Cottage food rules
Oregon Cottage Food Laws and Regulations for Home Bakers
A clear read on Oregon's cottage food exemption, so you know when you need a license and when you do not.
What to remember
- Breads, cookies, cakes without cream fillings, and candies often need no state license in Oregon.
- The exemption covers licensure and routine inspection only when you limit your processing to the allowed foods.
- Any area or room of your home can be used for prep, packing, storage, and handling if it is kept clean and healthful.
- Cottage foods must sit apart from other foods, with a sign saying they are homemade and not from an inspected food establishment.
If you are just starting out, the paperwork can feel like the scary part. In Oregon it is often smaller than bakers expect. Read how to apply for cottage food law step by step, and keep this page open while you check your own bakes against the rules.
What the exemption covers
The legislative mandate in ORS 616.723 is carried out by exempting cottage food establishments from licensure and routine inspection when they limit their food processing activities to only those allowed. In plain terms, the deal is simple. Stay inside the list of permitted foods and the state does not license you or routinely inspect you. Step outside it and that changes.
That list matters more than anything else on this page. Many home producers of breads, cookies, cakes without cream fillings, and candies need no state license at all. Cream fillings are the one to watch in that group, so check each recipe before it goes on your menu. If you are weighing a bigger move, license to sell baked goods from home walks through what a fuller license involves.
When you add a new bake, run it past the permitted foods first. If the recipe sits inside what the exemption allows, you keep your no license, no routine inspection position. If it does not, look at the fuller license path before you take a single order for it.
Where you can bake and pack
OAR 603-025-0320 provides the license and inspection exemption and allows any area or room of a residential dwelling to be used for food preparation, packaging, storage, or handling of permitted food products, as long as it is constructed and maintained in a clean and healthful manner. That is wider than most bakers assume. You are not tied to one counter. What matters is that the space stays clean and healthful every time you bake.
The sign and the separate shelf
Cottage foods must be stored and displayed separately from other foods, and signage must clearly indicate in the display area that the cottage foods are homemade and not prepared in an inspected food establishment. If you sell at a market or hand off orders from a table, that sign is part of the setup, not an afterthought.
Write the sign in plain words your customers understand. It only has to say the bakes are homemade and were not prepared in an inspected food establishment. Tape it where people look before they buy, and take it with you to every market you do.
The definitions behind all of this sit in ORS 616.695, which contains the definitions for the Oregon statutes in ORS 616.695 to 616.755. When a phrase on this page sounds vague, that is where the exact wording lives. If you are still deciding whether to stay small or grow, how to get a home bakery license lays out that path.
Oregon’s cottage food exemption is meant to expand opportunities and remove barriers for small-scale food establishments, and to give rural communities access to locally produced food. Keep that purpose in mind when a rule feels fussy. The point is to let you sell real food from your own kitchen.
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Common questions
Do I need a license to sell cookies from my home in Oregon?
Many home producers of breads, cookies, cakes without cream fillings, and candies need no state license at all. The exemption applies when you limit your food processing to only the foods the rules allow.
Will my kitchen be inspected?
The exemption removes routine inspection when you stay inside the allowed foods. OAR 603-025-0320 allows any area or room of a residential dwelling to be used for preparation, packaging, storage, or handling if it is constructed and maintained in a clean and healthful manner.
How should I display my bakes at a market?
Store and display cottage foods separately from other foods, and put up signage in the display area that clearly says they are homemade and not prepared in an inspected food establishment.
Can I use any room in my house to bake?
Under OAR 603-025-0320, any area or room of a residential dwelling can be used for food preparation, packaging, storage, or handling of permitted food products, as long as it is kept clean and healthful.
Where can I read the exact wording of the rules?
ORS 616.695 contains the definitions for the Oregon statutes in ORS 616.695 to 616.755, and the exemption itself is tied to ORS 616.723. Those are the places to check the precise language.
Sources
This is general information, not legal advice. Rules can change, so confirm the current requirements with the Oregon Department of Agriculture before you sell.