Cottage food rules
Cottage Food Laws in Arizona: What Home Bakers Must Know
What Arizona asks of a home baker, in plain words, before you take your first order.
On this page
What to remember
- Arizona cottage food products must be neither potentially hazardous nor Time or Temperature Control for Safety foods.
- You need a current registration and an active food handler certification, both at the same time.
- Labeling, food handler certification, and sale rules sit in ARS 36-932.
- Dairy products, or anything with meat or poultry, must be sold by the person who made it, in person or remotely, including over the internet.
- The state publishes sample recipes and labels, ingredient templates, and where to get a food handler card.
If you are new to all of this, start with the wider picture in cottage food law: what home bakers need to check and then come back here for the Arizona details. The short version is that Arizona gives you a path to sell from your home kitchen, and the path has a few fixed steps you cannot skip.
What you can make and sell
The program allows individuals to make homemade products that are neither potentially hazardous nor Time or Temperature Control for Safety foods. Once you are registered, you can prepare, package, and offer that food from your home kitchen directly to consumers throughout Arizona. The word to hold onto is direct. You are selling to the person who eats it, not into a shop or a warehouse.
Registration and your food handler card
Arizona rule R9-8-101.02 is the one that catches people out. A cottage food individual is not exempt from all the other requirements in the Article unless they keep both an active food handler certification and a current registration. Two things, both live, at the same time. Let one lapse and you are outside the exemption. Our guide to cottage food law registration walks through what you file and where.
Labels, recipes, and the paperwork the state gives you
ARS 36-932 covers labeling, food handler certification, and the sale of cottage food products, so your label is not a nice-to-have. The state’s cottage industry food website helps here: it provides sample recipes and labels, ingredient templates, and information on how to get a food handler card. Use their samples rather than inventing your own wording, then check what else your label has to carry in cottage food law restrictions.
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What to check before you take an order
Work through it in order. Confirm your product is not potentially hazardous and not a Time or Temperature Control for Safety food. Confirm your registration is current and your food handler certification is active, both of them. Confirm your label matches what ARS 36-932 asks for. And if your product is a dairy product or contains meat or poultry, confirm you are the one selling it, in person or remotely, including over the internet.
Rules get updated, and the wording on state pages changes. If you want a habit for checking, read cottage food law requirements: what to check first and keep the state’s own pages bookmarked as your final word.
- Cottage food law: what home bakers need to check
- Cottage food law registration: what to file and where
- Cottage food law restrictions: what home bakers can do
- Cottage food law requirements: what to check first
Common questions
Do I need a food handler card in Arizona to sell from home?
Yes. Under rule R9-8-101.02, a cottage food individual is not exempt from the other requirements in the Article unless they maintain both an active food handler certification and a current registration. Keep both current at the same time.
Can I sell cottage food online in Arizona?
Registered individuals can prepare, package, and offer cottage food from their home kitchens directly to consumers throughout Arizona. Cottage food products that are dairy products or that contain meat or poultry must be sold by the food preparer in person or remotely, including over the internet.
What foods are not allowed under Arizona's cottage food program?
Products that are potentially hazardous, and products that are Time or Temperature Control for Safety foods, fall outside the program. The program is built around homemade products that are neither of those.
Where do I find a sample label and ingredient template?
Arizona's cottage industry food website provides sample recipes and labels, ingredient templates, and information on how to get a food handler card. Start from those samples so your label carries what ARS 36-932 asks for.
Does the cottage food exemption cover everything?
No. Arizona rule R9-8-101.02 makes clear that a cottage food individual is not exempt from all the other requirements in the Article unless both the active food handler certification and the current registration are in place.
Sources
This is general information about Arizona cottage food rules, not legal advice. Requirements can change. Confirm the current rules with the Arizona Department of Health Services before you sell.