Cottage food rules
Oregon Cottage Food Label Requirements: What to Print
Exactly what Oregon wants on your cottage food label, and where it goes.
On this page
What to remember
- The label’s principal display panel must say the product is homemade.
- The same statement must say the food was not prepared in an inspected food establishment.
- It must also say how the product has to be stored.
- A label that misses these can be treated as misbranded and recalled.
- Selling through a retailer adds storage, display, and signage duties.
If you are labeling your first Oregon bake, the tricky part is usually not the ingredient list. It is the one statement the state wants a buyer to see before anything else. Read it as a block of three connected pieces rather than three separate lines, because a customer who reads half of it has not read it at all. The same care applies if you bake near a state line, so it helps to see how a neighbor handles it in new cottage food laws in Washington state.
What has to be on the label
Oregon’s cottage food rule puts the statement on the principal display panel, the main panel of your label. It has to say the product is homemade. It has to say the food was not prepared in an inspected food establishment. And it has to say how the product must be stored. Write those three parts as one clear statement so nobody reads one line and stops.
Read the rule first
Open Oregon’s cottage food rule and find the label requirement. That is where the principal display panel statement is set out, in the state’s own words.
Write the three parts
Homemade. Not prepared in an inspected food establishment. How to store it. Keep them together in one statement.
Put it on the main panel
The statement belongs on the principal display panel, not tucked on a side flap or the bottom of the box.
Read the labeling handout
Oregon’s food labeling handout provides the basic requirements and guidance for food labeling. Read it alongside the cottage food rule so your label is complete, not just compliant on one line.
Check the wording before a print run
If any part of the statement is unclear, ask before you order labels. Fixing wording on a screen is quick. Fixing it on two hundred stickers is not.
If you sell through a retailer
Selling to a shop or a cafe adds duties that are not yours alone. When cottage food is sold through a retailer, the retailer must agree to store and display the cottage food separately from other foods. The retailer must also use signage in the display area to clearly indicate that the cottage foods are homemade and not prepared in an inspected establishment. Ask for that agreement before the first delivery, and check on your next visit that the sign is actually up.
When the exemption does not cover what you bake
Some products do not fit the cottage food exemption at all. Anyone who wants to sell food made in their home kitchen that does not meet the Cottage Food Exemptions must obtain and meet the requirements for a domestic kitchen bakery or food processing license. Sort that out before you design a label around a product. The label rules assume you are allowed to sell the item in the first place.
Once the wording is settled, keep it somewhere you will find it again, along with the rest of how you take orders and get paid. If you are weighing where to run your shop, cottage CMS app and home bakery app both look at what a home baker actually needs. The label statement stays the same either way.
Common questions
Does my label have to say the word homemade?
Oregon's cottage food rule requires the label's principal display panel to contain the statement that the product is homemade, along with the note that it is not prepared in an inspected food establishment and how it must be stored. Read the rule for the exact wording before you print.
Where on the label does the statement go?
On the principal display panel, the main panel of the label. It is not a fine print item for the back.
What happens if my label is wrong?
Failure to adhere to Oregon's labeling rules may lead to the food being deemed misbranded and subject to a recall.
I sell to a local shop. Do they have to do anything?
Yes. The retailer must agree to store and display the cottage food separately from other foods, and must use signage in the display area clearly indicating the cottage foods are homemade and not prepared in an inspected establishment.
What if my product is not covered by the cottage food exemption?
Anyone who wants to sell food made in their home kitchen that does not meet the Cottage Food Exemptions must obtain and meet the requirements for a domestic kitchen bakery or food processing license.
Where do I find the general labeling rules?
Oregon's food labeling handout provides the basic requirements and guidance for food labeling. Read it with the cottage food rule so your label is complete.
Sources
This is general information about Oregon's labeling rules, not legal advice. Rules change and details vary by product, so confirm the current wording with the state before you print labels or sell.