Cottage food rules
New Cottage Food Laws Ohio: What Home Bakers Need
A plain look at what Ohio allows from your home kitchen, and when you need the Home Bakery license instead.
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What to remember
- Cottage foods in Ohio include bakery products, jams, jellies, candy and fruit butters.
- A cottage food production operation is exempt from licensing and inspection for making those foods.
- Acidified foods, low acid canned foods, and potentially hazardous foods are off limits to a cottage food operation.
- Ohio’s cottage food law does not require a food handler card, registration, license, or fee, though some counties and farmers markets may still ask for one.
- Refrigerated bakes like cream pies and cheesecakes need the Home Bakery license, which costs $10 a year and requires a one-time kitchen inspection.
If you bake from your kitchen and sell to neighbors, this is the short version of where you stand. Other states draw the lines in different places, so if you bake near a border or you are comparing notes with a friend, our guides to the Michigan rules and the Kentucky rules show how the lists change from one state to the next.
What you can sell as an Ohio cottage food operation
Ohio’s definition names bakery products, jams, jellies, candy and fruit butters, and it is limited to foods that are not potentially hazardous. That is the whole list you are working from, so start there when you plan a menu. A loaf of bread, a tray of cookies, a jar of jam, a pan of fudge: these sit inside the cottage food definition. A jar of low acid canned vegetables does not, and neither does anything the law calls acidified.
The exemption is the part most home bakers care about. For the production of cottage foods, the operation is exempt from being licensed and inspected. You are not applying for a permit to bake cookies in your own oven. Our Illinois guide covers a state with a similar structure if you want a second example of how these exemptions read.
Where cottage food stops and Home Bakery begins
The Ohio Department of Agriculture runs a Home Bakery program covering bakery items permitted to be produced in a licensed home kitchen and offered for sale. That program is the path for the refrigerated things, and it is separate from the cottage food exemption. The kitchen inspection is one time, and the license renews at $10 a year.
So the practical question for your menu is simple. If every item you sell is a non hazardous baked good, jam, jelly, candy, or fruit butter, you are in cottage food territory. The moment a cheesecake or a cream pie goes on the list, you are in Home Bakery territory and you should sort the license out before you take the order, not after.
Paperwork, cards, and the questions to ask
Ohio’s cottage food law does not require a food handler card, registration, license, or fee. That said, some counties and farmers markets may still ask for one, so a phone call before your first market day saves you a wasted Saturday. Ask what they want to see, and get the answer from the person who will be checking.
Write down everything you make
Every cake, cookie, jar, and confection, in one list. Note which ones need to stay cold after they are made.
Check each item against the cottage food list
Bakery products, jams, jellies, candy and fruit butters are named. Anything refrigerated, acidified, low acid canned, or potentially hazardous is not a cottage food.
Decide if you need the Home Bakery license
If cream pies, cheesecakes, or other refrigerated bakes are on your list, plan for the $10 a year license and the one-time kitchen inspection.
Call your county and your market
No food handler card is required by the cottage food law, but a county or a farmers market may still ask. Confirm it in advance.
None of this changes how you bake. It changes what you can put on a menu, and knowing that before you take an order is what keeps a small baking business calm. If you are still choosing what to sell first, start with the items that sit squarely inside the cottage food list and build from there.
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Common questions
Do I need a license to sell baked goods from home in Ohio?
A cottage food production operation is exempt from being licensed and inspected for the production of cottage foods. If you sell cream pies, cheesecakes, or other refrigerated baked goods, you need the separate Home Bakery license, which costs $10 a year and requires a one-time kitchen inspection.
Do I need a food handler card in Ohio?
Ohio's cottage food law does not require a food handler card, registration, license, or fee. Some counties and farmers markets may still ask for one, so check with them before your first selling day.
Can I sell cheesecake or cream pie as a cottage food?
No. Those are refrigerated baked goods, so they fall under the Home Bakery program rather than the cottage food exemption. That means the $10 a year license and a one-time kitchen inspection.
What foods can I not make under Ohio cottage food law?
A cottage food production operation shall not process acidified foods, low acid canned foods, or potentially hazardous foods. The law limits the operation to foods that are not potentially hazardous.
Can I sell jam, jelly, and candy?
Yes. Ohio's definition of a cottage food production operation names bakery products, jams, jellies, candy and fruit butters.
Sources
This is general information about Ohio cottage food rules, not legal advice. Rules can change and counties and markets can ask for more. Confirm your situation with the Ohio Department of Agriculture or your local health department before you sell.