Cottage food rules
Georgia Cottage Food Law Update: What HB 398 Changed
What the July 2025 update means for your Georgia home bakery, in plain words.
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What to remember
- House Bill 398 took effect July 1, 2025.
- You can still make non potentially hazardous food at home and sell it.
- You must register with the Food Safety Division before you start operating.
- Any offer to sell cottage food products needs the department’s signage.
- The Cottage Food Safety Directives are the minimum practices for making your food.
If you bake in your own kitchen in Georgia and sell what you make, the rules you work under changed on July 1, 2025. The short version is that the program is still here and the kind of food you are allowed to make at home has not been taken away. If you sell near a state line, our guide to the Tennessee cottage food law is a useful side by side.
What HB 398 changed and what it kept
The department’s own summary is brief: the new law makes it easier for home based food producers to sell their goods. Its frequently asked questions go further and say HB 398 keeps much of the current cottage food system, with positive modifications, and that Georgians may still produce non potentially hazardous food items at home. So the core of the program is unchanged. What you make at home still has to be the kind of food the state allows from a home kitchen.
Who oversees cottage food in Georgia
The Retail Food section of the Georgia Department of Agriculture regulates cottage food producers, which the department also calls home kitchen food. Registration comes first, before you take orders, not after.
Register before you sell
A cottage food operator must register with the Georgia Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety Division before commencing operations.
Read the safety directives
The Cottage Food Safety Directives represent the minimum best practices required in the production of cottage food products.
Ask when you are unsure
Cottage food operators are encouraged to contact the Georgia Department of Agriculture for additional guidance on food safety.
Put up your sign
Any offer to sell cottage food products must post signage to the specifications set by the department, saying cottage food products are not subject to commercial food regulations.
The sign at your table is part of the law
The signage rule is written into the law itself, not just suggested. The wording and format follow specifications promulgated by the department, so print yours from the current version rather than from a photo a friend texted you last season.
Signs and labels trip up bakers in every state, and each one words the same idea differently. Our look at the South Carolina cottage food statement and the Tennessee cottage food label rules show how much the wording moves from state to state, which is why a borrowed sign is a poor shortcut.
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- Tennessee cottage food law: what home bakers can sell
- SC cottage food law: what the statement actually says
- Tennessee cottage food labels: what the law says
What to do before your next sale
Check that your registration with the Food Safety Division is in place. Reread the Cottage Food Safety Directives with your own kitchen in mind, especially the steps you do by habit and never think about. Print a fresh sign to the department’s current specifications. Then write down the questions you cannot answer from the department’s pages and ask them directly, because a five minute call is cheaper than a mistake at a market. When you are ready to take orders, Brevl sets the shop up with you and moves your old products, photos, reviews and dates over, and a real person answers, usually within minutes.
Common questions
Do I have to register my home bakery in Georgia?
Yes. A cottage food operator must register with the Georgia Department of Agriculture's Food Safety Division before commencing operations.
Can I still bake at home and sell after July 1, 2025?
Yes. Under HB 398, Georgians may still produce non potentially hazardous food items at home, and the department says the new law makes it easier for home based food producers to sell their goods.
What does the sign at my table need to say?
Offers to sell cottage food products must post signage according to specifications promulgated by the department, indicating that cottage food products are not subject to commercial food regulations. Check the current specifications before you print.
Who regulates cottage food in Georgia?
The Retail Food section of the Georgia Department of Agriculture regulates cottage food producers, also known as home kitchen food.
Where do I go with a food safety question?
The Cottage Food Safety Directives set the minimum best practices required in production, and cottage food operators are encouraged to contact the Georgia Department of Agriculture for additional guidance.
Sources
This is general information about Georgia's cottage food law, not legal advice. Rules can change, so confirm the details with the Georgia Department of Agriculture before you sell.