How to Get a Cottage Food License in Georgia: HB 398, Training, Labels

Georgia does not issue a cottage food license anymore. House Bill 398, effective July 1, 2025, removed the state licensing requirement entirely, so the Georgia Department of Agriculture will not accept applications, collect fees, or renew licenses.¹ You can start selling without one. What you still owe the state is food safety training, compliant labels, product choices that fit the approved categories, and, if you’re on a well, annual water testing. Local business permits and sales tax may apply on top of that.

What House Bill 398 Changed

Before July 2025, launching a cottage food business meant a $100 annual fee, a GDA application, and a pre-operational kitchen inspection. All three are gone.¹ The GDA still investigates consumer complaints and foodborne illness outbreaks, so enforcement authority remains even though routine licensing does not.

The law also widened where you can sell, including sales to retail stores, and it lets you register with the GDA for an identifier number to print on labels instead of your home address. The underlying food safety regulations, including product limitations and label content, stay in force while the GDA updates its rules to match the new statute. The agency has asked operators to keep following the existing cottage food regulations in the meantime.¹

Complete Food Safety Training

Every cottage food operator must finish an ANSI-accredited food safety training program before selling anything. Georgia accepts the Food Handler level, which is the shorter and cheaper option compared to a Certified Food Manager course.¹ Food Handler courses are widely available online, usually run $10 to $25, and take a few hours to complete.

Classroom-based options like ServSafe run higher, roughly $100 to $200 with book and exam voucher included.² For cottage food alone, that level of certification is more than the state requires. A basic ANSI-accredited Food Handler course does the job. The GDA’s cottage food page links to the ANSI directory of accredited providers.

Approved Products

Cottage food in Georgia must be non-potentially hazardous, meaning it stays safe at room temperature without refrigeration. The approved categories are:³

Baked goods: loaf breads, rolls, biscuits, cakes, pastries, cookies, and fruit pies
Candies, confections, popcorn, popcorn balls, and cotton candy
Jams, jellies, preserves, and plain or flavored vinegars
Dried herbs, seasonings, spice mixtures, cereals, trail mixes, granola, dried fruits, and coated or uncoated nuts

Low moisture or high acidity is what puts these on the list. Those traits keep bacteria from growing without refrigeration.

What You Cannot Sell

Anything that needs refrigeration to stay safe is off the list. Cheesecakes, cream-filled pastries, custard pies, fresh salsas, cakes with cream cheese icing, and high-moisture cakes like tres leches all fall outside cottage food rules.³ Meat, poultry, and dairy products that require cold storage are also prohibited. The question is not the ingredient itself but whether the finished product is shelf-stable.

You can only produce the items you’ve identified to the GDA. Adding new product types later means submitting updated information. Pivoting from cookies to chocolate-dipped cheesecake bites without confirming the item qualifies is where operators get in trouble.

Water Testing for Private Wells

If your home runs on a public water system, no testing is required. Keep your most recent utility bill as proof.⁴

Well owners have an extra step. Water must be tested every year for total coliform and fecal coliform bacteria, handled through the Georgia Department of Public Health.¹ The Department of Agriculture’s lab charges $100 if you use it for the analysis.⁴ A failed result means you cannot legally produce cottage food until the water is fixed and retested.

Labeling Requirements

Labels trip up more new operators than any other rule. What you need to include depends on how the product is sold.

Pre-Packaged Items

Each individually packaged product needs a label showing the product name, all ingredients listed in descending order by weight, the net weight or volume, and allergen declarations that follow FDA standards.⁵ The label also needs the name and address of your operation. Under HB 398, you can register with the GDA for an identifier number and use that in place of your physical address.¹

Every package must also carry this exact statement: “MADE IN A COTTAGE FOOD OPERATION THAT IS NOT SUBJECT TO STATE FOOD SAFETY INSPECTIONS.” The regulation specifies Times New Roman or Arial font, at least 10-point, in a color that contrasts with the label background.⁵ Light gray text on a white background will not pass.

Custom Orders and Bulk Sales

Custom orders like wedding and birthday cakes need the cottage food disclosure statement on the package, but a full ingredient label is not required on the item itself.⁵ For bulk sales at a farmers market, ingredient and allergen information can appear on a card, sign, or booklet at the point of sale rather than on each piece. The cottage food statement must still be conspicuously displayed on the bulk container.

Nutrition Claims

A nutrition facts panel is not required unless you make a nutritional claim. Label something “low-fat,” “high-protein,” or “only 100 calories” and you trigger FDA nutrition labeling rules, which means you owe the panel.⁵ Skip the health claims and you skip the panel.

Where You Can Sell

Georgia allows direct sales to consumers at farmers markets, festivals, and other events, from your home, and online within the state.⁶ HB 398 added retail store sales to that list, a real expansion from the previous direct-to-consumer-only rule.¹

There is no cap on annual revenue or the number of units you can produce.⁶

The hard boundary is the state line. Cottage food products cannot be shipped or sold across state borders. Interstate commerce would require a Manufactured Food Establishment License, which cannot be issued for a home kitchen.⁶ If you take online orders, verify every buyer is inside Georgia.

Local Permits and Sales Tax

Removing the state license did not remove your local obligations. Your city or county may require a business license, home occupation permit, or “Doing Business As” registration for any home-based business.⁶ These vary by municipality and are separate from the GDA’s rules. A quick call to your local clerk clears up what applies.

Sales tax is its own question. Georgia’s statewide 4% sales tax generally exempts grocery items, and most cottage food products fall in that category. Many counties and cities apply their own local tax to groceries, so the state exemption does not mean you collect nothing. Check with the Georgia Department of Revenue or a local tax professional for your county.

Quick-Start Checklist

With no state license to apply for, the launch is faster than it used to be. Here is what you actually have to do:

Finish an ANSI-accredited Food Handler course and keep the certificate on file.
If you’re on a private well, get annual testing for total coliform and fecal coliform.
Confirm every product you plan to sell fits the approved non-potentially hazardous categories.
Design labels with product name, ingredients by weight, net weight, allergens, your business name and address (or GDA identifier), and the required cottage food statement in the correct font and size.
Register with the GDA for a label identifier if you’d rather not print your home address.
Contact your city or county clerk about a business license or home occupation permit.
Check whether your county taxes grocery sales and register with the Georgia Department of Revenue if it does.

On public water, this can realistically be done in a weekend. Well owners should build in a week or two for lab results.

1
Georgia Department of Agriculture. Cottage Food
2
Georgia College & State University. ServSafe Food Safety Manager Certification
3
Legal Information Institute. Georgia Comp R and Regs R 40-7-19-.05 – Cottage Food Limitations
4
University of Georgia Extension. Rules of Georgia Department of Agriculture Food Safety Division Chapter 40-7-19 Cottage Food Regulations
5
Legal Information Institute. Georgia Comp R and Regs R 40-7-19-.09 – Product Labels
6
Georgia Department of Agriculture. Cottage Food FAQ