Cottage food rules
Ohio Home Bakery License Regulations: What Bakers Need
Know what Ohio asks of a home bakery, and how to start the inspection.
On this page
What to remember
- A home bakery in Ohio is licensed and inspected by the Ohio Department of Agriculture, Division of Food Safety.
- You ask for an inspection by email, by phone, or with the Request for Inspection form.
- A home bakery is one oven of ordinary home kitchen design, in a home, baking goods to sell.
- Home bakeries may make non-potentially hazardous bakery products such as cookies, breads, brownies, cakes, and fruit pies.
- A cottage food production operation is defined separately and may not process acidified foods, low acid canned foods, or potentially hazardous foods.
If you are weighing your options in Ohio, start with the shape of your kitchen and what you want to bake. The state treats a home bakery and a cottage food production operation as two different things, and the definitions are written into Ohio law. If you have been following the recent changes, new Ohio cottage food laws is a good place to get your bearings before you read the rest of this page.
What Ohio counts as a home bakery
Ohio Revised Code Chapter 911 defines a home bakery as a person who owns or operates a home bakery with only one oven, in a stove of ordinary home kitchen design and located in a home, used for the baking of baked goods to be sold. That definition does a lot of work for you. It tells you the oven matters, the home kitchen matters, and selling is the point of the whole thing.
A home bakery is permitted to manufacture non-potentially hazardous bakery products such as cookies, breads, brownies, cakes, and fruit pies. Those are the everyday bakes most home sellers start with. Notice that the list is about the product being non-potentially hazardous, so the question to ask yourself about any new item is whether it fits that description.
How to request your inspection
The inspection is how you get your home bakery registration, and the Division of Food Safety gives you three ways to ask for one. Pick whichever suits you and keep a note of when you sent it.
Email the Division of Food Safety
Send your request to [email protected] and say that you are asking for a home bakery inspection.
Or make the call
Ring (614) 728-6250 and ask about an inspection to obtain a home bakery registration.
Or use the form
Fill out the Request for Inspection form through the Division of Food Safety.
Know your setup before you ask
Be clear in your own mind that you bake in one oven, in a stove of ordinary home kitchen design, located in your home, because that is the definition the state works from.
Home bakery or cottage food operation
Ohio Revised Code Chapter 3715 defines a cottage food production operation as a person who, in the person’s home, produces food items that are not potentially hazardous foods, including bakery products, jams, jellies, and candy. That is a wider list than the home bakery list, and it is a separate definition in a separate chapter. If jam or candy is part of your plan, that difference is worth reading closely.
There is a limit written into the cottage food rules too. Under Section 3715.025 of the Ohio Revised Code, a cottage food production operation shall not process acidified foods, low acid canned foods, or potentially hazardous foods. So the safe answer for anything you are unsure about is to check before you bake it for sale. Our guide to Ohio cottage food labeling rules covers what goes on the package once you are ready to sell.
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Common questions
Do I need a license to sell cookies from my Ohio kitchen?
A home bakery must be licensed and inspected by the Ohio Department of Agriculture, Division of Food Safety. You request an inspection to obtain your home bakery registration.
What can an Ohio home bakery make?
A home bakery is permitted to manufacture non-potentially hazardous bakery products such as cookies, breads, brownies, cakes, and fruit pies.
Is a home bakery the same as a cottage food production operation?
No. A home bakery is defined in Ohio Revised Code Chapter 911 as one oven, of ordinary home kitchen design, in a home, used for baking goods to be sold. A cottage food production operation is defined in Chapter 3715 as producing food items in the person's home that are not potentially hazardous, including bakery products, jams, jellies, and candy.
What may a cottage food production operation not make?
Under Section 3715.025 of the Ohio Revised Code, a cottage food production operation shall not process acidified foods, low acid canned foods, or potentially hazardous foods.
How do I start the inspection process?
Email [email protected], call (614) 728-6250, or fill out the Request for Inspection form through the Division of Food Safety.
Sources
This is general information about Ohio rules, not legal advice. Rules change, so confirm the current requirements with the Ohio Department of Agriculture, Division of Food Safety before you sell.