The essentials
Nevada, at a glance
Before selling, register with the current food safety authority and offer only eligible foods in direct in-person consumer transactions.
NRS 580.600 sets a $100,000 gross annual base, subject to the required inflation adjustment; an older local FAQ still shows $35,000. The separate statewide NDA licensing transition starts July 1, 2027. Until then, do not treat future online-sales or delivery provisions as current permission.
View official sources (2)
- NRS580.600 Cottage food operations Nevada Legislature
- Cottage Food Operations: registration and2027 transition Southern Nevada Health District
One step at a time
Your first 3 steps
Confirm your food and kitchen
Match the finished food to the statutory list and ask the registering authority about its recipe requirements.
Use your private home kitchen unless the authority expressly allows one of the alternative nonprofit, clubhouse or school kitchens named in the statute. A commercial commissary is not automatically a qualifying cottage kitchen.
Complete the current registration process
Apply to the authority responsible for where you will produce and sell.
In Clark County, SNHD first screens the application, then provides portal instructions, invoices the fee and issues an approval letter. Its FY 2026–2027 fee is $220. You cannot operate merely because an application or payment has been submitted.
Prepare labels and sales records
Prepackage products to protect them throughout transport and sale, apply complete labels and arrange direct consumer transactions.
Track gross receipts before deducting ingredients, packaging or other expenses. Check NDA’s published inflation adjustment and calendar the July 2027 program transition so your operating assumptions remain current.
View official sources (5)
- NRS580.600 Cottage food operations Nevada Legislature
- Cottage Food Operations: registration and2027 transition Southern Nevada Health District
- Cottage Food FAQ Southern Nevada Health District
- Food Labeling Guide U.S. Food and Drug Administration
- Food Allergies U.S. Food and Drug Administration
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.
Cookies, dry mixes and preserves
Check the conditionsQualifying baked goods, nuts, candies, granola, dried fruit, dry seasonings, popcorn, vinegar and certain preserves appear in the current list.
Clark County’s additional guidance requires standardized fruit preserves and excludes fruit butter and sugar-free or no-added-sugar jam. Check the specific food with your registering authority before printing labels.
Cream desserts and refrigerated products
Check the conditionsBaked goods requiring temperature control are excluded, as are the statute’s listed cream, uncooked egg, custard, meringue and cream-cheese frosting or garnish categories.
SNHD also identifies cream-based ganache, certain egg-containing buttercreams and fresh-fruit toppings as outside its registration guidance. Shelf stability alone does not cancel an express ingredient restriction.
Pickles belong to a different inquiry
Check the conditionsDo not assume cottage registration covers home-canned vegetables merely because jars of fruit preserves are listed.
Nevada has a separate craft-food pathway with a safe-canning examination and application. NDA currently lists $30 for testing, $50 for the application and a three-year registration. Confirm the exact product’s eligibility before choosing that route.
View official sources (3)
- NRS580.600 Cottage food operations Nevada Legislature
- Cottage Food FAQ Southern Nevada Health District
- Starting a Craft Foods Operation Nevada Department of Agriculture
From your kitchen to your customers
Where and how you can sell
| Selling method | What matters |
|---|---|
| Home and markets | The statute permits direct in-person sales on the producer’s private property or at a location where the producer sells directly to consumers, including qualifying markets, swap meets, church bazaars and craft fairs. In Clark County, obtain the event or market organizer’s approval as well as your registration. |
| Internet and telephone inquiries | The current statute requires an in-person transaction and excludes telephone or internet sales. SNHD distinguishes advertising and arranging a producer’s in-person delivery from online fulfillment, but its FAQ answers are not fully consistent. Use online material for information and confirm the exact ordering/payment arrangement with the authority before adopting it. |
| Shipping and third-party delivery | Do not offer mail shipment or third-party fulfillment under the current in-person cottage-food pathway. The July 2027 framework is a separate future transition. A website order, marketplace checkout or shipping label does not satisfy today’s producer-to-consumer in-person transaction requirement. |
| Wholesale and café supply | Products must go to a consumer for consumption, not resale. Cottage registration therefore does not authorize ordinary wholesale, consignment or supply to a café for resale. Explore an appropriate permitted food-business route before agreeing to stock another business. |
View official sources (3)
- NRS580.600 Cottage food operations Nevada Legislature
- Cottage Food Operations: registration and2027 transition Southern Nevada Health District
- Cottage Food FAQ Southern Nevada Health District
Your label, explained
Every field has a purpose.
Use the example to understand the structure. Follow the Nevada 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
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 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.
Illustrative cookie package
Prepare a federally compliant label with product identity, actual ingredients and subingredients, required allergen identification, net quantity and business name/address information as applicable.
Add Nevada’s exact cottage-food statement below prominently. A registration approval does not establish that every label you later print is compliant; use the actual recipe and package quantity.
Required cottage-food statement
MADE IN A COTTAGE FOOD OPERATION THAT IS NOT SUBJECT TO GOVERNMENT FOOD SAFETY INSPECTION
Review allergens against current guidance
Identify the major allergens present in the recipe, including sesame where applicable.
FDA’s older Food Labeling Guide flags its allergen chapter as outdated and points readers to current guidance. Do not copy an old eight-allergen checklist or assume the general cottage warning replaces ingredient and allergen information.
The wording for your label
Packaged cottage food · check product-specific additions
MADE IN A COTTAGE FOOD OPERATION THAT IS NOT SUBJECT TO GOVERNMENT FOOD SAFETY INSPECTION
View official sources (3)
- NRS580.600 Cottage food operations Nevada Legislature
- Food Labeling Guide U.S. Food and Drug Administration
- Food Allergies U.S. Food and Drug Administration
A useful head start
Your Nevada 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
Growing beyond an old FAQ limit
Suppose your annual gross receipts approach $35,000 and you find that figure on SNHD’s older FAQ.
Current NRS 580.600 instead states a $100,000 base with inflation adjustment. Confirm the published current adjustment with the authority and continue tracking gross sales. That higher statutory base does not remove registration, product, packaging or in-person sales conditions.
Reading the 2027 transition as already effective
The current registration authorities remain in place through June 2027.
The future NDA licensing framework begins July 1, 2027. Keep future channel and licensing changes separate from present permissions, while recognizing that the current recodified statute already contains a different sales base from the old FAQ.
Moving without updating registration
SNHD’s current registration does not expire while its information remains accurate.
Moving home or expanding outside the registered food categories requires an update or new registration as directed. A one-time fee does not mean a registration follows every new kitchen or menu automatically.
View official sources (3)
- NRS580.600 Cottage food operations Nevada Legislature
- Cottage Food Operations: registration and2027 transition Southern Nevada Health District
- Cottage Food FAQ Southern Nevada Health District
A few more answers
Common questions
Can I give samples at a Clark County market?
SNHD allows eligible samples only when prepackaged in food-safe material at home before transport. Do not cut, portion or package samples at the booth under that guidance. Ask the organizer about participation requirements and keep your registration information available.
View sources for this answer (1)
- Cottage Food FAQ Southern Nevada Health District
Will the health authority routinely inspect my kitchen?
The cottage statute limits inspection to investigations involving suspected adulterated food or suspected foodborne illness. You must cooperate. If the investigation establishes adulteration or that the operation caused an outbreak, the authority may recover its actual investigation costs.
View sources for this answer (1)
- NRS580.600 Cottage food operations Nevada 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 3 completed · Restoring progress…
Official guidance
Sources, updates & your next step
Contact the current registering authority
Use the NDA Food Safety Program page to follow the 2027 transition and your current local authority for registration now. Clark County sellers should follow SNHD’s application sequence and current fee page. Confirm training, labels, recipe approval and any jurisdiction-specific duties rather than applying another county’s fee or process statewide.
Official sources 6 references
- NRS580.600 Cottage food operations →
Nevada Legislature · Reviewed September 14, 2026
- Cottage Food Operations: registration and2027 transition →
Southern Nevada Health District · Reviewed September 14, 2026
- Cottage Food FAQ →
Southern Nevada Health District · Reviewed September 14, 2026
- Food Labeling Guide →
U.S. Food and Drug Administration · Reviewed September 14, 2026
- Food Allergies →
U.S. Food and Drug Administration · Reviewed September 14, 2026
- Starting a Craft Foods Operation →
Nevada Department of Agriculture · Reviewed September 14, 2026
Guide updates September 14, 2026
Reviewed Nevada’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)
- NRS580.600 Cottage food operations Nevada Legislature
- Cottage Food Operations: registration and2027 transition Southern Nevada Health District
- Cottage Food FAQ Southern Nevada Health District
- Starting a Craft Foods Operation Nevada Department of Agriculture
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.