Cottage food rules
Oklahoma Cottage Food Laws: Free Rules for Home Bakers
What the Homemade Food Freedom Act asks of you, and where it costs you nothing.
On this page
What to remember
- No license and no inspection for homemade food sold from your home.
- The sales cap is $75,000 in gross annual sales.
- Foods that need time or temperature control for safety also need a food handler course or the OSU Homemade Food Freedom Act Workshop.
- Those temperature controlled foods may only be sold direct to the consumer.
- There is no licensing step to wait on before you start baking for pay.
If you have been putting off selling because you assumed a license came first, this is the page to read slowly. Oklahoma is one of the places where the answer is genuinely simple, and knowing that early saves you weeks of waiting. Once you are clear on the rules, the next thing most bakers want is the practical side, which is covered in license to sell baked goods from home.
What the Homemade Food Freedom Act allows
The Act lets a producer sell homemade food from their home with no license and no inspection, and it sets gross annual sales of up to $75,000 as the ceiling. Because there is no license and no inspection, there is no licensing step to sit through before you take an order. For a baker working out of a home kitchen, that is the whole of the entry requirement for most bakes.
The $75,000 line and how to watch it
The cap is measured in gross annual sales, so it is the total you take in that counts toward the $75,000. That makes your pricing and your records do double duty. If you are still working out what to charge, how much is a home bakery license walks through the cost questions bakers ask before they set a price. Keep the two ideas together: what you charge and what you have sold so far.
If your bake needs time or temperature control
Some foods are time or temperature control for safety foods. If you make one of those, the Act adds two conditions. You must complete a food handler course or the OSU Homemade Food Freedom Act Workshop, and you may only sell that food direct to the consumer. If you are not sure whether your bake falls into that group, treat it as a question worth answering before your first sale. How to apply for cottage food law is a useful next read if you want the order of steps written out.
Work out whether your bake needs temperature control
Look at what you make and decide whether it is a food that needs time or temperature control for safety. This is the one question that changes what you have to do.
Complete the course or the workshop
If it does, finish a food handler course or the OSU Homemade Food Freedom Act Workshop before you sell that food.
Sell it direct to the consumer only
Temperature controlled food from your home goes straight to the person eating it, not through anyone else.
Keep your records together
Hold on to your course confirmation and your sales totals in one place, so both are easy to find later.
Starting this week without spending a cent
Nothing about the entry step costs you money, so the honest hold up is usually confidence rather than paperwork. Pick three bakes you already make well, price them properly, and take your first orders from people you know. If you like seeing how another state handles the same question, Indiana cottage food laws is a short read and a good comparison.
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- License to sell baked goods from home
- How to apply for cottage food law
- Indiana cottage food laws: a free guide
Common questions
Do I need a license to sell baked goods from my Oklahoma kitchen?
No. Under the Homemade Food Freedom Act, homemade food sold from your home needs no license and no inspection, up to $75,000 in gross annual sales.
Is there a fee to get started?
There is no license and no inspection, so there is no licensing step to complete before you sell. The only requirement that adds anything is the course or workshop for foods that need time or temperature control for safety.
What is the sales limit?
$75,000 in gross annual sales. Keep a running record of your orders so you can see how close you are.
What if I make a food that needs refrigeration?
If it is a time or temperature control for safety food, you must complete a food handler course or the OSU Homemade Food Freedom Act Workshop, and you may only sell that food direct to the consumer.
Can I sell temperature controlled food to a shop?
The Act allows those foods to be sold direct to the consumer only, so selling them any other way goes beyond what it permits.
Sources
This is general information, not legal or tax advice. Rules can change, so confirm the details with the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry before you sell.