Colorado Cottage Food Law: Sales, $10K Cap, and Labeling

The Colorado cottage food law lets you make and sell certain shelf-stable foods from your home kitchen directly to Colorado consumers, without a commercial license or health inspection, as long as you complete a food safety training course, label your products with the required information, and keep net revenue under $10,000 per product per calendar year. The rules are specific about which foods qualify, how you have to label them, and who you can sell to. A bill passed in 2026 may significantly expand the program if the Governor signs it.

Foods You Can Sell

The underlying rule is simple: the food has to be shelf-stable, meaning it doesn’t need refrigeration to stay safe. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment maintains the list of eligible items, which covers:

Baked goods such as cookies, muffins, cakes, fruit pies, fruit empanadas, and tortillas
Jams, jellies, preserves, fruit butter, and honey
Pickled fruits and vegetables with a finished pH of 4.6 or below
Spices, teas, flour, dehydrated and freeze-dried produce, nuts, and seeds
Candy, including fudge and cotton candy
Roasted coffee beans
Whole eggs, up to 250 dozen per month
Buttercream frosting, but only if made with ghee or vegetable oil rather than butter

That buttercream rule trips people up. Traditional dairy-butter buttercream is treated as potentially hazardous and is not allowed. Ghee or oil-based versions are fine because they’re shelf-stable.

If you’re planning to sell pickled items, the finished product has to test at a pH of 4.6 or below to prevent botulism risk. Colorado’s CDPHE Laboratory Services Division offers free pH testing for cottage food producers. Using it gives you documented proof that your recipe meets the safety threshold if a complaint ever comes up.¹

Foods That Are Off-Limits

The prohibited list matters just as much as what’s allowed. You cannot sell any meat, poultry, fish, or shellfish, and you cannot use them as ingredients or toppings on otherwise-eligible items like baked goods.² Other items that are not allowed:

Dairy products including cheese, yogurt, and milk
Cream-filled or custard baked goods, such as cheesecakes, cream pies, and meringue-topped items
Sauces and condiments like barbecue sauce, hot sauce, ketchup, mustard, salsa, and salad dressing
Beverages of any kind
Cut fresh fruits and vegetables, juices, purees, and concentrates
Pumpkin and sweet potato pies
Pepper jelly or jam made with fresh or homemade dehydrated peppers
Freeze-dried assembled meals (freeze-dried produce on its own is fine)
CBD or THC products

Salsa is the question that comes up most. Even acidic salsa is classified as a sauce and is excluded. Hot sauce is out for the same reason, despite the overlap with permitted pickled products.² Selling those products requires a commercial kitchen and a retail food establishment license.

Food Safety Training

Before you sell anything, you have to complete a food safety training course. You only need one of these three options:²

The Colorado State University Extension course, an in-person class designed for cottage food producers. Certificates are good for three years.
A Food Handlers Card from an online provider such as State Food Safety. This is usually the fastest and cheapest route.
A food safety course offered by your local public health agency, if one is available. Contact your county or district health department to check.

You have to stay current with whichever course you took, including any recertification the provider requires. Keep your certificate somewhere you can produce it quickly, because if a complaint is filed, state or local health officials may ask to see it.

How to Label Your Products

Every product you sell needs a label that includes all of the following:³

The name of the product
Your name as the producer
The physical address where the food was prepared
A current phone number or email address
The date the product was made
A complete ingredient list in descending order by weight
The mandatory disclaimer

The disclaimer that must appear on every label reads: “This product was produced in a home kitchen that is not subject to state licensure or inspection and that may also process common food allergens such as tree nuts, peanuts, eggs, soy, wheat, milk, fish, and crustacean shellfish. This product is not intended for resale.”³ The allergen disclosure is built into the disclaimer itself. The statute names eight allergens; sesame became a ninth major allergen under federal law in 2023 but is not in the Colorado disclaimer text, so if your products contain sesame, calling it out in the ingredient list is a sensible practice.

You also need a separate placard or sign at your point of sale with a shorter version: “This product was produced in a home kitchen that is not subject to state licensure or inspection. This product is not intended for resale.” At a farmers’ market, that sign goes on your booth.

One thing worth being aware of: there is no registration number option to shield your home address. The statute requires the physical address where the food was prepared, which for most producers means a home address printed on every label.

Where You Can Sell

All sales have to go directly to the end consumer and stay inside Colorado. The statute defines an “informed end consumer” as the final purchaser, someone who won’t resell the product and who has been told it isn’t licensed or inspected.³ In practice, that covers farmers’ markets, roadside stands, festivals, and sales from your home.

Online sales are allowed as long as the transaction and delivery stay within Colorado. You can take orders through a website or social media and arrange pickup or local delivery. What you cannot do is sell to restaurants, grocery stores, or any retail establishment that would resell the product. Wholesale is not permitted.

Many farmers’ markets add their own requirements on top of the state’s. Expect to show proof of food safety training and proper labeling before you can set up, and some markets require a certificate of liability insurance even though the state doesn’t. Check with each market’s management rather than assuming state compliance is enough.

The $10,000 Revenue Cap

Net revenue is capped at $10,000 per calendar year for each individual product you sell.³ The “per product” structure gives you more room than it first appears. If you sell cookies, bread, and jam, each one has its own $10,000 ceiling, and different flavors in a category each count as a distinct product. Blueberry jam and strawberry jam have separate caps.

The number is net, meaning revenue after the cost of ingredients and direct production expenses. Keep detailed records of both sales and costs. If a product exceeds the cap, you’ve stepped outside the cottage food framework for that item and would need commercial licensing to keep selling it.

You can also qualify under the Act if you use a commercial, private, or public kitchen rather than your home kitchen, as long as every other requirement is met.³ The revenue cap and labeling rules still apply.

Private Well Water

If your home uses a private well instead of municipal water, you need to confirm the water is safe before producing food with it. The standard test checks for total coliform bacteria and E. coli, and the sample has to be analyzed by a state-certified lab. Municipal water is already monitored and does not require separate testing. Your county health department can point you to approved labs and current pricing, and some county departments can facilitate sending samples to the CDPHE laboratory in Denver.

Insurance, Taxes, and Local Zoning

The Cottage Food Act doesn’t require business insurance, but operating without it is a real risk. If a customer gets sick or has an allergic reaction, you’re personally liable, and most homeowners’ policies specifically exclude business claims. Product liability coverage addresses illness or injury from food you’ve sold; general liability covers things like a customer getting hurt at your booth. If you plan to sell at farmers’ markets, many require a certificate of insurance before you can set up, which makes coverage effectively mandatory in practice.

Cottage food income is self-employment income. You report it on your federal return and your Colorado return, since Colorado income tax is based on federal taxable income.⁴ If the business brings in meaningful revenue, you may need to make quarterly estimated payments rather than waiting until April.

Local rules can add another layer. Some municipalities require home-based businesses to meet zoning criteria or get a home occupation permit, with common restrictions on how much of your home the business can occupy, exterior signage, and customer foot traffic. Check with your city or county planning department before you start selling.

If a Complaint Is Filed

If someone complains about your operation, the state’s Division of Environmental Health and Sustainability or your local public health agency will contact you and may evaluate what you’re doing.⁵ If they find you’re producing items that aren’t allowed, you have to stop making and selling those products immediately. Not being able to show proof of food safety training can also shut your sales down.

Selling prohibited items, exceeding the revenue cap, or skipping required labeling can push you out of the cottage food framework entirely. At that point you’d be operating an unlicensed food establishment, which carries its own penalties.

Pending Expansion Under HB26-1033

The legislature passed HB26-1033 in 2026, a bill that would significantly expand the Cottage Food Act if the Governor signs it.⁶ The main proposed changes:

Raising the annual revenue cap from $10,000 per product to $150,000 total per year, with annual inflation adjustments
Expanding eligible foods to include some items that require refrigeration and certain meat products
Creating a registration system for producers
Giving regulatory agencies authority to impose fines for violations

As of mid-2026, the bill has passed both chambers and been sent to the Governor. If you’re interested in selling items that are currently prohibited, such as meat jerky or refrigerated baked goods, watch for the Governor’s decision and any implementation timeline CDPHE publishes before you start producing.

1
Colorado State University Extension. Cottage Food pH Testing Instructions
2
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. Cottage Foods Act
3
FindLaw. Colorado Revised Statutes Title 25 Health 25-4-1614
4
Department of Revenue – Taxation. Individual Income Tax Guide
5
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. Cottage Foods Brochure
6
Colorado General Assembly. HB26-1033 Expanding the Colorado Cottage Foods Act