The essentials
Missouri, at a glance
Yes, if your products fit Missouri’s specific cottage-food categories: qualifying oven-baked goods, canned jams or jellies, and dried herbs or herb mixes made in your primary residence.
Sell directly to consumers. The program has no food permit and no annual sales ceiling, but its narrow food list and labeling rules still matter. Online sales require both you and your buyer to be in Missouri.
Choose the route that fits
- Missouri Cottage Law
- Primary-residence production of qualifying baked goods, canned jams and jellies, and dried herbs or herb mixes sold directly to consumers.
- Local Food Code individual-stand exemption
- Separate local-dependent route for other qualifying non-potentially hazardous foods sold directly from individual stands.
- Sales limits
The former $50,000 annual gross-income ceiling was removed effective August 28, 2022; the statutory cottage program has no annual sales cap.
- Registration & permits
A qualifying cottage operation has no state or local health-department food permit or license and is not routinely inspected; statutory labeling conditions still apply.
View official sources (2)
- RSMo 196.298 — Cottage food production operations Missouri Legislature
- Home-Based Kitchen Food Production Guidance Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services
One step at a time
Your first 2 steps
Start with the recipe and sales route
List each product, filling, topping and selling method before taking orders.
Check that every item fits the statutory cottage categories and remains non-potentially hazardous. A cookie business and a salsa business follow different rules even when both use the same home kitchen. For anything outside the cottage list, ask your local public-health agency which approved facility or separate exemption applies.
Prepare your first sale
For qualifying cottage products, there is no food permit application, permit renewal or corresponding permit fee.
The cited cottage instructions do not prescribe a general training course. Prepare legible labels, choose direct Missouri customers and make sure any household member selling for you understands the products. The absence of a cottage food permit is not an answer about unrelated business or event requirements.
View official sources (2)
- RSMo 196.298 — Cottage food production operations Missouri Legislature
- Home-Based Kitchen Food Production Guidance Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services
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.
Bread, cookies and ordinary fruit jam
Check the conditionsAn oven-baked loaf or cookie without a hazardous filling is a typical cottage candidate.
A qualifying canned fruit jam or dried culinary herb mix also fits the named categories. Check the finished product, not just its familiar name: a baked base does not make a fresh-fruit garnish, cream filling or other hazardous addition eligible.
Example scope: Examples assume non-potentially hazardous recipes and direct Missouri consumer sales.
Products that need another route
Check the conditionsSalsa, pickles, BBQ sauce, cream pies and meringue pies are outside this cottage route.
DHSS also excludes sugar-free, no-sugar-added and hot-pepper jams or jellies. A shelf-stable claim or home pH reading does not automatically turn these into eligible cottage products. Obtain product-specific guidance before investing in jars, equipment or a new menu.
View official sources (2)
- RSMo 196.298 — Cottage food production operations Missouri Legislature
- Home-Based Kitchen Food Production Guidance Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services
From your kitchen to your customers
Where and how you can sell
| Selling method | What matters |
|---|---|
| Home pickup and direct market sales | Sell eligible foods directly to the consumer. DHSS allows the maker or a household member with extensive product knowledge to handle the sale. Keep market sampling and food preparation separate from packaged-product sales: the guidance lists sampling and on-site preparation among activities requiring inspection, so arrange those details with the local agency. |
| Online orders and personal handoff | Internet orders are allowed when both producer and purchaser are in Missouri. Keep the transaction direct to the end consumer. An online shop should make its Missouri-only service area clear rather than accepting out-of-state cottage orders. Online ordering does not change which foods qualify or remove the package-label obligations. |
| Carrier shipping and interstate orders | The reviewed cottage sections do not expressly settle third-party carrier shipping within Missouri. Confirm the proposed fulfillment method with DHSS before offering it. Across state lines, DHSS says the cottage route does not apply. Do not interpret permission to take online orders as blanket permission for every delivery method or destination. |
| Stores, cafés and other resellers | Selling products to a shop or café for resale is wholesale, which falls outside the cottage exemption. DHSS directs prospective wholesalers to its manufactured-food program. A knowledgeable household helper selling directly to your customer is different from supplying an unrelated business that will resell your products. |
View official sources (2)
- RSMo 196.298 — Cottage food production operations Missouri Legislature
- Home-Based Kitchen Food Production Guidance Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services
Your label, explained
Every field has a purpose.
Use the example to understand the structure. Follow the Missouri 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
Cottage food · illustrative disclosure wording
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.
What your package label needs
For a qualifying cottage loaf, include your full operation name and address, the common food name, all ingredients in descending order by weight, net weight and relevant allergens.
Add the uninspected-kitchen statement and make the entire label legible. Use your real operation details; the address is substantive required information, not a decorative contact field.
Example scope: Illustrative loaf assumes an eligible non-potentially hazardous recipe; ingredient and allergen information must match the actual product.
Illustrative disclosure wording
An illustrative statement is: “This food was prepared in a kitchen that is not inspected by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services or the local health department.” The statute specifies the disclosure’s meaning rather than one mandatory sentence, and the guide requires legibility rather than a stated numerical type size.
This example does not replace the remaining label fields.
The wording for your label
Cottage food · illustrative disclosure wording
This food was prepared in a kitchen that is not inspected by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services or the local health department.
View official sources (2)
- RSMo 196.298 — Cottage food production operations Missouri Legislature
- Home-Based Kitchen Food Production Guidance Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services
A useful head start
Your Missouri 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
A household member helps at the market
Suppose you bake qualifying cookies at home and your spouse sells the labeled packages directly to Missouri customers.
DHSS allows that household helper if they have extensive knowledge of the products. If a café instead buys the cookies for resale, the transaction moves outside the cottage exemption. If you offer samples at the stall, separately check the inspection requirements.
Example scope: Hypothetical cookies are non-potentially hazardous and the helper is a household member with extensive product knowledge.
Treating every low-risk food as cottage food
The statewide Cottage Law names only three food categories.
Other products, such as fruit butter or dry soup mixes, may fit a separate Food Code stand exemption only where local law allows. Get that route confirmed instead of using the statewide cottage label as permission for an expanded menu.
Changing jam ingredients without checking eligibility
Replacing sugar with an alternative sweetener or adding hot peppers can change safety characteristics.
DHSS excludes the named no-sugar-added, sugar-free and hot-pepper versions from its cottage guidance. Follow its local-agency and testing directions for an alternative route; testing is not automatic entry into the statutory program.
Assuming uninspected means unaccountable
The cottage exemption prevents routine health-department regulation of qualifying production, but agencies retain complaint records and can investigate foodborne illness or outbreaks.
Keep your actual recipes, labels and ingredient details organized as a practical business precaution, so you can answer customer questions and identify what you sold.
View official sources (2)
- RSMo 196.298 — Cottage food production operations Missouri Legislature
- Home-Based Kitchen Food Production Guidance Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services
A few more answers
Common questions
Can I sell freeze-dried candy or fruit?
Freeze-dried foods are not automatically cottage foods. DHSS says non-potentially hazardous freeze-dried candy may fit a separate local Food Code exemption. Freeze-dried fruits and vegetables require an approved and inspected facility. Ask about the exact product and process before treating a freeze dryer as a route to cottage eligibility.
View sources for this answer (1)
- Home-Based Kitchen Food Production Guidance Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services
Does the local stand exemption use the same label?
The local-dependent Food Code route requires the listed package information and an additional clearly visible sales-location placard explaining that the food was prepared in an uninspected kitchen. That extra placard belongs to this separate route. Local eligibility and product conditions must be confirmed before relying on the exemption.
View sources for this answer (1)
- Home-Based Kitchen Food Production Guidance Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services
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 current DHSS guide
Start with DHSS’s Home-Based Kitchen Food Production Guidance and RSMo 196.298. For products outside the named cottage categories, contact your local public-health agency through the DHSS directory. For wholesale plans, ask the manufactured-food program. DHSS Food Safety’s published number is 573-751-6095; provide the recipe, package and proposed sales method when requesting guidance.
Official sources 3 references
- RSMo 196.298 — Cottage food production operations →
Missouri Legislature · Reviewed September 14, 2026
- Home-Based Kitchen Food Production Guidance →
Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services · Reviewed September 14, 2026
- Food Safety →
Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services · Reviewed September 14, 2026
Guide updates September 14, 2026
Reviewed Missouri’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 (2)
- RSMo 196.298 — Cottage food production operations Missouri Legislature
- Home-Based Kitchen Food Production Guidance Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services
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.