Cottage food rules
Indiana Cottage Food Law: Label Requirements
The label rules Indiana home bakers have to follow, in plain words.
On this page
What to remember
- Indiana’s requirements come from House Enrolled Act 1149, passed in 2022.
- A home-based vendor prepares and packages non-TCS food products out of the kitchen of their home.
- Labels need a home produced and processed statement in 10-point type.
- A not for resale rule applies to these labels.
- No proper label means no sales at farmers markets or roadside stands.
Indiana’s rules are written around what the law calls a home-based vendor. House Enrolled Act 1149, passed in 2022, sets out the requirements for home-based vendors in the preparation and sale of food products. If you bake at home and sell what you bake, this is the part of Indiana law that decides what goes on your label. States word these things differently, so it helps to read a guide like Illinois cottage food labeling to see how another state handles it, then come back to Indiana’s wording.
Who counts as a home-based vendor
The law defines a home-based vendor as an individual who prepares and packages non-TCS food products out of the kitchen of their home. Two parts of that sentence matter when you are standing at your counter with a stack of labels. The food is prepared and packaged at home, and it has to fall outside the TCS category. If what you make does not fit that definition, these are not the label rules that apply to you, and it is worth a call to your local health department before you print a single sheet.
Home-based vendor is a wide door, not a narrow one. The definition is about an individual preparing and packaging non-TCS food at home, so the required statement does not change because you sell bread one week and cookies the next. What changes is everything around it: your packaging, your prices, and how you tell customers what you make. The label statement stays put.
What has to be on the label
Indiana’s home-based vendor label requirements include a home produced and processed statement set in 10-point type. The labels are also subject to a not for resale rule. Those two pieces carry the weight. One tells the customer the food came out of a home kitchen. The other marks the package as not for resale, so nobody mistakes your box of bakes for stock a shop can pass along.
Keep a master copy of your label somewhere you can find it at eleven at night. Once the statement is set in the right type and the not for resale line is on there, every new bake gets the same label with the name of the item changed. Reprinting from a saved file is faster than building the label again each time, and it keeps the wording from drifting.
Why the label decides whether you can sell
The Indiana State Department of Health is direct about the consequence. If a food product made by a home-based vendor is not labeled as the requirements state, it cannot be sold at farmers markets or roadside stands. That turns the label into a selling rule rather than paperwork for later. The label is the thing that lets the table happen.
If you sell across a state line, keep each state’s wording separate in your files. A guide like Ohio cottage food rules shows how a neighboring state answers the same question, and what to look for in a home bakery app helps you keep labels, prices, and orders from living in five different places.
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- Does Ohio have cottage food laws
- Illinois cottage food law: label requirements
- Home bakery app: a fair roundup for home bakers
Common questions
Does Indiana call it cottage food or home-based vendor?
The law uses home-based vendor. House Enrolled Act 1149, passed in 2022, sets out the requirements for home-based vendors in the preparation and sale of food products.
What size type does the home produced statement need to be?
10-point type. That is the size named in Indiana's home-based vendor label requirements.
Can I sell at a farmers market without the right label?
No. According to the Indiana State Department of Health, a food product made by a home-based vendor that is not labeled as the requirements state cannot be sold at farmers markets or roadside stands.
What does the not for resale rule mean for my bakes?
Indiana's home-based vendor labels are subject to a not for resale rule, so that belongs on the label alongside the home produced and processed statement.
Who counts as a home-based vendor in Indiana?
An individual who prepares and packages non-TCS food products out of the kitchen of their home.
Sources
This is general information about Indiana's home-based vendor label rules, not legal advice. Rules can change, so check with the Indiana State Department of Health before you print labels.