Florida Cottage Food Law Label Requirements: Warning, Allergens, Claims

Florida cottage food label requirements are set out in Florida Statutes Section 500.80(3), and every prepackaged product you sell must carry six things: the name and address of your operation, the product name, a full ingredient list in descending order by weight, the net weight or volume, allergen information that meets federal rules, and an exact warning sentence in at least 10-point type stating the food was made in a cottage food operation not subject to Florida’s food safety regulations.¹ Miss any one of those elements and the product is out of compliance.

The Six Elements, In Detail

Each item on the label has specifics that matter more than the short version suggests.

Name and address of the operation. Your cottage food business name and a full physical address. A P.O. box does not satisfy this. The point is that a buyer can trace the product back to where it was made.

Product name. The common name of the food, plainly stated. “Chocolate chip cookies,” “strawberry jam.” The buyer should know what they are getting from the label alone.

Ingredient list. Every ingredient, in descending order by weight. The ingredient you use the most is listed first; the one you use the least is listed last. Sub-ingredients count too, which matters for allergen disclosure below.

Net weight or net volume. The actual amount in the package, measured accurately. Weight for solids, volume for liquids.

Allergen information. Disclosed according to federal labeling rules. Details below.

The mandatory warning statement. An exact sentence, in a required type size and contrast. This is where most producers slip up, so it gets its own section.

The Exact Warning Sentence

Your label must include this sentence, word for word:

“Made in a cottage food operation that is not subject to Florida’s food safety regulations.”

Two things about how it appears. It must be in at least 10-point type, and it must be printed in a color that gives clear contrast against the background of the label.¹ Black text on a plain light background clears that bar without any trouble. Trouble comes from decorative labels with busy backgrounds or dark colors that make the warning hard to read. If someone has to hunt for it, the label is not compliant.

Ten-point type is roughly standard book-body size. On a small label, the sentence takes up real estate, so build your layout around it rather than trying to tuck it in at the end. And the wording is fixed. Paraphrases like “homemade, not inspected” do not meet the requirement.

How to Disclose Allergens

Florida ties allergen disclosure to federal labeling rules.¹ Federal law recognizes nine major allergens: milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans, and sesame.² Sesame became the ninth under the FASTER Act, effective January 1, 2023.³

You have two ways to disclose. You can put the allergen source in parentheses after the ingredient name in the ingredient list, such as “flour (wheat)” or “lecithin (soy).” Or you can add a separate “Contains” statement immediately after the ingredient list, such as “Contains: wheat, milk, and soy.”² Either method is acceptable; you must use at least one. An allergen has to be identified even when it appears as a component of a compound ingredient, not just when it stands alone in the recipe.

Nutrient Claims Add a Seventh Requirement

If your packaging or marketing makes a nutrient claim, such as “low sugar” or “high fiber,” the statute requires you to add the nutritional information specified by federal labeling rules.¹ In practice, that means a Nutrition Facts panel meeting FDA standards. Most cottage food producers avoid the added burden by not making nutrient claims at all. Descriptive words about flavor or ingredients are fine; claims about nutritional value are what trigger the extra panel.

Selling Online or by Mail Order

Florida lets cottage food operators sell over the internet and by mail order, but the label requirements extend to the sales page.¹ All the label information has to be visible to the buyer before they complete the purchase. Ingredients, allergens, and the mandatory warning all need to appear on the page where the customer is deciding to buy.

The straightforward approach is to list every required element directly in the product description. Some producers post a high-resolution photo of the physical label, which works as long as the text is readable on screen. Burying the disclosures behind extra clicks or in a downloadable file the buyer can skip does not meet the rule. The physical product still has to arrive with a compliant label; the online disclosure is on top of that, not instead of it.

Sales must stay within Florida. Cottage food products cannot be shipped across state lines.¹

What Happens If You Get the Label Wrong

Enforcement is complaint-driven. The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services does not routinely inspect home kitchens; an inspector may enter your premises only after the department receives a specific complaint alleging a violation.¹ Refusing to allow an authorized inspection is itself grounds for discipline.

When a violation is confirmed, the department can impose administrative fines in the Class II category set out in Section 570.971.⁴ Nutrient claims that repeated testing shows to be inaccurate can trigger a stop-sale order. The practical takeaway is to get every element of the label right before your first sale. Fixing a label after a customer complaint is much harder than printing it correctly the first time.

1
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 500.80 – Cottage Food Operations
2
Food and Drug Administration. Food Allergies
3
Food and Drug Administration. The FASTER Act – Sesame Is the Ninth Major Food Allergen
4
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 500.121 – Disciplinary Procedures