Cottage Food Label Requirements in Virginia (2026)

Cottage food rules in Virginia — the whole program

Who can sell homemade food in Virginia

Virginia has no separate 'cottage food licence'. Instead, Va. Code § 3.2-5130 makes it unlawful to operate as a food manufacturer, food storage warehouse or retail food establishment until the operation has been inspected by the Commissioner and issued a permit under § 3.2-5100 subsection C — and then carves private homes out of that requirement. VDACS calls the carve-out the Home Kitchen Food Processing Exemption. It has three separate branches, each with its own conditions: subdivision C 3 for a listed set of low-risk shelf-stable foods, subdivision C 4 for pickles and other acidified vegetables at an equilibrium pH of 4.6 or lower, and subdivision C 5 for honey from the resident's own hives. The exemption attaches to the person and the place: the food must be prepared in the private home where the resident lives, and it covers only that home kitchen. Under subsection D, a private home that qualifies under subsection C is exempt from the permit requirement, from the inspection requirement and from the inspection fees — but VDACS keeps the right to inspect a private home if a consumer complaint is received. A resident who wants to make anything outside the three exempt branches (temperature-controlled foods, meat and dairy products, low-acid canned goods, or products destined for resale by shops and restaurants) does not lose the option of working at home: they apply instead for a VDACS Permit for a Home Food Processing Operation, which means an application, a documented zoning approval, a scheduled first inspection, unannounced routine inspections afterwards, and a $40.00 annual fee. So the real Virginia choice is exempt-and-restricted versus permitted-and-inspected, in the same kitchen.

What you may and may not sell

Allowed:

• Baked goods that do not require time or temperature control after preparation (breads, cookies, brownies, fruit pies, cakes)
• Candies
• Jams and jellies that are not low-acid or acidified low-acid food products
• Dried fruits
• Dried herbs
• Dry seasonings
• Dry mixtures
• Coated and uncoated nuts
• Vinegars and flavored vinegars
• Popcorn and popcorn balls
• Cotton candy
• Dried pasta
• Dry baking mixes
• Roasted coffee
• Dried tea
• Cereals
• Trail mixes
• Granola
• Pickles with an equilibrium pH of 4.6 or lower, under the separate acidified-vegetable branch (§ 3.2-5130 C 4)
• Acidified vegetables at an equilibrium pH of 4.6 or lower — pickled products, salsa, chow-chow, relishes and similar vegetables (§ 3.2-5130 C 4)
• Pure honey from the resident's own hives, under the honey branch (§ 3.2-5130 C 5)

Not allowed under the program:

• Any food that requires time or temperature control after preparation (the statutory test for the low-risk branch)
• Low-acid canned foods and acidified low-acid food products outside the pH 4.6 acidified-vegetable branch
• Canned fermented foods
• Canned foods that require refrigeration for safety
• Canned acid foods and canned fruits
• Low-acid canned vegetables
• Infused or otherwise value-added honey, which VDACS does not treat as the pure honey the exemption covers
• Any food not named in the § 3.2-5130 C 3 list and not an acidified vegetable or honey — the list is exhaustive, not illustrative
• Any exempt product offered for sale to be used in, or offered for consumption in, a retail food establishment
• Any exempt product sold for resale or on consignment

How much you may sell

No dollar cap on low-risk foods; $9,000 a year on pickles and acidified vegetables; under 250 gallons a year on honey. Low-risk foods under § 3.2-5130 C 3 (baked goods, candies, jams and jellies, dried and dry products) carry no dollar cap — the statute sets none and the VDACS fact sheet sets none. Pickles and acidified vegetables under § 3.2-5130 C 4 are capped at $9,000 in gross sales in a calendar year; VDACS reads that as $9,000 in total annual gross sales for all acidified products produced, and advises keeping running documentation of sales for examination. Honey under § 3.2-5130 C 5 is capped by volume rather than money: the resident must sell less than 250 gallons of honey annually, and must not process and sell other food products besides honey except those allowed under the low-risk and acidified branches.

Where you may sell

• Direct to an individual in the Commonwealth for that individual's own consumption, and not for resale or consignment — this condition runs through both the low-risk and the acidified branches
• Sold at any location, through the internet, or by phone, under the current text of § 3.2-5130 C 3 and C 4
• Delivered in person, by mail, or by delivery service to an individual in the Commonwealth
• Farmers markets and temporary events lasting no more than 14 consecutive days, the venues VDACS names in its Home Kitchen Food Processing Exemptions fact sheet
• From the private home where the product was manufactured
• Not to other businesses: exempt products may not be offered for sale to be used in or offered for consumption in retail food establishments such as grocery stores, supermarkets and restaurants
• Not across state lines — the buyer must be an individual in the Commonwealth
• Honey under the honey branch is treated differently: VDACS states there are currently no restrictions on where honey sold under that exemption may be sold or to whom

Permit, registration and fees

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

1. No application, registration or permit is filed with VDACS to work under the home kitchen exemption — the exemption applies by operation of § 3.2-5130 subsection C once the conditions are met
2. Confirm the product belongs to one of the three branches: a listed low-risk food that needs no time or temperature control, an acidified vegetable at equilibrium pH 4.6 or lower, or honey from your own hives
3. Prepare the food in the private home where you live; the exemption covers only that kitchen
4. Sell only to an individual in the Commonwealth for that person's own consumption, never for resale or consignment, and never for use in a retail food establishment
5. Label the principal display panel with the name, physical address or post office box number, and telephone number of the person preparing the food product; the date the food product was processed; and the statement 'NOT FOR RESALE PROCESSED AND PREPARED WITHOUT STATE INSPECTION'
6. Where the package is not large enough to bear such a label, offer the product for sale with a sign carrying the same information; VDACS also accepts a sign at the point of sale where the product is too small for a readable label or is sold to be consumed on site
7. Add the standard federal-style label information the exemption does not displace: product name, net weight statement, name and address of the manufacturer, ingredient and sub-ingredient list, and nutrition information where applicable
8. For honey, use the different statutory statement instead: 'PROCESSED AND PREPARED WITHOUT STATE INSPECTION. WARNING: Do Not Feed Honey to Infants Under One Year Old.'
9. For acidified vegetables, verify equilibrium pH with an electronic pH meter — VDACS states paper strips are not accurate enough — run a separate pH test for each different product offered for sale, keep sales under $9,000 per calendar year, and have the process reviewed by a competent process authority; a Better Process Control School course is strongly encouraged
10. If the product falls outside all three branches, take the permitted route instead: file the VDACS Permit Application for a Home Food Processing Operation with a zoning approval document, a diagram of processing and storage areas, coliform-absent water test results for a private well, sewage system documentation, an employee training record, an allergen cross-contact plan, an ingredient list with sources, a product information sheet and a label for each product, then pass the scheduled first inspection

Fee: No fee under the exemption. VDACS states expressly that an exempt home processor is not required to pay the $40.00 annual fee, and asks anyone who receives such a bill to call 804-786-3520 or write foodsafety@vdacs.virginia.gov so it can be cancelled. The $40.00 annual fee applies to the permitted, inspected route; it is not collected at the initial inspection but arrives on the next billing cycle.

Renewal: Nothing to renew under the exemption, since nothing is issued. On the permitted route the obligation is the recurring $40.00 annual fee plus continuing inspections rather than a dated certificate.

Food safety training

No food safety training, food handler card or certification is required to sell under the home kitchen exemption; neither § 3.2-5130 nor the VDACS fact sheet imposes one. Training becomes mandatory only on the permitted route: the Permit Application for a Home Food Processing Operation requires an Employee Training Record documenting food safety training for the owner and every employee, covering employee health and hygiene, food storage and cooking temperatures, cleaning of food contact surfaces and allergen control. VDACS lists acceptable providers without endorsing one, including NC State Food Safety Education, the Institute for Food Safety at Cornell, ServSafe, the National Registry of Food Safety Professionals and Learn2Serve. For acidified vegetables sold under the exemption, VDACS strongly encourages a recognised Better Process Control School course and validation of the process by a competent process authority, but stops short of requiring either.

Inspection

Under § 3.2-5130 subsection D, a private home qualifying under subsection C is exempt from the permit requirement, the inspection requirement and the inspection fees of the chapter. That exemption is not absolute: the same subsection preserves VDACS's power to inspect any private home if a consumer complaint is received, so an exempt kitchen can still be visited when a buyer complains. VDACS also expects acidified-vegetable producers to keep sales documentation available for examination. The contrast with the permitted route is sharp. A home food processing operation that holds a VDACS permit is inspected before it may operate, and VDACS states that while the first inspection is scheduled, subsequent routine inspections are unannounced — which is why the application asks for the weekdays and hours the business normally runs. That route also brings physical conditions the exemption never triggers: pets must be excluded from processing, storage, packaging and equipment areas by solid latching doors rather than baby gates, private wells must show coliform bacteria absent in a test less than six months old from a lab certified by the Virginia Safe Drinking Water Program, and private sewage systems need documentation from an Alternative Onsite Soil Evaluator, a Professional Engineer or the Virginia Department of Health that the system suits the intended use.

What your city or county may add

The state exemption does not settle the local question. VDACS itself requires written documentation of zoning approval to operate a food business on the property as part of the permitted home food processing application, which shows that county and city zoning offices are the gatekeepers for a food business run out of a residence; VDACS accepts any verifiable documentation from the zoning office. Whether a locality may separately restrict an exempt home kitchen was not confirmed from a primary source. Virginia also splits food oversight by establishment type: VDACS holds food manufacturers, food storage warehouses and retail food establishments under Title 3.2 Chapter 51, while restaurants and food service are regulated by the Virginia Department of Health through local health departments, which is the office to contact before selling any food prepared to order or served for on-site consumption.

Program sources: Va. Code § 3.2-5130, Inspections required to operate food establishment (subsections A, B, C 1 through C 6, and D), official Code of Virginia — https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title3.2/chapter51/section3.2-5130/ · VDACS Food Safety Program, 'Virginia's Home Kitchen Food Processing Exemptions', VDACS-FSP-HKFPE REV 07/2024, 6 pages, read in full — https://www.vdacs.virginia.gov/pdf/kitchenbillfaq.pdf · VDACS Food Safety Program, 'Starting a Home Food Processing Business in Virginia' and the Permit Application for a Home Food Processing Operation, VDACS-FSP-APPHO REV 06/22 — https://www.vdacs.virginia.gov/pdf/homefdapplication.pdf · VDACS, Home and Commercial Kitchen-Based Businesses and Food Service Vendors — https://www.vdacs.virginia.gov/dairy-kitchen-food-services-businesses.shtml