Cottage food rules
Alabama Cottage Food Law Requirements
A plain walk through the Alabama cottage food rules, and the two things you have to get right before you sell.
On this page
What to remember
- Cottage food has to be non-potentially hazardous, meaning it does not need time or temperature control to stay safe.
- The law has been in place since 2014 and was revised in 2021.
- Non-potentially hazardous items containing less than 3% alcohol may be sold under the law.
- Your label must show the name and address of your cottage food operation.
If you bake from your home kitchen and sell what you make, this is the rulebook you work from. Read it once, keep a copy where you can reach it, and check your label before the first order leaves your kitchen. What to print on an Alabama cottage food label walks through the wording line by line.
What counts as cottage food in Alabama
Alabama law defines cottage food as a non-potentially hazardous food prepared in a person’s home that does not require time or temperature control for safety to limit pathogenic microorganism growth or toxin formation. In plain words, it is about foods that do not depend on being kept hot or cold to stay safe. The law also allows non-potentially hazardous items containing less than 3% alcohol to be sold under it.
Where that line falls for one of your recipes is a question for the Alabama Department of Public Health and the extension guidance, not for a blog post. Hold your recipe up against the definition and check with them if you are unsure.
A law that has been updated
The Alabama Cottage Food Law went into effect in 2014 and was revised in 2021. That timing matters when you are reading advice, because plenty of what gets passed around in baking groups was written before the revision. The current extension guidance is FCS-2058, Alabama Cottage Food Law: Basic Rules and Regulations, revised April 2022, and that is the version to keep on your phone. The Alabama Department of Public Health also publishes a cottage food page.
What has to be on your label
The law requires that all labels include the name and address of the cottage food operation. That is the part home bakers most often miss, because a sticker with a pretty logo and the flavor name feels finished. It is not finished until your operation name and address are on it too. Alabama cottage food law labels covers how to lay it out so it still fits on a small sticker.
Before you take your first order
Sit down with the current rules once, before orders start coming in, and set your kitchen up around them. Decide which of your bakes fit the definition, get your labels right, and keep your copy of the guidance where you can find it in a hurry. How to register an Alabama cottage food operation walks through the paperwork step by step, and Alabama cottage food law classes covers the training side if you would rather learn the rules properly than piece them together from comments.
Once the rules are settled, they stop being scary. They become the short checklist you run before every bake you sell, the same way you check the oven is off.
- Alabama cottage food law labels: what to print
- Alabama cottage food law: how to register
- Alabama cottage food law classes: what to take
Try the free cottage food label builder
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Common questions
What makes a food a cottage food in Alabama?
The law defines cottage food as a non-potentially hazardous food prepared in a person's home that does not require time or temperature control for safety to limit pathogenic microorganism growth or toxin formation. If a recipe depends on being kept hot or cold to stay safe, it is not the kind of food the law covers.
Does my address have to be on every label?
Yes. The Cottage Food Law requires that all labels include the name and address of the cottage food operation. That is in addition to whatever else you put on the sticker.
Can I sell a bake that contains alcohol?
Non-potentially hazardous food items containing less than 3% alcohol may be sold under the Cottage Food Law. Anything above that falls outside what the law allows.
When did the Alabama Cottage Food Law change?
The law went into effect in 2014 and was revised in 2021. The extension guidance that explains it, FCS-2058, was revised in April 2022, so use that version rather than older write ups.
Where do I read the official rules?
The Alabama Department of Public Health publishes a cottage food page, and Alabama Extension publishes FCS-2058, Alabama Cottage Food Law: Basic Rules and Regulations. Both are linked in the sources below.
Sources
This is general information about the Alabama Cottage Food Law, not legal advice. Rules can change, so confirm the current requirements with the Alabama Department of Public Health and Alabama Extension before you sell.