Cottage food rules
Does Indiana Have a Cottage Food Law?
What Indiana's home food rules are called, what the law says, and what to confirm before you take an order.
On this page
What to remember
- Indiana’s home food rules go by Home-Based Vendor, not cottage food.
- House Enrolled Act 1309 in 2009 made it possible to prepare certain foods at home as a Home Based Vendor.
- House Enrolled Act 1149 in 2022 set the requirements for home-based vendors.
- If you sell food to an end consumer in Indiana, you are either a Retail Food Establishment or a Home-Based Vendor.
If you have been searching for an Indiana cottage food law and nothing quite matches, this is why. The state does regulate food made at home and sold to the public, but the health department pages and guidance documents use a different name for it. Learning that name is half the battle, because it is the word you need when you call your local health department or look up the state FAQ. For the wider picture of how these laws differ from state to state, see cottage food laws in the United States.
What the Indiana law actually says
Indiana made home food selling possible in 2009, when the Legislature passed House Enrolled Act 1309. That act allowed individuals to prepare certain foods out of their homes as a Home Based Vendor. The rules were revisited in 2022, when House Enrolled Act 1149 passed and set out the requirements for home-based vendors in the preparation and sale of food products.
House Bill 1149 did a second thing that matters if you sell at markets. It reorganized the provisions about the sale of certain food products by an individual vendor at a farmers market. If market day is part of your plan, that is the section to read closely.
Which set of rules applies to you
In Indiana, if you sell food to an end consumer, you are identified as one of two things: a Retail Food Establishment or a Home-Based Vendor. Which one you fall under changes what you have to do. The Indiana Department of Health publishes a Home-Based Vendors FAQ that sets out the requirements, and that document is the one to read before your first sale. Purdue’s food science department also explains the Home-Based Vendor category and is a plain starting point.
The other question, what you are actually allowed to make and sell, is answered in that same state guidance. Our guide to what you can sell from home walks through how to read those lists for your own kitchen.
Before you take your first order
Read the state FAQ
Start with the Indiana Department of Health Home-Based Vendors FAQ, and make sure you are reading the current version.
Name your category
Work out whether you are selling as a Home-Based Vendor or a Retail Food Establishment, since the requirements differ.
Confirm what you may sell
Check the state guidance against the exact list of bakes you plan to make, not the general idea of baking.
Ask your local health department
A quick call before your first sale is cheaper than fixing a problem after it.
Recent changes worth watching
Indiana has kept revisiting food sales from farms and homesteads. House Bill 1424 on farm and homestead food sales would allow the executive board of the Indiana Department of Health to adopt rules concerning time temperature control for food safety, while providing that those rules may not be applied to a homestead vendor. Because bills move, read the current version and the current state FAQ rather than an old summary.
Sales tax is a separate question from whether you may bake at home, and it catches many home bakers out. Our guide to cottage food laws and sales tax explains what to check.
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Common questions
Is there a cottage food law in Indiana?
Indiana regulates home food selling under the name Home-Based Vendor rather than cottage food. The requirements are set out in House Enrolled Act 1149 from 2022, building on House Enrolled Act 1309 from 2009.
What is a Home-Based Vendor in Indiana?
It is one of two ways Indiana identifies someone who sells food to an end consumer. The other is a Retail Food Establishment. A Home-Based Vendor prepares certain foods at home.
When did home food selling become possible in Indiana?
The Legislature passed House Enrolled Act 1309 in 2009, which made it possible for individuals to prepare certain foods out of their homes as a Home Based Vendor.
Can I sell at a farmers market as a Home-Based Vendor?
House Bill 1149 reorganized the provisions about the sale of certain food products by an individual vendor at a farmers market. Read that section, and your market's own rules, before you book a table.
Where do I confirm the rules for my kitchen?
The Indiana Department of Health publishes a Home-Based Vendors FAQ. Use the current version, and check with your local health department, before your first sale.
Sources
This is general information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change, so confirm the current requirements with the Indiana Department of Health and your local health department before you sell.