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Selling homemade food in Wisconsin means your label has to follow the Wisconsin has no cottage food law. Home BAKED goods are legal through a court order — Kivirist v. DATCP, Lafayette County Circuit Court, final order 29 September 2017, which enjoined DATCP from enforcing the food processing plant and retail food establishment licensing laws against home bakers of shelf-stable, not-potentially-hazardous goods sold directly to consumers. No licence, no registration, no inspection, no fee, no cap. Home-CANNED high-acid foods are legal through a statutory exemption, the « Pickle Bill » at Wis. Stat. § 97.29(2)(b)2: equilibrium pH 4.6 or lower, sold at a community or social event or a Wisconsin farmers' market, under $5,000 a year. Anything else made at home — fudge, chocolates, candies, dried mixes, roasted coffee — still requires a commercial licence. 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:
No minimum type size anywhere, so no point value is claimed. The sentence shown is verbatim law, but of ONE door only: Wis. Stat. § 97.29(2)(b)2.e prints it for home-canned high-acid foods, which must also carry the canner's name and address, the date canned and an ingredient list in descending order of prominence, and be sold under a displayed sign reading « These canned goods are homemade and not subject to state inspection. » For home-BAKED goods Wisconsin prescribes no statement at all — the injunction imposed no labelling duty — but Wis. Stat. § 97.03 still makes a food misbranded if it is misbranded within the meaning of 21 USC 343, which is where the common name, maker's name and address, ingredients, net quantity and allergens come from. Heads-up, and it is the expensive one: the December 2022 order that legalised unbaked homemade foods was reversed by the Court of Appeals on 19 November 2024 (2024 WI App 69) and review was denied on 10 April 2025. There is no permit number through either door.
Wisconsin has no cottage food statute. It is the only state on this site where the right to sell homemade food from a home kitchen rests on a court injunction rather than on a licensing program, and where a second, much narrower right rests on a statutory exemption. Wisconsin's baseline rule is that anyone who prepares and sells food directly to consumers for profit must hold a retail food establishment license from the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) and comply with Wis. Stat. § 97.30 and Wis. Admin. Code ch. ATCP 75 and its appendix (the Wisconsin Food Code) — which brings pre-licensing inspection, facility, storage and handling requirements and a license fee. Two doors open out of that baseline. DOOR 1, BAKED GOODS: in Lafayette County Circuit Court Case No. 2016CV6 (Kivirist v. DATCP), the court held on May 31, 2017 that the retail food establishment laws were unconstitutional as applied to sellers of baked, not potentially hazardous, homemade foods such as cookies, cakes and muffins, and enjoined DATCP from enforcing them against that class. DATCP did not appeal, and in 2021 the same court clarified that the order covers homemade shelf-stable foods that have been baked in an oven. DATCP's own current guidance sheet states that certain court orders prohibit enforcement of licensing requirements for home bakers who make baked goods that are not potentially hazardous to sell directly to consumers, and defines baked goods as food generally exposed to dry heat, transferred via air, at a temperature above 140°F, in a closed chamber such as an oven; the finished product must not be potentially hazardous. There is no registration, no fee, no state inspection and no stated sales cap in this door. DOOR 2, HOME-CANNED FOODS ('Pickle Bill', 2009 Wisconsin Act 101, Wis. Stat. § 97.29(2)(b)): a person may sell at retail, without a food processing plant license, pickles or other processed vegetables or fruits that the person prepares and cans at home in Wisconsin with an equilibrium pH of 4.6 or lower, provided sales are at a community or social event, flea market or farmers' market in Wisconsin, gross receipts stay under $5,000 per year, and the product and the point of sale carry the required statements. DATCP calls this 'a narrow exception to the law' and states that most foods sold in Wisconsin must be produced in a licensed facility. Everything outside these two doors — non-baked, non-canned shelf-stable homemade foods such as fudges, candies, energy bars, roasted coffee beans and dried soup mixes — requires a license. A 2021 challenge seeking a third door for those foods (Wisconsin Cottage Food Association v. DATCP) won at the circuit court but was REVERSED by the Court of Appeals on November 19, 2024 (2024 WI App 69, Appeal No. 2023AP367), which held the retail food establishment laws constitutional and remanded with directions to enter judgment for DATCP and dismiss the complaint; the Wisconsin Supreme Court declined review. Legislative attempts to replace this patchwork with a real cottage food program have not succeeded: 2025 Senate Bill 739 and companion 2025 Assembly Bill 748 (registration with DATCP, food safety certificate, liability insurance, home inspection above a $10,000 threshold, $40,000 annual gross sales cap) failed to pass pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 1 on March 23, 2026. As of 2026-08-17 the two-door regime described here is still the law.
Allowed:
Not allowed under the program:
Two different answers, depending on the door. BAKED GOODS: no cap. Neither DATCP's guidance sheet nor its Home Bakers page states any annual sales, revenue or volume limit for home-baked, not potentially hazardous goods sold direct to consumers, and the exemption is an injunction against enforcement rather than a statutory program with a ceiling. HOME-CANNED FOODS: under $5,000 per year. Wis. Stat. § 97.29(2)(b) conditions the exemption on the person receiving less than $5,000 per year from the sale of the food products, and DATCP's fact sheet states 'No more than $5,000 per year per person'. Note that 2025 SB 739 / AB 748 would have imposed a $40,000 cap covering both categories; that bill failed to pass on March 23, 2026 and the $40,000 figure is NOT law.
Wisconsin requires no state permit or registration for a cottage food operation.
Fee: $0 for both exempt doors. No fee exists because neither door involves a state application. For producers who need the retail food establishment license instead, the annual license fee is set by Table ATCP 75.08 B; the lowest categories read for this file were $45.00 for prepackaged TCS food and $60.00 for a simple (non-TCS final product) establishment not serving meals, with a $90.00 pre-licensing inspection fee — these figures were read from a Cornell LII reproduction of ATCP 75.08 and their currency is UNCONFIRMED against the official code, and a weights and measures inspection fee under ATCP 92.12 may be added.
Renewal: Not applicable to either exemption — there is nothing to renew. A retail food establishment license, by contrast, expires June 30 annually (licenses first issued between April 1 and June 30 run to the following June 30), and ATCP 75.08 provides late renewal penalties.
None required by the state for either door. No food handler card, food safety certificate, food protection manager certification or training-hour requirement appears in the Kivirist orders, in DATCP's baked-goods guidance, or in the Pickle Bill materials. DATCP's home-canned foods fact sheet 'strongly encourages' attending proper training and states it is recommended that the producer complete an at-home canning safety course offered by UW-Extension or other training approved by the Food Safety Division — encouragement, not a condition of the exemption. Note that 2025 SB 739 / AB 748 would have made a food preparation certificate mandatory; it failed to pass.
No state inspection in either door, and no inspection is the practical point of both. For baked goods, the court orders bar DATCP from enforcing the retail food establishment licensing and other requirements — which are the vehicle for inspection — against home bakers of not potentially hazardous baked goods. For home-canned foods, DATCP states plainly that inspection is not required, while adding that all customers expect good sanitation and listing practices it asks producers to follow: use clean, effectively sanitized equipment; clean work surfaces with soap and water followed by a bleach-water solution before and after use; keep ingredients separate from other unprocessed foods; keep household pets out of the work area; keep walls and floors clean; adequate lighting; window and door screens in good repair; frequent handwashing; and annual testing of a private well if one is used. DATCP also reminds producers that all food processors are legally liable for what they sell regardless of licensing. By contrast, a producer who needs a retail food establishment license must pass a pre-licensing inspection and is then subject to DATCP's regular inspections under Wis. Stat. § 93.07(24) and ATCP 75.10, with reinspection fees for violations. 2025 SB 739 / AB 748 would have introduced home inspection above a $10,000 sales threshold; it failed to pass.
No Wisconsin source read for this file addresses local authority over home food businesses, and the absence should not be read as preemption. Two structural points do matter. First, DATCP shares retail food licensing with local agent health departments under ATCP 75 — a licensed operation may deal with a county or city agent rather than DATCP, and agent jurisdictions publish their own fee schedules — so a producer who leaves the exempt doors may find the licensing counterparty is local. Second, the exemptions relieve the producer of a state food licence only; zoning, home occupation limits, wastewater, and market or event rules are separate and unaffected. Farmers' market and community event organisers routinely set their own documentation conditions, and the Pickle Bill point-of-sale sign requirement is enforced in practice at the market table. Confirm with the municipality and the market manager before selling.
Program sources: Wisconsin Court of Appeals, Wisconsin Cottage Food Association, Mark Radl, Stacy Beduhn, Kriss Marion, Lisa Kivirist, Dela Ends and Paula Radl v. WI Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection and Randy Romanski, 2024 WI App 69, Appeal No. 2023AP367, Cir. Ct. No. 2021CV13 (Lafayette County), published opinion filed November 19, 2024 — reverses the circuit court, holds Wis. Stat. § 97.30 and ch. ATCP 75 constitutional as applied to sellers of unbaked, not potentially hazardous, homemade foods, and recites the history and scope of the 2017 Kivirist baked-goods injunction at para. 5 and the § 97.30(2)(b)1. / ATCP 75.063(5)-(7) exemptions at para. 4 — https://www.wicourts.gov/ca/opinion/DisplayDocument.pdf?content=pdf&seqNo=878326 · DATCP, Division of Food and Recreational Safety, 'Licenses and Homemade Baked Goods', fact sheet P-DFRS0222 (05/2025) — court orders prohibit enforcement of licensing against home bakers of not potentially hazardous baked goods (Kivirist v. DATCP, Lafayette County Case No. 2016CV06); baked goods definition (dry heat, air, above 140°F, closed chamber); home kitchens only; direct-to-consumer only; wholesalers must be licensed; ongoing litigation caveat — https://datcp.wi.gov/Documents2/HomemadeBakedGoods.pdf · DATCP, 'Licenses and Homemade Baked Goods' program page (Nov. 19, 2024 Court of Appeals decision, baked goods definition, licensing contacts) — https://datcp.wi.gov/Pages/Licenses_Permits/HomeBakers.aspx · DATCP, 'Home-Canned Foods' program page (allowed products, $5,000/yr per person, permitted venues, prohibited channels, required label elements and required point-of-sale sign, allergen list including sesame) — https://datcp.wi.gov/pages/programs_services/fshomecannedfoods.aspx · DATCP, Division of Food Safety, 'Selling Home-Canned Foods — Do It Safe, Do It Legal', FD-PUB-61 (9/2012) — Pickle Bill scope and the statement that it is a narrow exception; allowed and prohibited product lists with named vegetables; $5,000/yr per person; retail only; community/social events, flea markets, farmers' markets; label elements and the required sentence 'This product was made in a private home not subject to state licensing or inspection.'; point-of-sale sign 'These canned goods are homemade and not subject to state inspection.'; pH testing and record-keeping recommendations; sanitation list; producer liability regardless of licensing — https://datcp.wi.gov/documents/homecannedfood%20fd-pub-61-web.pdf · Wis. Stat. § 97.29(2)(b) (Pickle Bill licensing exemption: home-canned pickles or other processed vegetables or fruits at equilibrium pH 4.6 or lower, sold at a community or social event or farmers' market in this state, receipts under $5,000 per year, with label sentence at subd. 2.) — content read via a search-engine reproduction of the official page, official site unreachable — https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/97/II/29/2/b/2 · Wis. Admin. Code § ATCP 75.06 (retail food establishment licensing: no operation without a valid license, one non-transferable license per establishment, pre-licensing inspection for new establishments, June 30 license year, 30 business days to act on a complete application), Cornell LII reproduction — https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/wisconsin/Wis-Admin-Code-SS-ATCP-75-06 · Wis. Admin. Code § ATCP 75.08 Table B (annual retail food establishment license fees; $45.00 prepackaged TCS, $60.00 simple non-TCS final product, $90.00 pre-licensing inspection, reinspection and late renewal fees, ATCP 92.12 weights and measures fee), Cornell LII reproduction — https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/wisconsin/Wis-Admin-Code-SS-ATCP-75-08 · FastDemocracy, bill tracking, Wisconsin 2025 Senate Bill 739 (exemptions from food product licensing for home-prepared pickled fruits, vegetables, baked goods and shelf-stable products; introduced Dec. 12, 2025 by Sens. Wimberger and Feyen; public hearing Jan. 20, 2026; fiscal estimate Jan. 28, 2026; failed to pass pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 1 on Mar. 23, 2026; companion AB 748) — https://fastdemocracy.com/bill-search/wi/2025-2026/bills/WIB00015602/
Wisconsin is the rare state where the right to sell home-baked goods comes from COURT LITIGATION, not a statute - so there is no permit, no registration number, no application, and (uniquely) no state-mandated label wording or font size for baked goods. The flip side: no statutory safe-harbor disclaimer phrase exists for baked goods, and the Nov. 19, 2024 Court of Appeals ruling re-narrowed the exemption to BAKED goods only, pushing candies, dried mixes, roasted nuts and the like back under licensing, while canned high-acid goods sit under a completely separate law (the Pickle Bill).
The broader order that had extended license-free status to all non-hazardous homemade foods was reversed by the Wisconsin Court of Appeals on Nov. 19, 2024. Today only NON-potentially-hazardous BAKED goods (dry heat above 140F, finished product out of the danger zone) sold direct-to-consumer are license-free. Candies, dried mixes, roasted coffee, dehydrated items, etc. are NOT covered and require a food license. Jams/jellies/pickles fall under the separate Pickle Bill, not the baking exemption.
Because the baking exemption is judge-made, Wisconsin prescribes NO disclaimer text and no font size for baked goods; DATCP's guidance lists no required home-kitchen statement. Marketing a fixed phrase as 'the Wisconsin-required statement' overstates the law. For Pickle Bill canned goods the statute does require a made-in-a-home-not-inspected statement plus name/address and canning date, but the exact words could not be confirmed here - verify with DATCP before printing a fixed string.
The one hard size rule people miss, confirmed verbatim in DATCP's Retail Food Labeling guidance: the product/common name must be at least HALF the type size of the most prominent printed matter on the label, and in bold. A large decorative brand logo with a tiny product name underneath is a common violation.
The baked-goods exemption evaporates the moment you wholesale, sell to a retailer for resale, or ship out of state - that triggers ATCP 70/75 licensing. Keep sales face-to-face (farmers markets, home, community events). Pickle Bill canned goods are likewise limited to farmers markets and community/social/educational events.
On 28 December 2022 the Lafayette County Circuit Court extended the exemption to all not-potentially-hazardous homemade foods. That order was stayed on 30 May 2023, reversed by the Court of Appeals in Wisconsin Cottage Food Association v. DATCP, 2024 WI App 69, on 19 November 2024, and the Wisconsin Supreme Court denied review on 10 April 2025. Selling home-made fudge, chocolates, rice cereal treats, dried mixes or roasted coffee without a licence is unlicensed food processing today.
DATCP reads the injunction as covering items exposed to dry heat above 140 °F, transferred by air, in a closed chamber such as an oven — a waffle maker or a Dutch oven qualifies. Items dried in a dehydrator do not. And the FINISHED product must be not potentially hazardous, whatever the batter was before it went in.
True of the court order, and false of the statute book. The Kivirist injunction imposes no labelling duty at all — but Wis. Stat. § 97.03 still makes a food misbranded « if it is misbranded within the meaning of 21 USC 343 ». In practice: the common name of the food, the name and place of business of the maker, the ingredient list, an accurate net quantity of contents, and the major food allergens.
§ 97.29(2)(b)2 requires two different texts in two different places for home-canned goods. On each container: « This product was made in a private home not subject to state licensing or inspection. » At the place of sale, on a displayed sign: « These canned goods are homemade and not subject to state inspection. » Miss the sign and the exemption's conditions are not met.
That ceiling — like the pH 4.6 limit and the requirement to sell at a community or social event or a farmers' market — belongs to the canned-goods exemption only. The baked-goods injunction has no sales cap and no venue restriction. Applying the canned rules to bread costs you sales you are allowed to make.
The Pickle Bill covers pickles and other processed vegetables or fruits with an equilibrium pH value of 4.6 or lower — nothing else. Low-acid canning at home for sale is not exempt at any volume, and this is the food-safety line the whole exemption is drawn around.
Both doors are direct-to-consumer only. DATCP is explicit that a business wholesaling baked goods must be licensed, and the Pickle Bill's own conditions name the venues where the sale may happen.
There is none, and that is the uncomfortable part of relying on an injunction: nothing certifies that you are one of the « similarly situated individuals » it protects. The order's own words describe bakers « of good character » whose kitchen hygiene « is not in question ». Keep your kitchen and your records in the state you would want an inspector to find them in.
Timeline: Home-baked track: no application and no waiting period - once your product is non-hazardous, baked, and properly labeled you may sell direct-to-consumer immediately. Pickle Bill canned goods: likewise no license, but historically limited to about $5,000/yr in gross sales and to farmers markets / community, social, or educational events (confirm the current cap and venue list with DATCP, as the statute text could not be verified in this review).
Cost: $0 - no permit required. Neither track charges a state fee or issues a permit/registration number for the exempt activity.
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Make my Wisconsin label →Wisconsin requires this exact statement on a cottage food label: “This product was made in a private home not subject to state licensing or inspection.” The state sets no minimum point size for it. But only through one door: Wis. Stat. § 97.29(2)(b)2.e prints this sentence for home-CANNED high-acid foods. For home-BAKED goods Wisconsin prescribes no statement at all — the 2017 injunction that legalised them imposed no labelling duty — though the sentence is equally true of a home baker.
No. Wisconsin 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); the date the food was made.
No. Wisconsin requires no state cottage food permit or registration. $0 for both exempt doors. No fee exists because neither door involves a state application. For producers who need the retail food establishment license instead, the annual license fee is set by Table ATCP 75.08 B; the lowest categories read for this file were $45.00 for prepackaged TCS food and $60.00 for a simple (non-TCS final product) establishment not serving meals, with a $90.00 pre-licensing inspection fee — these figures were read from a Cornell LII reproduction of ATCP 75.08 and their currency is UNCONFIRMED against the official code, and a weights and measures inspection fee under ATCP 92.12 may be added.
Allowed: BAKED GOODS DOOR (no license, direct to consumer): homemade baked goods that are not potentially hazardous — food exposed to dry heat transferred via air above 140°F in a closed chamber such as an oven, whose finished product is not potentially hazardous. DATCP names no product list; the underlying 2016CV6 litigation concerned cookies, cakes and muffins, and the 2021 clarification order covers homemade shelf-stable foods baked in an oven; PICKLE BILL DOOR (no license, under $5,000/yr, at events and markets only): home-canned fruits and vegetables that are naturally acidic or have been acidified by pickling or fermenting, with an equilibrium pH of 4.6 or lower; Pickle Bill examples given by DATCP: pickled fruits and vegetables (NOT refrigerator pickles); Pickle Bill examples given by DATCP: salsas and chutneys; Pickle Bill examples given by DATCP: sauerkraut and kimchi; Pickle Bill examples given by DATCP: fruit-based jams and jellies; Pickle Bill examples given by DATCP: canned cherries, peaches, applesauce and other fruits; SEPARATE STATUTORY EXEMPTIONS, not home-kitchen provisions but relevant because a home producer of these foods is outside the license requirement: producers of popcorn, maple syrup, honey, sorghum syrup and cider are exempted from the retail food establishment laws by Wis. Stat. § 97.30(2)(b)1. and Wis. Admin. Code § ATCP 75.063(5) to (7), as recited by the Court of Appeals in 2024 WI App 69; the precise conditions attached to each of those exemptions were not read for this file.
Two different answers, depending on the door. BAKED GOODS: no cap. Neither DATCP's guidance sheet nor its Home Bakers page states any annual sales, revenue or volume limit for home-baked, not potentially hazardous goods sold direct to consumers, and the exemption is an injunction against enforcement rather than a statutory program with a ceiling. HOME-CANNED FOODS: under $5,000 per year. Wis. Stat. § 97.29(2)(b) conditions the exemption on the person receiving less than $5,000 per year from the sale of the food products, and DATCP's fact sheet states 'No more than $5,000 per year per person'. Note that 2025 SB 739 / AB 748 would have imposed a $40,000 cap covering both categories; that bill failed to pass on March 23, 2026 and the $40,000 figure is NOT law.
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: Wis. Stat. §§ 97.29(2)(a) and (2)(b)2 and 97.03 (Wisconsin Legislature). Kivirist v. DATCP, No. 16-CV-06, Final Order and Judgment, 29 September 2017. Scope of the order: DATCP, « Licenses and Homemade Baked Goods ». The reversal on unbaked foods: Wisconsin Cottage Food Association v. DATCP, 2024 WI App 69. Both doors summarised by Wisconsin Legislative Council, Issue Brief, 18 June 2025. Verified 2026-08-10. General information, not legal advice — confirm with your state or local agency before selling.