The essentials
Louisiana, at a glance
Louisiana’s low-risk home-food exemption now applies below $100,000 in gross annual sales.
Act 801 took effect August 1, 2026; reaching $100,000 disqualifies the preparer. The consolidated statute page still displays the former $30,000 amount, so read it with the enacted amendment. The cutoff applies to the listed foods, including bakery products.
- Sales limits
Act 801 changes the disqualifying gross annual sales amount from $30,000 to $100,000: the exemption ceases at $100,000 or more, with no separate bakery exclusion from that cutoff.
- Training
R.S. 40:4.9 does not prescribe a home-food training course, certificate fee or recurring food-program renewal; its preparation and local-tax conditions remain.
View official sources (3)
- R.S. 40:4.9 — low-risk foods prepared at home Louisiana Legislature
- Act 801 of 2026 — HB403 Louisiana Legislature
- HB403 2026 official enactment history Louisiana Legislature
One step at a time
Your first 2 steps
Match the menu to the actual exemption
Identify the statutory category for every item, then check the conditions for its ingredients, preparation and selling method.
The list includes bakery products, candy, dried mixes, honey, preserves, pickles, acidified foods, sauces, syrups and spices. It excludes animal muscle and fish protein. The exemption does not permit unwholesome food or make every homemade meal an eligible product.
Prepare the sales-tax paperwork
Obtain a current local sales-tax certificate from the parish collector where sales occur and register for applicable local sales and use taxes before selling.
Separately check Department of Revenue instructions for state tax obligations. Special-event vendors have specific state registration instructions. Keep these records with the sales ledger so expansion into another parish prompts the correct tax check.
View official sources (3)
- R.S. 40:4.9 — low-risk foods prepared at home Louisiana Legislature
- Starting or buying a business Louisiana Department of Revenue
- State sales-tax registration for special events Louisiana Department of Revenue
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.
Breads, cakes, cookies and pies have extra conditions
Check the conditionsThese bakery products are listed, but their preparation exemption stops applying if you employ someone to help prepare them for sale.
They also cannot be sold to a retail business or a person for resale. Build a direct-customer bakery around your own preparation work, and review the operating route before hiring production help or supplying a shop.
Cream and custard require the bakery safeguards
Check the conditionsThe Louisiana statute contains specific conditions for cream and custard bakery work, so a blanket claim that the law only addresses unrefrigerated baked goods misses part of the text.
Pasteurized milk, a controlled cooking process, rapid chilling, refrigeration and hygienic filling equipment are required. Review the complete process with LDH before using that route for a new filled product.
Pickles and sauces are listed categories
Check the conditionsPickles, acidified foods, sauces and syrups appear in the statute.
That listing does not establish a tested process for an individual recipe. Before selling a new bottled or canned product, ask LDH’s Food and Drug Unit about its classification and the applicable process requirements. Keep the exact ingredients, packaging and intended storage conditions available for that discussion.
Example scope: Product-specific process review is recommended; no universal state pH-testing mandate is asserted.
View official sources (2)
- R.S. 40:4.9 — low-risk foods prepared at home Louisiana Legislature
- Food and Drug Unit — program and inspector resources Louisiana Department of Health
From your kitchen to your customers
Where and how you can sell
| Selling method | What matters |
|---|---|
| Direct bakery sales | The statute authorizes qualifying home preparation for sale to the public while prohibiting resale of breads, cakes, cookies and pies. A customer buying for their own use differs from a store buying inventory. Confirm any event’s participation and tax requirements before attending, and do not promise a wholesale bakery supply arrangement under this exemption. |
| Retail arrangements for other products | The express resale prohibition names breads, cakes, cookies and pies. It does not provide a complete operating rule for every other product and retailer combination. Before supplying jam, sauce or candy through another business, describe that arrangement to LDH and confirm the applicable manufacturing and retail requirements. This guide does not treat statutory silence as blanket wholesale approval. |
| Online payment and shipping need a specific check | R.S. 40:4.9 does not expressly settle every online-order or postal-delivery arrangement. Confirm the product, customer, delivery method and destination with the appropriate regulator before enabling shipping. The old blanket online and shipping permissions were broader than the primary text supports. Keep any confirmed arrangement attached to that product’s operating notes. |
View official sources (4)
- R.S. 40:4.9 — low-risk foods prepared at home Louisiana Legislature
- Food and Drug Unit — program and inspector resources Louisiana Department of Health
- Starting or buying a business Louisiana Department of Revenue
- State sales-tax registration for special events Louisiana Department of Revenue
Your label, explained
Every field has a purpose.
Use the example to understand the structure. Follow the Louisiana 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 or producer name; full business address (see state notes)
The statement for your state, product and sales route
Home-produced food · suggested disclosure wording; honey exception in notes
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 or producer name; full business address (see state notes)
Use the wording for your route.
Requirements can differ by product and sales channel. Keep the disclosure, placement and type-size conditions together.
Use a clear home-production disclosure
Except for qualifying raw honey, affix a label that clearly communicates that the food was not produced in a licensed or regulated facility.
An example is: “This food was not produced in a licensed or regulated facility.” This is suggested wording that expresses the statutory message; Louisiana does not prescribe that exact sentence or a specific type size in this subsection.
Separate the cottage disclosure from general labeling
The cottage subsection does not itself list a mandatory home street address, ingredient panel or dual-unit quantity rule.
LDH’s general regulated-product guidance does address identity, quantity, ingredients, responsible-party information and allergens. Confirm which general rules apply to your product and route before printing labels; the disclosure alone should not be assumed to resolve every labeling obligation.
Raw honey has a narrow disclosure exception
The exception covers raw honey that has not been pasteurized, filtered or otherwise processed to remove its natural pollen.
It is an exception to the home-food disclosure requirement, not a statement that every honey product is free from all labeling rules. Recheck the product when processing changes or ingredients are added.
The wording for your label
Home-produced food · suggested disclosure wording; honey exception in notes
View official sources (2)
- R.S. 40:4.9 — low-risk foods prepared at home Louisiana Legislature
- Product registration and general label guidance Louisiana Department of Health
A useful head start
Your Louisiana 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
An order would push sales to $100,000
Track gross annual receipts, rather than profit after ingredients, packaging and other costs.
Under the amended subsection, $100,000 or more is outside the exemption. Review the appropriate operating route before accepting orders that would reach that amount. The statutory cutoff does not contain a separate unlimited-sales category for breads, cakes, cookies or pies.
An example
Adding a paid baking assistant
If you employ someone to assist with preparing breads, cakes, cookies or pies for sale, the preparation exemption in subsection A(1)(a) no longer applies to that preparer.
Check the manufacturing route before making that staffing change. The sales threshold and the employee condition are separate checks; staying below the threshold does not cancel the staffing restriction.
A clean kitchen needs the bakery-specific controls
Protect openings against flies and vermin and exclude domestic pets from the bakery preparation area.
Keep equipment sanitary, smooth and easy to clean, and clean and sanitize food-contact surfaces after each day’s production. The statute also requires refrigeration for the covered perishable bakery products. These conditions remain even though other facility requirements are exempted.
View official sources (3)
- R.S. 40:4.9 — low-risk foods prepared at home Louisiana Legislature
- Act 801 of 2026 — HB403 Louisiana Legislature
- Food and Drug Unit — program and inspector resources Louisiana Department of Health
A few more answers
Common questions
Is there a required cottage-food training course?
R.S. 40:4.9 does not prescribe a cottage-food course or recurring food-program certificate renewal. It does impose preparation standards and current local-tax registration. Training may help you meet the product’s actual safety needs, particularly for filled bakery or canned products, but a course does not replace those specific operating conditions.
View sources for this answer (1)
- R.S. 40:4.9 — low-risk foods prepared at home Louisiana Legislature
Can traditional cane syrup be prepared outside the dwelling?
For cane syrup, the statute expressly includes an open-sided structure on private property that shelters the traditional kettle, evaporator or related equipment. This is a product-specific definition of home. It should not be generalized into permission to move every cottage-food process into any detached structure.
View sources for this answer (1)
- R.S. 40:4.9 — low-risk foods prepared at home Louisiana 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
Use the right Louisiana contact
Use the LDH Food and Drug Unit’s Find Your Inspector resource for manufacturing or canned-product questions. Retail-operation questions go to the local parish health-unit sanitarian. For the required local sales-tax certificate, contact the parish collector where the sales occur, and follow the Department of Revenue’s separate state registration instructions when applicable.
Official sources 7 references
- R.S. 40:4.9 — low-risk foods prepared at home →
Louisiana Legislature · Reviewed September 14, 2026
- Act 801 of 2026 — HB403 →
Louisiana Legislature · Reviewed September 14, 2026
- HB403 2026 official enactment history →
Louisiana Legislature · Reviewed September 14, 2026
- Food and Drug Unit — program and inspector resources →
Louisiana Department of Health · Reviewed September 14, 2026
- Product registration and general label guidance →
Louisiana Department of Health · Reviewed September 14, 2026
- Starting or buying a business →
Louisiana Department of Revenue · Reviewed September 14, 2026
- State sales-tax registration for special events →
Louisiana Department of Revenue · Reviewed September 14, 2026
Guide updates September 14, 2026
Reviewed Louisiana’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 (4)
- R.S. 40:4.9 — low-risk foods prepared at home Louisiana Legislature
- Act 801 of 2026 — HB403 Louisiana Legislature
- HB403 2026 official enactment history Louisiana Legislature
- Product registration and general label guidance Louisiana Department of Health
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.