Cottage food rules
Alabama Cottage Food Law Certification: What to Do
Exactly what to do, in order, so your Alabama home bakery is set up right.
On this page
What to remember
- No license or food service permit is needed to sell homemade cottage foods in Alabama.
- You register your operation with your county health department.
- You complete an approved food safety course and keep the certificate.
- Baked goods, jams, jellies, candies, and dried herb and herb mixes made at home are excluded from regulation by the State Department of Health.
- You bring three things to your county: your certificate, a sample label, and the review form.
If you bake from your own kitchen in Alabama and sell what you make, this is the short version of what the state asks of you. There is no license to buy and no permit to hang on the wall. What there is, is a short list of paperwork and one trip to your county health department. The step by step registration guide walks through the form itself.
What Alabama actually asks of you
Alabama law excludes in-home cottage food production of baked goods, jams, jellies, candies, and dried herb and herb mixes from regulation by the State Department of Health. That is why there is no license and no food service permit in the picture. What replaces it is registration with your county health department, plus an approved food safety course.
The things you bring to the county
Think of this as one folder and one visit. Get the folder together first, so you are not making two trips.
Finish the food safety course
Complete an approved food safety course and keep the certificate. This is the piece people ask about most, and it is the one that shows you know how to handle food safely.
Register your operation
A cottage food operator registers the operation with the county health department. This is your county, not the state.
Make a sample product label
Put together one sample label for what you sell. It goes in the folder with everything else.
Fill out the cottage food review form
Complete the cottage food review form. Do this before you go, not at the counter.
Take it all in for review
Bring your course certificate, your sample product label, and your completed review form to your Local County Health Department for review.
What this covers, and what it means for your table
The list is narrow on purpose. Baked goods, jams, jellies, candies, and dried herb and herb mixes made in your home kitchen are the foods Alabama carves out. If you are planning a table of cookies, quick breads, jars of jam, and trays of fudge, you are in the right lane. If you are comparing Alabama to somewhere else, the state by state comparison is a fair place to start.
One more thing worth doing early: read how your county handles the review before you drive over, since the visit is to your Local County Health Department and not to a state office. Our guide to researching your state’s cottage food laws helps you sort out which office and which rules apply to you.
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Once the folder is handed in, the next question is usually money. Work out what a batch costs before you set a price, so the first market day is not the day you find out you were selling too cheap.
Common questions
Do I need a license to sell baked goods from my home in Alabama?
No. Alabama does not require a license or food service permit to sell homemade cottage foods. You register your operation with the county health department and complete an approved food safety course instead.
What is the food safety course certificate used for?
It shows you completed an approved food safety course. You take it to your Local County Health Department along with a sample product label and a completed cottage food review form for review.
Where do I take my paperwork?
To your Local County Health Department. That is where the course certificate, the sample product label, and the completed cottage food review form are reviewed.
Which foods does this cover?
Alabama law excludes in-home cottage food production of baked goods, jams, jellies, candies, and dried herb and herb mixes from regulation by the State Department of Health.
Do I register with the state or the county?
The county. A cottage food operator registers the operation with the county health department, then completes an approved food safety course.
Sources
This is general information about Alabama cottage food rules, not legal advice. Rules can change and counties can differ, so confirm the details with your Local County Health Department before you sell.