Cottage food rules
Cottage Food Laws .com: Find the Rule That Applies to You
Use the .com pages as a starting point, then confirm the rule with your own state.
On this page
What to remember
- A page written for another state will not tell you what your state allows.
- In Colorado, producers need food safety training before they start selling.
- Colorado requires no state license or kitchen inspection for cottage foods.
- Colorado allows only nonpotentially hazardous foods that do not need refrigeration.
- Sales must go directly to informed end consumers.
It helps to know what these pages are. Some are written by a state agency, some by a law firm, some by a directory that lists rules for every state. A .com result can be useful for finding your state’s own page, but the wording you act on should come from the agency that enforces it. Our guide to cottage food law updates walks through how to spot a rule that has changed since a page was written.
What the rules actually decide for you
A cottage food law answers four practical questions. What can you make. Where can you make it. Who can you sell it to. And what do you have to do before your first sale. Colorado shows how the answers fit together. The Colorado Legislature enacted the Colorado Cottage Foods Act in 2012, allowing limited types of food products to be sold directly to consumers without licensing or inspection.
The kitchen question is wider than most bakers expect. A producer may use a home kitchen, or a commercial, private, or public kitchen, to produce foods for sale, but only if the foods are sold directly to informed end consumers. The food question is narrower. Colorado law permits producers to sell only a limited range of foods that are nonpotentially hazardous and do not require refrigeration. If your bake needs to stay cold, that is the first thing to check before you price it.
Check your own state before you bake for sale
Find the agency page
Search your state name plus cottage foods and land on the agency page, not a summary site. Save the link.
Read the allowed foods list
Write down what is on the list and what is left off it. Anything that needs refrigeration is usually the line to watch.
Check the training requirement
Colorado producers must complete a food safety training course before starting. Confirm what your state asks for and when it is due.
Check the license and inspection question
Under the current Colorado Cottage Foods Act, producers do not need a state license or kitchen inspection. Confirm your own state’s position rather than assuming it matches.
Check who you may sell to
Colorado requires sales directly to informed end consumers. Confirm what that means for markets, pickup, and delivery where you live.
Write down your label wording
Copy the required wording exactly. Our guide to cottage food law wording shows what to copy and what to check.
Training catches people out because it takes time. If your state asks for a course before you sell, book it before you announce a menu. Our walkthrough of cottage food law training covers what to confirm about the course itself.
Keep the paperwork where you can find it
Once you know your rule, write it down in your own words and keep it with your recipes. A simple cottage food law template gives you one page to fill in with the allowed foods, the training date, and the label wording you must use. When a customer asks whether you are licensed, you will have a straight answer ready.
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Common questions
Do I need a license to sell cottage foods in Colorado?
Under the current Colorado Cottage Foods Act, producers do not need a state license or kitchen inspection. They do need to complete a food safety training course before they start selling.
When did cottage food sales start in Colorado?
In 2012, the Colorado Legislature enacted the Colorado Cottage Foods Act, allowing limited types of food products to be sold directly to consumers without licensing or inspection.
Can I sell any kind of bake in Colorado?
No. Colorado law permits cottage food producers to sell only a limited range of foods that are nonpotentially hazardous and do not require refrigeration.
Can I sell to a shop or a restaurant?
In Colorado, a producer may use a home kitchen or a commercial, private, or public kitchen to produce foods for sale only if the producer sells the foods directly to informed end consumers.
Is a .com summary page good enough to rely on?
Use it to find your state agency page, then rely on the agency page itself. Keep a copy of the current version with your records.
Sources
This is general information, not legal advice. Cottage food rules differ by state and change over time. Confirm the current requirements with the agency that regulates cottage foods where you live before you sell.