The essentials
Illinois, at a glance
Yes, through the registered cottage-food program when your kitchen, product and sales method meet its conditions.
Register annually with your local health department; its registration fee cannot exceed $50. Illinois has no cottage-food sales cap. The product rules are broader than a simple shelf-stable-only list, but prohibited ingredients and special safety requirements remain decisive.
- Sales limits
Illinois has no cottage-food sales cap; earlier limits no longer apply.
- Registration & permits
Register with the local health department where the operation is located; registration permits sales elsewhere in Illinois and the certificate must be available on request.
View official sources (2)
- 410ILCS625/4 — Cottage food operation Illinois Legislature
- 2026 Cottage Food Guide Illinois Department of Public Health and University of Illinois Extension
One step at a time
Your first 2 steps
Build a registration packet
Start with the health department where your operation is located.
Prepare your menu, labels and food-safety documentation, and make sure everyone who prepares or packages products has the required certified food protection manager qualification. Add recipe or testing documentation for products that require it. Keep the registration certificate accessible when selling in another county.
Budget for more than registration
The annual registration charge is capped at $50, but that is not a ceiling on all startup costs.
Training and any required operator-funded laboratory tests are separate. Put the registration renewal on your calendar, and track the different renewal or testing intervals for your approved product categories instead of assuming everything renews together.
View official sources (1)
- 410ILCS625/4 — Cottage food operation Illinois Legislature
Make what you love
Can you sell what you make?
These are examples. Check the complete recipe, preparation method and sales route before offering a product.
A cookie is different from a cheesecake
Check the conditionsNon-TCS baked goods can use dairy and eggs within the statutory exceptions.
Cheesecake, custard pies and specified other desserts remain prohibited. Assess fillings and toppings as well as the baked base. For bread containing cheese, the local health department may require a commercial laboratory test to establish that the product is not TCS.
Frosting needs its own decision
Check the conditionsThe law specifically allows dairy in baked-good frosting and eggs in such frosting when they are not raw.
That exception does not turn every decorated cake into a shelf-stable product. Determine whether temperature control is needed with your health department, and maintain the required holding and transport conditions for any permitted TCS product.
Preserved foods have separate routes
Check the conditionsCanned tomatoes and other fermented or acidified foods have different documentation paths.
For canned tomatoes, follow an exact USDA or state-extension tested recipe, or use the statutory commercial-testing route with annual documentation and consistent tomato varietal proportions. Do not replace those conditions with a general claim that one home pH reading approves every recipe.
View official sources (1)
- 410ILCS625/4 — Cottage food operation Illinois Legislature
From your kitchen to your customers
Where and how you can sell
| Selling method | What matters |
|---|---|
| Markets, events, pickup and delivery | Direct consumer sales include markets, festivals, online orders and customer delivery. Home or farm pickup depends on applicable local conditions. Pickup on another person’s private property needs that owner’s consent. Keep the sale direct to the consumer and provide the required product labels and point-of-sale notice wherever the transaction occurs. |
| Shipping within Illinois | You may ship eligible non-TCS food within Illinois. Each shipped product needs a seal that reveals tampering, such as an appropriate sticker or pop top. The cottage statute prohibits out-of-state shipment. Do not add a refrigerated product to a mailed order simply because the destination is inside Illinois; the shipping rule excludes TCS foods. |
| Retail resale is a different business model | Cottage foods must go directly to consumers for their own consumption, not resale. Supplying a café with food that it will sell to its customers does not fit that rule. Before agreeing to a resale arrangement, discuss a different operating route with the appropriate health authority rather than relying on your cottage registration. |
View official sources (2)
- 410ILCS625/4 — Cottage food operation Illinois Legislature
- Cottage Food Illinois Department of Public Health
Your label, explained
Every field has a purpose.
Use the example to understand the structure. Follow the Illinois requirements below for your product and sales route.
Your product
name
Your product name and actual net quantity
Your complete recipe and supplier ingredients
Operation name; unit of local government; registration number and registering municipality or county
The statement for your state, product and sales route
Packaged cottage food · check product-specific additions
A guide to the fields, not a ready-to-print label. Use your actual product and business details.
Name it. Measure it.
Identify your product and its actual net quantity. Check the state’s formatting and unit requirements below.
Use your actual recipe.
Check every ingredient and supplier label. Use the applicable ingredient and allergen declarations for your product.
Identify your operation.
Operation name; unit of local government; registration number and registering municipality or county
Use the wording for your route.
Requirements can differ by product and sales channel. Keep the disclosure, placement and type-size conditions together.
Use the full package disclosure
Print prominently: “This product was produced in a home kitchen not inspected by a health department that may also process common food allergens.
If you have safety concerns, contact your local health department.” Use the statute’s full wording even where an agency sample abbreviates it. The disclosure accompanies the other mandatory package information.
Business identity without the blanket street-address claim
The cottage-specific label fields are the operation name and its unit of local government, plus the registration number and municipality or county where registration was filed.
The statute does not list your street address in those cottage-specific fields. Copy the issued registration details accurately rather than substituting only a social-media handle or your first name.
Product details and processing date
Include the common product name, ingredients in descending order by weight and required allergens.
List the ingredients within purchased components too. IDPH’s current guidance calls for net weight and the full processing date, including month, day and year. The date identifies when the product was processed; do not silently substitute an estimated best-before date.
Add the point-of-sale notice
Display: “This product was produced in a home kitchen not inspected by a health department that may also process common food allergens.” A physical sale uses a prominent placard; online, put the message at the point of sale.
The current guide specifies a physical sign at least 8 by 10 inches. The package label serves a separate purpose.
The wording for your label
Packaged cottage food · check product-specific additions
This product was produced in a home kitchen not inspected by a health department that may also process common food allergens. If you have safety concerns, contact your local health department.
View official sources (2)
- 410ILCS625/4 — Cottage food operation Illinois Legislature
- 2026 Cottage Food Guide Illinois Department of Public Health and University of Illinois Extension
A useful head start
Your Illinois label kit.
Editable template, example label and starting checklist.
Personalize it for your products and business.
Enter your email. Get the files immediately.
Before your first sale
A few details worth getting right.
An example
Starting a pickled-vegetable line
For an acidified or fermented category, choose the tested USDA/extension recipe route or submit the required food-safety plan and representative pH test.
The plan is annual and the category test is submitted every three years. Canned products need the specified water-bath process and container; noncanned versions need a new clean sealing container storage, transport and sale at 41°F or below.
An example
A cake that cannot be individually wrapped
Do not assume a large or awkward product is automatically exempt from packaging.
Ask the health department where it will be sold for permission to use the alternative. If granted, provide the prominent written information required for the purchaser. The point-of-sale notice is still part of planning the sale.
Do not turn exceptions into blanket bans
Illinois distinguishes raw cut leafy greens from greens that are dehydrated, acidified or blanched and frozen.
It also distinguishes ordinary garlic-in-oil from an acidified version. These exceptions have their own food-safety conditions. Check the exact ingredient and process before treating an entire category as allowed or prohibited.
View official sources (1)
- 410ILCS625/4 — Cottage food operation Illinois Legislature
A few more answers
Common questions
Will the kitchen be inspected?
Registration does not prevent an inspection when a complaint, illness report, suspected hazard or another statutory enforcement trigger arises. The health department may charge a reasonable inspection fee and stop sales until a problem is addressed. Keep the registration, recipes, labels and applicable test results organized to support a clear response.
View sources for this answer (1)
- 410ILCS625/4 — Cottage food operation Illinois Legislature
Can a helper use my food-handler certificate?
Every person who prepares or packages cottage products needs the required Department-approved certified food protection manager qualification. Assign duties with that rule in mind before a busy market week. Do not treat one owner’s credential, or a basic food-handler certificate, as automatic coverage for everyone working on production and packaging.
View sources for this answer (1)
- 410ILCS625/4 — Cottage food operation Illinois Legislature
Keep it handy
Your first-sale checklist
Use this free checklist to keep track of your next steps. The conditions in this guide still apply.
0 of 2 completed · Restoring progress…
Official guidance
Sources, updates & your next step
Confirm the menu with your local health department
Use IDPH’s cottage-food page to find your local health department and current registration instructions. Bring the actual recipe and selling method, especially for frosting, cheese breads, preserved foods or private-well questions. IDPH also lists DPH.Food@illinois.gov for program questions. Save product-specific answers alongside the registration file for your next update.
Official sources 3 references
- 410ILCS625/4 — Cottage food operation →
Illinois Legislature · Reviewed September 14, 2026
- 2026 Cottage Food Guide →
Illinois Department of Public Health and University of Illinois Extension · Reviewed September 14, 2026
- Cottage Food →
Illinois Department of Public Health · Reviewed September 14, 2026
Guide updates September 14, 2026
Reviewed Illinois’s product eligibility, sales routes, starting requirements and label guidance against the official sources below. Current conditions and any dated changes are explained in the relevant sections of this guide.
View sources for this update (1)
- 410ILCS625/4 — Cottage food operation Illinois Legislature
This guide is a starting point. Confirm requirements for your products and location with the relevant authority. Examples are illustrative and are not a compliance approval.