Cottage food rules
Cottage Food Laws in Oklahoma: What You Can Sell
A plain look at what Oklahoma's Homemade Food Freedom Act lets you bake and sell from your kitchen.
On this page
What to remember
- No license and no inspection for home food sales under the Act.
- The limit is $75,000 in gross annual sales.
- Breads, cookies, cakes, jams and jellies are the examples state guidance points to.
- Foods that need time or temperature control can only be sold direct to the consumer.
- Making those foods also means a food handler course or the OSU workshop.
Oklahoma is one of the friendlier states to start baking for money in, at least on paper. The Homemade Food Freedom Act lets people sell homemade food from their home with no license and no inspection, up to $75,000 in gross annual sales. That covers a lot of home baking. What it does not cover is anything that has to be kept hot or cold to be safe, and that is where most of the confusion starts. If the label side of things is on your mind, what goes on your label is worth reading next.
The bakes the state points to first
State guidance for the Act gives examples of the low moisture foods it expects to see: honey, jams, jellies, breads, cookies, cakes, spice mixes, tea mixes, and other low moisture items. If your table is mostly cookies, layer cakes, quick breads, and jars of jam, you are standing on well trodden ground. These are foods that do not need to be kept cold to be safe, which is the whole reason the Act can let you sell them from a home kitchen without an inspection.
Foods that need time or temperature control
Some bakes do need time or temperature control to be safe. Under the Act, those foods may only be sold direct to the consumer, so a shop or cafe cannot buy them from you and resell them. There is a second step too. A producer who makes a food that needs time or temperature control must also complete a food handler course or the OSU Homemade Food Freedom Act Workshop. If eggs are part of your baking, cottage food laws and eggs covers what to check before you take an order.
Selling direct and taking orders
For everyday low moisture bakes the Act does not push you toward one particular way of selling. For the foods that need time or temperature control, the rule is direct to the consumer, which means the person eating it buys it from you. That makes how you take orders part of the picture, not just a convenience. A clear order form with pickup times, prices, and a paid or unpaid marker does more for you than a notebook ever will.
Brevl gives you a shop that is yours, with your photos, your colors and your own web address. You can take card payments through your own Stripe or Square account, plus Venmo, Cash App, Zelle and cash. It works on a computer and on a phone, and a real person answers, usually within minutes, when you get stuck.
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Before you take your first order
Rules change at the state line, so if you bake near a border or sell to people who travel, read the neighbouring state’s rules as well, starting with Cottage Food Laws in Kansas.
The four facts on this page shape most home baking businesses in Oklahoma: no license and no inspection, the $75,000 cap on gross annual sales, the direct to consumer rule for foods that need time or temperature control, and the food handler course or OSU workshop that comes with those foods. Read them against your own menu, then check with the state if anything on your list sits close to the line.
Common questions
Do I need a license to sell baked goods from my Oklahoma home?
Under the Homemade Food Freedom Act, no. The Act lets people sell homemade food from their home with no license and no inspection, up to $75,000 in gross annual sales.
What can I sell under the Act?
State guidance gives honey, jams, jellies, breads, cookies, cakes, spice mixes, tea mixes, and other low moisture items as examples of foods that can be sold under the Act.
Can I sell foods that need to be kept cold or hot?
Foods that need time or temperature control to be safe may only be sold direct to the consumer under the Act, and a producer who makes them must also complete a food handler course or the OSU Homemade Food Freedom Act Workshop.
What is the sales limit?
$75,000 in gross annual sales.
Does the Act mean I can sell to shops?
Foods that need time or temperature control may only be sold direct to the consumer, so no shop or cafe can buy those from you and resell them.
Sources
This is general information about Oklahoma's Homemade Food Freedom Act, not legal advice. Rules can change, so confirm the details with the state before you sell.