Cottage food rules
Cottage Food Laws in Kentucky: What Home Bakers Need
What Kentucky asks of a home baker, from the $50 registration to the allergen label.
On this page
What to remember
- Register as a Home-Based Processor on Form DFS-250, $50 a year.
- The cap is $60,000 gross income a year from product sales, written into KRS 217.015.
- Allowed items include baked goods, dried fruit, candy, jams and jellies, and granola.
- Labels must identify milk, eggs, wheat, soybean, peanuts, tree nuts, sesame, fish, and shellfish where they appear.
Kentucky keeps its cottage food rules in a small number of places, and they are worth reading once before you take your first paid order. The state’s home-based processing page covers registration, allowable products, permitted selling methods, operating standards, and labeling all in one spot. If you bake across a state line, compare notes with Missouri and Virginia before you assume the same rules follow you.
What you can sell, and the $60,000 ceiling
Kentucky’s allowed cottage food items include baked goods, dried fruit, candy, jams and jellies, and granola. The income limit is $60,000, and it is written into the statutory definition of both paths under KRS 217.015 as gross income a year from the sale of the products. That wording matters when you are pricing a wedding cake or a holiday pie run, because every dollar that comes in counts toward the ceiling, not just what is left after flour and butter.
Register as a Home-Based Processor
In Kentucky you register, not license, as a Home-Based Processor with the Cabinet for Health and Family Services. The registration is Form DFS-250 and the fee is $50 a year. KRS 217.125, 217.137, and 217.138 give the Secretary of the Cabinet authority to write the administrative regulations behind this, which means the details can be updated. Always read the current state page before you send anything in.
Read the state page first
Start with the Cabinet for Health and Family Services home-based processing page. It lays out registration, allowable products, permitted selling methods, operating standards, and labeling requirements together.
Fill in Form DFS-250
This is the Home-Based Processor registration form. Work through it with your kitchen and your product list in front of you.
Pay the $50 annual fee
The fee is $50 a year, so set a reminder in your phone for the renewal.
Match your bakes to the allowed list
Baked goods, dried fruit, candy, jams and jellies, and granola are the allowed cottage food items. Anything outside that list needs a different answer from the state.
Build your label around allergens
Identify every ingredient that contains milk, eggs, wheat, soybean, peanuts, tree nuts, sesame, fish, or shellfish. The Cabinet’s label guide is the reference to follow.
Track sales against $60,000
Keep a running total of money in from product sales, because the cap is measured on gross income a year.
Labels: name the allergens
Kentucky home-based processor labels must include allergen identification for all ingredients that contain any of the major food allergens: milk, eggs, wheat, soybean (soy), peanuts, tree nuts, sesame, fish, and shellfish. The Cabinet publishes a label guide, and that is the document to keep open on your phone while you design a label in the first place, not after a customer asks you a question you cannot answer.
Write your label once, then reuse it. The same cookie sold at a market and sold to a neighbor still needs the same allergen information. The state page also lists permitted selling methods, so check it before you add a new way of selling, and if you live near a border, Maryland keeps its own set of rules.
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One last habit worth building early: keep your registration, your product list, and your labels together in one folder, paper or phone. When the rules get updated, you will know what you have and what needs a second look.
Common questions
Do I need a license or a registration in Kentucky?
A registration. You register as a Home-Based Processor with the Cabinet for Health and Family Services using Form DFS-250 and pay a $50 annual fee.
What is the sales limit for Kentucky cottage food?
$60,000 gross income a year from the sale of the products. That figure is written into the statutory definition of both paths under KRS 217.015.
What can I sell as a Kentucky home baker?
The allowed items include baked goods, dried fruit, candy, jams and jellies, and granola. The state's home-based processing page lists the allowable products and the permitted selling methods.
What has to be on my label?
Allergen identification for every ingredient that contains milk, eggs, wheat, soybean, peanuts, tree nuts, sesame, fish, or shellfish. The Cabinet publishes a label guide you can follow.
How much does it cost to register?
$50 a year, paid with your Home-Based Processor registration.
Sources
This is general information for home bakers, not legal or tax advice. Kentucky rules can be updated, so confirm the current requirements with the Cabinet for Health and Family Services before you register or print labels.