentioned anywhere in the statute or the rule. NOT CONFIRMED, and worth asking about if you are a business with staff: § 4303(a)(7) speaks of 'operators and employees', but Rule § 6.2.2.1 imposes the duty on the 'license exempt food manufacturing establishment' without saying whether each helper in the kitchen must train individually. NOT CONFIRMED also: whether the Department has approved any training other than its own deck, and whether the July 2025 deck — which still describes the Manufactured Food EMERGENCY Rule — has been reissued against the final adopted rule effective January 15, 2026. The substantive requirements it teaches were carried into the adopted rule unchanged as far as this fiche could verify, but a producer reading it in 2026 is reading a document written against a superseded instrument.

Inspection

Vermont does not promise you will never be inspected, and it is unusually blunt about it. The Department's guidance: 'Claiming an exemption from the licensing requirements does not exempt you from complying with the food safety and sanitation requirements in the Manufactured Food Rule. A public health inspector may inspect your establishment to make sure you are meeting requirements and to investigate potential public health hazards.' The site page says the same in shorter form: 'A public health inspector may inspect your establishment to make sure you are meeting requirements.' The legal architecture behind that is worth understanding, because it is the opposite of most states. What § 4358(b) exempts is narrow — 'The obligation to obtain a license and the associated licensure fees' — and nothing more. It does not exempt the operator from the substantive rule. Manufactured Food Rule § 6.2 states it directly: 'A food manufacturing establishment that is exempt from the Vermont Department of Health's licensing requirement is required to comply with all other applicable provisions of the law and this rule, including the labeling requirements listed in Section 6.2.1 and training requirements listed in Section 6.2.2.' So an exempt Vermont cottage food operator is a regulated food manufacturing establishment that happens not to need a licence — not an unregulated person. Contrast the licensed route, where inspection is scheduled and mandatory: § 4352 requires an application at least 30 days before opening and issuance only 'when satisfied that the premises are sanitary and healthful', and the Department tells home bakery and home caterer applicants 'You will be assigned a public health inspector for your opening inspection. The Health Department will email you the license once you pass the inspection.' The exempt operator gets no opening inspection and no routine schedule; what remains is a discretionary power. NOT CONFIRMED, and these are the material unknowns: whether the Department in practice inspects exempt cottage food operators absent a complaint, whether there is any routine interval, and what notice precedes a visit. Nothing in § 4358 or Rule § 6.0 sets a frequency, and the statutory inspection and access-to-premises powers of the Commissioner were not traced to a specific section for this fiche. Two adjacent obligations that behave like inspection conditions and that ARE documented: the annual private-well water test for total coliform and E. coli at a certified lab, which the Department says must be submitted 'before an inspection can be done'; and the home-kitchen sanitation expectations the Department publishes — a three-compartment wash/rinse/sanitize capability (a plastic tub may serve as the third compartment where the sink has two), a manual sanitizing step even where a dishwasher is used, sanitizer test strips or a test kit with a food-service-approved sanitizer, no bare-hand contact with ready-to-eat food, a thermometer holding the refrigerator at 41°F or below, food for sale kept separate from household and pet food, production when no other kitchen activity is under way, and children and pets kept out during production.

What your city or county may add

Vermont's cottage food statute contains no preemption clause, and that absence should be read as an absence rather than as permission. Nothing in 18 V.S.A. chapter 85 displaces municipal authority, and the Health Department itself routes producers to their town: 'Contact your city or town to determine if your space follows local land use, development, and zoning for residential properties.' In a state of small towns with active zoning administrators and a live short-term-rental and home-occupation debate, a home food business is a home occupation for zoning purposes and the town, not the Health Department, decides whether it is allowed at your address. The Department is equally direct about the landlord question, which is not a legal preemption issue at all but defeats just as many businesses: 'If you rent, contact your landlord or property manager for permission to operate a home-based business.' Two further non-health obligations survive the exemption because they were never part of it: registration with the Secretary of State depending on how the business is structured (sos.vermont.gov/corporations/registration), and a tax account with the Vermont Department of Taxes 'if necessary'. What is genuinely centralised is the food-safety layer itself. Vermont has no county health departments issuing separate food permits the way West Virginia, New York or Pennsylvania do; the Food and Lodging Program in the Department of Health runs the licensing and inspection of food manufacturing establishments statewide, and there is no second sign-off to obtain. The other jurisdictional line to keep straight is not local but agency-level: Manufactured Food Rule § 3.0 removes from the rule's scope 'establishments that process food solely under the regulatory oversight of the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food, & Markets, or the Vermont Cannabis Control Board', and § 4301(a)(10) removes maple-only operations from the chapter entirely. NOT CONFIRMED: whether any Vermont municipality imposes a specific home food business permit or fee of its own; no municipal ordinance was surveyed for this fiche, and the only correct instruction to a reader is to call the town clerk or zoning administrator.

Program sources: Vermont General Assembly, Act No. 42 of 2025 (H.401), 'An act relating to exemptions for food manufacturing establishments', as enacted — Sec. 1 legislative intent; Sec. 2 amending 18 V.S.A. § 4301 to add 'cottage food operation', 'cottage food operator' and 'cottage food product'; Sec. 3 amending § 4303 to add the training mandate at (a)(7); Sec. 4 amending § 4353 to add the $30,000.00 cottage food operation threshold at (a)(3)(C); Sec. 5 amending § 4358 to replace the former '$125.00 per week' bakery test and to require an annual licensing exemption filing with a training attestation; Sec. 6 directing emergency rulemaking; Sec. 7 'This act shall take effect on July 1, 2025'; 'Date Governor signed bill: June 2, 2025'. Full 8-page PDF downloaded (HTTP 200, 89,737 bytes) and read locally — https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2026/Docs/ACTS/ACT042/ACT042%20As%20Enacted.pdf · Vermont Department of Health, Manufactured Food Rule (Chapter 5 – Food Safety Rules, Subchapter 1), FINAL ADOPTED RULE, Effective Date: 1/15/2026, 13 pages — § 1.0 authority (18 V.S.A. §§ 4303 and 4353); § 3.0 scope and the Agency of Agriculture / Cannabis Control Board exclusions; §§ 4.1.4-4.1.6 cottage food definitions; § 4.1.13 'license exemption'; § 4.1.14 low-acid food; § 4.1.15 nonpotentially hazardous baked good; § 6.1 annual licensing exemption filing; §§ 6.1.1.1-6.1.1.2 the $10,000 and $30,000 exemptions; § 6.1.2 product determination requests; § 6.2 continuing duty to comply; §§ 6.2.1.1.1-6.2.1.1.7 labeling including the verbatim home-kitchen disclaimer in at least 10-point type; § 6.2.2.1 training before manufacturing and annually; § 7.4 incorporating the FDA 2022 Food Code (January 18, 2023 version) definition of TCS food. PDF downloaded (HTTP 200, 199,640 bytes) and read locally — https://www.healthvermont.gov/sites/default/files/document/reg-manufactured-food.pdf · 18 V.S.A. § 4301, Definitions — current codified text including (a)(4) 'cottage food operation', (a)(5) 'cottage food operator', (a)(6) the thirteen-category 'cottage food product' list plus the Commissioner's residual category, (a)(10) 'food manufacturing establishment' with the maple exclusion; read on the Legislature's site (HTTP 200) — https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/section/18/085/04301 · 18 V.S.A. § 4351, License from Department of Health — the licensing requirement the exemption carves out of, plus the bakery bulk-product provisions at (b); read on the Legislature's site (HTTP 200) — https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/section/18/085/04351 · 18 V.S.A. § 4352, Application — application at least 30 days before opening and issuance only when the Commissioner is satisfied the premises are sanitary and healthful; read on the Legislature's site (HTTP 200) — https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/section/18/085/04352 · 18 V.S.A. § 4353, Fees — current codified fee schedule: (a)(1)(VII) Home Caterer $155.00; (a)(3)(A) non-bakery food manufacturing establishments $175.00 at $10,001-$50,000 gross receipts, $275.00 over $50,000, and III exempting gross receipts of $10,000.00 or less; (a)(3)(B) bakeries, Home bakery $100.00, small commercial $200.00, large commercial $350.00; (a)(3)(C) cottage food operations, gross receipts of $30,000.00 or less exempt; read on the Legislature's site (HTTP 200) — https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/section/18/085/04353 · 18 V.S.A. § 4354, Term of license — annual expiry on a date set by the Department; read on the Legislature's site (HTTP 200) — https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/section/18/085/04354 · 18 V.S.A. § 4358, Exemptions — current codified text of (b) the licence and fee exemption for a cottage food operation or other establishment below the § 4353 thresholds, and (c) the annual licensing exemption filing with training attestation; history line 'Amended 2017, No. 76, § 5; 2025, No. 42, § 5, eff. July 1, 2025'; read on the Legislature's site (HTTP 200) — https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/section/18/085/04358 · Vermont Department of Health, 'Food Manufacturing Licensing Exemptions', guidance sheet dated November 2025 — the two exemption tiers, the requirement to complete annual training, file annually by January 15 and label products, the full label list with the 10-point disclaimer and a worked chocolate-chip-cookie example, the sanitation and no-sales-to-restaurants requirements (citing Health Regulations for Food Service Establishments Rule Section 5-204), and the FAQ answers on TCS foods, dehydrated meats and dehydrated fruits and vegetables, rented kitchens, stacking the $30,000 and $10,000 exemptions, home caterer licensing for prepared meals, physical address versus PO box, and interstate sales. NOTE: written against the Manufactured Food EMERGENCY Rule, now superseded by the final adopted rule effective 1/15/2026. PDF downloaded (HTTP 200) and read locally — https://www.healthvermont.gov/sites/default/files/document/env-fl-food-manufacturing-licensing-exemptions.pdf · Vermont Department of Health, 'License Exempt Food Processors and Cottage Food Operators Training', slide deck dated July 2025 — the Department-approved free training whose completion must be attested in the exemption filing; covers what Act 42 changed, the two exemption types, the cottage food product list, time/temperature control for safety and the 41°F-135°F danger zone, home canning at pH 4.6 or below or water activity 0.85 or below on NCHFP or process-authority recipes, what a process authority is, and foodborne illness risk factors. Also states the transition instruction to file 'after October 2025 and before the deadline of January 15, 2026'. NOTE: written against the Manufactured Food EMERGENCY Rule. PDF downloaded (HTTP 200) and read locally — https://www.healthvermont.gov/sites/default/files/document/env-fl-exempt-food-producer-training.pdf · Vermont Department of Health, 'Home-Based Food Licenses and Exemptions', Food & Lodging Program page — the licence-versus-exemption decision path, Home Bakery and Home Caterer licence descriptions with the assigned-inspector opening inspection, the statement that home bakeries under $30,000 gross annual sales may qualify for the cottage food operator exemption, the three exemption duties (annual training, labeling, filing before January 15 in the online portal), the label content list and allergen and nutrition guidance, the bulk-container signage alternative, the home-kitchen sanitation expectations, the private-well annual coliform and E. coli testing requirement, and the landlord, zoning, Secretary of State and Department of Taxes referrals. Retrieved (HTTP 200, 297,392 bytes) and read locally — https://www.healthvermont.gov/environment/food-lodging-program/home-based-food-licenses-and-exemptions · Vermont Department of Health licensing and exemption portal — where the annual licensing exemption filing is submitted and where licence applications are made — https://vtdoh.safefoodinspection.com/Login.aspx · Vermont Department of Health, Cottage Food Product Review Request Form — the optional determination request under Manufactured Food Rule § 6.1.2; hosted on a third-party survey platform. Linked from the Department's own pages; the form itself was not submitted or inspected for this fiche — https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/8356912/Cottage-Food-Product-Review-Request-Form · Contact points for the NOT CONFIRMED items above, both published by the Department on its own pages: FoodLodging@vermont.gov and 802-863-7221, Vermont Department of Health Food and Lodging Program — https://www.healthvermont.gov/environment/food-lodging-program