Cottage food rules
New Illinois Cottage Food Laws: What Home Bakers Need
Know who oversees your Illinois home kitchen and what to check before your next order.
On this page
What to remember
- The food has to be made and packaged in the kitchen of your main home.
- Only non potentially hazardous food fits the cottage food definition.
- The local health department where you register can inspect you and charge fees.
- Illinois has adopted the 2022 FDA Food Code, so the state food rules are current.
- Read the IDPH cottage food guide before you settle on your recipe list.
If you bake from your own kitchen and sell to people who come to you, Illinois has a name for what you are doing. The rules are short, but they decide what you can make, who can knock on your door, and what you might have to pay for. Here is the plain version, plus the checks worth making before your next order.
What counts as a cottage food operation in Illinois
The state defines a cottage food operation as a person who produces or packages non potentially hazardous food in the kitchen of that person’s primary domestic residence, for direct sale. Two parts of that sentence do the work. The kitchen has to be the one in your main home, and the food has to be the kind that does not need time or temperature control to stay safe. A recipe that sits outside those lines is not a cottage food item here.
Illinois also treats food sales direct to consumers as retail, and food prepared under retail rules must follow the Illinois Food Code and be made on site at the market or event, or in a licensed and inspected facility. That is a different lane from a home kitchen operation. Knowing which lane you are in matters before you book a market table or take a large custom order.
Who oversees your home kitchen
Illinois bill SB 3544 provides that the adjacent local health department where the cottage food operation registers has the power to take specified actions on complaints, inspections, fees, and penalties. In practice, that is the office to call when you are unsure whether a recipe is allowed, and the office that would follow up if a customer raised a concern. Save their number next to your order book.
The Illinois Department of Public Health states that it has adopted the 2022 FDA Food Code, so the food safety rules behind all of this are the current ones. The department’s cottage food page points operators to a cottage food guide covering prohibited ingredients and additional requirements. Read that guide with your recipe list open, and cross off anything that does not fit. Our walkthrough of what goes on a cottage food label covers the pieces customers look for, and you can match it to what Illinois asks of you.
What to check before your next order
Start with the recipe, not the price
Write down every bake you sell and ask one question of each: is this non potentially hazardous food? Anything that depends on staying cold or hot to be safe does not belong in a cottage food lineup in Illinois.
Read the IDPH cottage food guide
The department’s cottage food page sends you to a guide on prohibited ingredients and additional requirements. Go through it line by line against your menu and note what you would have to drop or change.
Find your local health department
Under SB 3544, the adjacent local health department where you register handles complaints, inspections, fees, and penalties. Call them, ask what they expect from a home baker, and write down what they tell you.
Ask about lab testing
If a recipe is unusual, ask whether the department would want it sent to a commercial laboratory at your expense to confirm it is not a time or temperature control food. Better to know now than mid season.
Check the retail line
Direct to consumer sales count as retail in Illinois, and retail food must be made on site at the market or in a licensed and inspected facility. If a market organizer offers you a setup outside those lines, ask questions before you pay for a table.
Work out what each bake really costs before you price it
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Laws change, and so do the people answering the phone at your local office. Our look at what changed in Michigan’s cottage food law shows how one state’s rules moved in a single year, which is a fair reminder to recheck yours each season. When you are ready to take orders properly, a fair roundup of tools for home bakers can help you decide what you actually need.
- What goes on a cottage food label
- Michigan cottage food law update: what changed
- Tools for home bakers: a fair roundup
- Missouri cottage food law labeling
Common questions
What food can I sell under Illinois cottage food rules?
Only non potentially hazardous food, produced or packaged in the kitchen of your primary home for direct sale. The Illinois Department of Public Health points operators to a cottage food guide that covers prohibited ingredients and additional requirements, so check your recipes against that guide.
Can my local health department inspect my home kitchen?
Under SB 3544, the adjacent local health department where the cottage food operation registers has the power to take specified actions on complaints, inspections, fees, and penalties. That is the office that would follow up on a complaint about your shop.
Could I have to pay for lab testing?
Yes. A local health department may require a cottage food operation to submit a recipe, at the operator's expense, to a commercial laboratory to verify that it is not a time or temperature control food. Ask about it before you build a whole menu around one recipe.
Does the Illinois Food Code apply to a home baker?
Illinois has adopted the 2022 FDA Food Code. Food prepared under Illinois retail rules must comply with the Illinois Food Code and be prepared on site at the market or event, or at a licensed and inspected facility. Food sales direct to consumers count as retail in Illinois, so it is worth knowing which set of rules your sales fall under.
Where do I find the list of prohibited ingredients?
The Illinois Department of Public Health's cottage food page directs operators to a cottage food guide to learn about prohibited ingredients and additional requirements. Start there, then confirm anything unclear with your local health department.
Sources
This is general information, not legal advice. Cottage food rules change, so confirm the details with the Illinois Department of Public Health and the local health department where you register before you sell.