Cottage food rules
San Diego Cottage Food Law: What Home Bakers Need to Know
The two approvals you need, in order, before you sell a single loaf in San Diego County.
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What to remember
- Two approvals, not one: the county health department and a city or county business license.
- Only foods on the state’s approved cottage food list, and only foods that do not need refrigeration.
- The rules come from the California Homemade Food Act, enacted in 2013.
- The California Department of Public Health keeps the food list but does not register your operation.
If you have been baking for neighbors and taking cash at the school pickup line, this is the point where it turns into a real business with paperwork. The good news is that San Diego County runs a Cottage Food Program for exactly this, and the county has made operational changes to it aimed at keeping registration and permit fees low. If you want to see how another state words its paperwork, our guide to the Pennsylvania cottage food application walks through a full application line by line.
What counts as a cottage food operation
California’s cottage food rules come from the California Homemade Food Act, which was enacted in 2013. It covers certain low risk food products that do not require refrigeration. Bread and pie are the examples the county gives. If your bake has to stay cold to be safe, it is not a cottage food, no matter how good it is.
Every cottage food operator also has to meet the requirements set out in the California Health and Safety Code for preparing foods that appear on the approved food list. That list is maintained by the California Department of Public Health, and it is the list you check before you plan a menu. If an item is not on it, you cannot sell it under cottage food rules.
The two approvals you need before you sell
Check your bakes against the approved list
The California Department of Public Health maintains the approved cottage food list. Start here, because nothing else matters if your product is not on it.
Meet the Health and Safety Code requirements
The county points operators to the California Health and Safety Code requirements for preparing foods that appear on the approved food list. Read them before you buy packaging or print anything.
Get approval from San Diego County
Approval comes from the Department of Environmental Health and Quality, which runs the county’s Cottage Food Program. You are not approved until they say you are.
Get your business license
You also need a business license from your local city or county. County health approval on its own does not cover it.
Fees, and what the county is trying to do
San Diego County’s Department of Environmental Health and Quality has implemented operational changes to its Cottage Food Program to help maintain low registration and permit fees. In plain terms, the county is trying to keep the cost of getting legal from becoming the reason you stay informal. Ask the program what your current fee is before you budget, since the county adjusts how it runs the program.
Do not let the waiting period go to waste. Use it to settle your menu on foods that are on the approved list, work out what each recipe actually costs you, and decide how you will take payment. Our guide to Ohio cottage food labeling rules is a useful read for seeing how one state writes its label requirements. If you are also comparing how other states handle home baking, the Oregon cottage food law is a fair starting point.
Running the selling side once you are approved
Approval is the start of the business, not the end of the work. You need a way to take orders that does not live in your text messages, a price that covers your ingredients, and a shop you can send people to. Brevl gives you a shop with your photos, your colors, and your own web address, plus recipes with real costing, ingredient inventory, and a weekly planner. It is a flat $20 a month with no cut of your sales, it works on a computer and on a phone, and we set it up with you and move your old shop over. A real person answers, usually within minutes.
Start with the food list, then the county, then the license. Bakers who do it in that order spend less time fixing paperwork and more time filling orders.
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Common questions
Do I need a permit from the state of California to sell cottage food?
No. The California Department of Public Health does not permit or register cottage food operations. It maintains the approved cottage food list. Your approval comes from San Diego County's Department of Environmental Health and Quality, plus a business license from your local city or county.
What foods can I sell from my home kitchen in San Diego County?
Foods that appear on the state's approved cottage food list and that do not require refrigeration. Bread and pie are the examples the county gives. The list is maintained by the California Department of Public Health.
Do I need a business license as well as county approval?
Yes. To become an approved cottage food operator in San Diego County you need approval from the Department of Environmental Health and Quality and a business license from your local city or county.
When did cottage food rules start in California?
The California Homemade Food Act, known as cottage food operations, was enacted in 2013. It covers certain low risk food products that do not require refrigeration.
Does the county charge a fee to register?
San Diego County's Department of Environmental Health and Quality has implemented operational changes to its Cottage Food Program to help maintain low registration and permit fees. Confirm the current amount with the program before you budget.
Sources
This is general information about cottage food rules, not legal advice. Rules and fees change, so confirm the current requirements with San Diego County's Department of Environmental Health and Quality and your city or county before you sell.