Cottage food rules
Cottage Food Laws in New Brunswick: What Home Bakers Need
A plain walk through the New Brunswick rules that apply to a home baking business, and the questions to settle before you sell.
On this page
What to remember
- The Food Premises Regulation for New Brunswick is NB Reg 2009-138.
- Food sold in the province must be safe and suitable for human consumption.
- The regulation deals with exemptions, classes of food premises, and licences.
- Anyone who handles food has to follow the regulation’s food handling requirements.
- Read the current text on the Government of New Brunswick site, not a summary.
If you bake from your kitchen and sell to neighbours, at markets, or through messages on your phone, you are running a food business in the eyes of the province. That is not meant to scare you. It just means the rules you need are written down and public, and you can read them yourself before you spend money on packaging or take a deposit. If you are also sorting out how you will get paid, our guide to payment methods home bakers use walks through what to confirm first.
What the rules actually say
New Brunswick’s food safety framework applies to food businesses operating in the province, including in Fredericton, Moncton and Saint John. The Food Premises Regulation is NB Reg 2009-138. Its table of contents runs through citation, definitions, exemptions, classes of food premises, licences, standards for food premises, control of food hazards, and maintenance and sanitation. That list is your map. Each section answers a question you will have about your own kitchen.
The core requirement is simple to state: food sold in New Brunswick must be safe and suitable for human consumption and must meet the requirements of the Food Premises Regulations. The detail sits in the regulation itself, which is why the exemptions and classes sections matter so much for a home baker. Rules also differ from one province and state to the next, so a guide written for somewhere else will not tell you what applies here. If you want to see how a nearby jurisdiction handles home baking, our New Hampshire cottage food guide is a useful comparison, but read New Brunswick’s own text for your own kitchen.
What to check before you sell
Start with the regulation itself
NB Reg 2009-138 is the Food Premises Regulation. The Government of New Brunswick publishes Acts and Regulations online, so read the current text rather than a blog summary.
Read the exemptions
The regulation has a section on exemptions. Check it before anything else, because it decides whether the rest applies to your kitchen at all.
Find your class
The regulation sets out classes of food premises. Work out which class a home baking operation would fall into, and what that class is held to.
Settle the licence question
Licences are covered in the regulation. Confirm whether the class you fall into needs one before you take paid orders or book a market table.
Meet the food handling rules
A person who handles food, and anyone involved in running a food premises who comes into contact with food, has to comply with the regulation’s food handling requirements.
Cover premises, hazards and sanitation
The regulation also covers standards for food premises, control of food hazards, and maintenance and sanitation. These are the standards your kitchen will be measured against.
Food handling and a clean kitchen
The food handling requirements are the part you will live with every baking day. They apply to the person handling the food, and to anyone involved in running the operation who comes into contact with food. In practice that means the rules follow the food, not the job title. If you are the only person in the kitchen, they are yours to follow. If a friend helps you box a Friday order, they are part of it too.
Once the rules side is settled, the business side is mostly about knowing your numbers. Recipes with real costing, ingredient inventory, and a weekly planner help you price and plan so a busy week still pays. If you are weighing up tools to run orders and recipes, our roundup of home bakery apps compares the options fairly, and our look at what Bakesy costs each month is worth reading before you commit to a monthly fee.
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Common questions
Do I need a licence to sell baked goods from my home in New Brunswick?
The Food Premises Regulation covers licences and classes of food premises. Whether you need one depends on which class a home baking operation falls into, so read those sections of NB Reg 2009-138 and confirm before you take paid orders.
Is there a cottage food exemption in New Brunswick?
The regulation's table of contents includes a section on exemptions. Read that section in full to see whether an exemption covers your situation. Do not rely on a summary from another province or state.
Does this apply if I am not in Fredericton, Moncton or Saint John?
The province's food safety framework applies to food businesses operating in New Brunswick, and those three cities are named as examples of where it applies. The regulation is provincial, so read it as the starting point wherever you bake.
What food handling rules apply to me?
An employee who handles food, and any person engaged in the operation of a food premises who comes into contact with food, must comply with the regulation's food handling requirements. The regulation also covers standards for food premises, control of food hazards, and sanitation.
Where can I read the official rules?
The Government of New Brunswick officially publishes Acts and Regulations online. The Food Premises Regulation is NB Reg 2009-138, and the full text is also available on CanLII.
Sources
This is general information, not legal advice. Rules can change. Read NB Reg 2009-138 on the Government of New Brunswick site and confirm what applies to your own kitchen before you sell.