Cottage food rules
Oregon Cottage Food Labels: What Your Label Must Say
The exact statement Oregon asks for, where it goes, and how to keep it right on every bake.
On this page
What to remember
- The rule to follow is OAR 603-025-0325.
- The statement goes on the principal display panel, not tucked into your paperwork.
- The wording is set: This product is homemade and is not prepared in an inspected food establishment.
- The rule also covers storage, so confirm that wording before you print.
- Shops that resell your bakes have their own storage and signage duties.
If you are printing labels for the first time, the wording is the easy part. The harder part is getting the same statement onto every box, bag, and sticker without retyping it and without letting a shortened version slip through. For a look at how other states handle their label wording, see Oklahoma’s cottage food label rules and Ohio’s cottage food labeling rules. Keep Oregon’s wording separate from theirs.
The statement, word for word
OAR 603-025-0325 sets out the statement for food prepared in an exempt residential kitchen as: “This product is homemade and is not prepared in an inspected food establishment.” Print it as written. Do not trim it to homemade, do not swap in a phrase that sounds friendlier, and do not split it across two stickers.
Where the statement goes
The rule names the principal display panel rather than the label as a whole, so pick the panel your buyer reads first on your packaging and put the statement there in full. A sticker on the bottom of a box that nobody turns over is not the same thing as the panel the rule names. Decide the panel once, then keep every product on the same layout so you are not re-deciding it at midnight before a market.
The rule we can point to covers this statement. Anything else you want on the label, from your kitchen name to a batch date, is your call, but confirm the rest with the Oregon Department of Agriculture before a big print run. A quick email now is cheaper than reprinting five hundred stickers. If you also bake where another state’s rules apply, read those separately, like Ohio’s newer cottage food rules.
When a shop or market sells your bakes for you
If a retailer takes your cottage food to sell, the state asks the retailer to agree to store and display it separately from other foods. The retailer also has to put up signage in the display area that clearly says the cottage foods are homemade and not prepared in an inspected food establishment. That signage sits with the shop, but it is still your product on the shelf.
Getting it onto every label
Write the statement once
Type the sentence exactly as published into a note on your phone and into your computer. One master copy, no retyping.
Set the panel
Lay out your label so the statement sits on the principal display panel, in a size that stays readable on the smallest box you sell.
Settle the storage line
Ask the Oregon Department of Agriculture what storage wording they expect, then add it to the master copy.
Print a test sticker
Run one label, stick it on the real box, and check it holds up through a cold morning and a car ride.
Check every new product
A new flavor gets a new label check. Same statement, same panel, before it goes out the door.
Keep a photo of each label
Snap a picture of every finished label and keep it with your product notes so you can answer a question months later.
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Common questions
What exactly does my Oregon cottage food label have to say?
OAR 603-025-0325 sets the statement as: This product is homemade and is not prepared in an inspected food establishment. The rule also covers how the product must be stored, so confirm that wording with the Oregon Department of Agriculture.
Where on the label does the statement go?
On the principal display panel. The rule names that panel rather than the label as a whole.
Can I shorten the statement?
No. Print it as published, in full, on one panel.
Does a shop that resells my bakes have duties too?
The retailer has to agree to store and display cottage food separately from other foods, and to put up signage in the display area saying the cottage foods are homemade and not prepared in an inspected food establishment.
What does it cost to get my labels right?
The wording is free. Your cost is printing, and reprinting if the statement is wrong, which is why one master copy matters.
Sources
This is general information about Oregon's cottage food label rule, not legal advice. Confirm your label with the Oregon Department of Agriculture before you print and sell.