Cottage food rules
Kentucky Cottage Food Law Application: Form DFS-250
The form, the fee, and the one mistake that sends your application back.
On this page
What to remember
- Kentucky calls its cottage food program the Home-Based Processing Program.
- You register as a Home-Based Processor. You are not applying for a license.
- The form is DFS-250 and the fee is $50 a year.
- Everything you sell has to be non-potentially hazardous and shelf-stable.
- Each product you make needs its own label.
If you have been searching for a cottage food license application and keep landing on a registration form, that is not a mistake. Kentucky runs its cottage food rules through what it calls the Home-Based Processing Program, and the paperwork is shorter than most bakers expect. It still has to be right. If you are still working out which permits apply to a home kitchen in general, start with home bakery licenses and permits.
Where the application goes
The program sits with the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, Department for Public Health, Food Safety Branch. Their Home-Based Processing page is where the current rules live: registration, allowable products, permitted selling methods, operating standards, and labeling. Read that page before you fill in anything, because it is the version the reviewers work from.
That same page also covers the selling methods that are permitted, so check it against how you plan to take orders. Whether you sell at a market table, from your porch, or by message on your phone, you want to know it fits before you pay a fee.
Filling out Form DFS-250
Form DFS-250 is the registration form for a Kentucky home-based processor. The whole job is being honest and specific about what you actually make.
Check each bake against the allowed list
Every food you submit has to be non-potentially hazardous and shelf-stable. Go through your menu item by item before you touch the form.
Open Form DFS-250
This is the application form for home-based processor registration in Kentucky.
List every food you plan to sell
Be specific and complete. Reviewers match your list against the foods named in the regulation.
Include the $50 annual fee
The fee is yearly, so budget for it again each year you keep selling.
Send it in and stay reachable
If something on the form falls outside the regulation, the Cabinet contacts you by phone or email, or returns the application and your payment.
Complete a food safety training course
Home-Based Processors register with the Food Safety Branch and complete a food safety training course.
That is not a punishment, it is just how the form is reviewed. The Cabinet either calls or emails you, or sends the form and the fee back. Either way you start again, so the check in step one is worth doing twice.
Labels and training after you register
Kentucky statute requires a home-based processor to put the required information on the label of each food or cosmetic product. The Cabinet’s Home-Based Processing page is where the labeling requirements are set out, so read it before you print a single sticker. Label rules do differ from state to state, and this look at Indiana cottage food label rules shows the kind of wording states tend to ask for.
The food safety training course is the other piece that comes with registration. Get it done early, before your first order, so nothing sits waiting on it.
The $50 fee is annual, so put a note in your phone for next year. It is easy to forget once orders are coming in and the kitchen is busy.
If you live near a state line, remember the rules on the other side are not the same. Kansas cottage food laws covers what Kansas asks of home bakers.
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Common questions
Do I need a license to sell baked goods from my Kentucky home?
Kentucky requires registration rather than licensing as a Home-Based Processor with the Cabinet for Health and Family Services. The form is DFS-250 and the fee is $50 a year.
What foods can I put on the application?
All foods submitted under a Kentucky home-based processor application must be non-potentially hazardous and shelf-stable. Anything outside the foods listed in the regulation gets the application rejected.
What happens if I list something that is not allowed?
Applications that include foods outside those listed in the regulation are rejected. The Cabinet either contacts you by phone or email, or returns the application and your payment.
Is there training involved?
Yes. Home-Based Processors register with the Kentucky Department for Public Health Food Safety Branch and complete a food safety training course.
Do I have to label my bakes?
Under Kentucky statute, a home-based processor must put the required information on the label of each product. The Cabinet's Home-Based Processing page covers the current labeling requirements.
Sources
This is general information about how the Kentucky application works, not legal advice. Rules change, so confirm the current requirements with the Cabinet for Health and Family Services before you file.