To get a cottage food license in Illinois, you register your home-based food business with the local health department where you live after earning a Certified Food Protection Manager (CFPM) certificate. There is no statewide license and no cap on your sales. The two things you need before you can register are the CFPM certificate and a set of compliant product labels; everything else is paperwork submitted to your county health department, or to the Chicago Department of Public Health if you live in the city.
Step 1: Earn Your CFPM Certificate
Illinois requires every cottage food operator to hold a Certified Food Protection Manager certificate from an ANSI-accredited program before registering. This is not the same as a basic food handler card. You take a course and then pass a proctored exam covering contamination prevention, temperature control, and hygiene.
Accredited courses are available online and through some local health departments. The course and exam together typically run $75 to $120. The certificate is good for five years, after which you retake the exam.1Illinois Department of Public Health. Certified Food Protection Manager (CFPM)/Food Service Sanitation Manager (FSSMC)
If you’ll be registering in Chicago, confirm that the program you choose is accepted by the Chicago Department of Public Health before you pay for it.1Illinois Department of Public Health. Certified Food Protection Manager (CFPM)/Food Service Sanitation Manager (FSSMC)
Step 2: Build Your Labels
Your registration application asks for sample labels for every product category, so this has to be done before you file. Labels are also one of the most common reasons a cottage food operation gets flagged after it opens.
Each label must show:
- Your operation name and the county, township, city, or village where it’s located
- Your registration number and the municipality or county where you registered
- The common or usual name of the product
- All ingredients in descending order by weight, including colors, artificial flavors, and preservatives
- The date the food was processed or prepared
- Disclosure of any of the nine major allergens: milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans, and sesame2U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Food Allergies
- This disclaimer, in prominent lettering: “This product was produced in a home kitchen not inspected by a health department that may also process common food allergens. If you have safety concerns, contact your local health department.”
Your home address does not have to appear on the label; the operation name and registration county are enough.3Illinois Extension. Labeling You also need to display a placard with a similar disclaimer wherever you sell — farmers’ market booth, front porch, or festival table.4Illinois Extension. Food Labeling and Placards
Step 3: Register With Your Local Health Department
Registration is filed with the health department that covers your home address. For most of the state that’s the county health department. Chicago residents register with the Chicago Department of Public Health.5Illinois Department of Public Health. Cottage Food – Food Safety
A typical application asks for:
- Your legal name and home address
- The production address, if different from your home (farmers can use an appropriately designed kitchen on farm property even if it’s separate from the residence)
- Your cottage food business name
- A complete menu of every product you plan to sell — you can only sell what’s on your approved list
- A copy of your CFPM certificate
- Product labels for each category
- Water test results if your home uses a private well
If you’re on well water, annual testing for total coliforms, nitrates, pH, and total dissolved solids is a reasonable baseline, and your county may require specific results before approving you.6Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Guidelines for Testing Well Water
Fees vary by county. Kane County currently charges nothing; DuPage County and Champaign-Urbana each charge $50.7DuPage County Health, IL. Cottage Food Operation Laws Most departments accept applications online, by mail, or in person. Once approved, you’ll receive a certificate of registration with a unique registration number that has to appear on every label.
Registration is annual. You renew each year even if nothing has changed. To add products mid-year, contact your health department; most have a simple amendment process.
Extra Steps If You’re in Chicago
The Chicago Department of Public Health uses its own process. In addition to the standard materials, you submit a Home Self-Certification Checklist confirming your kitchen meets basic safety and cleanliness standards. If your product list includes acidified or fermented foods like pickles, salsa, or fermented hot sauce, you also submit a Cottage Food Safety Plan and Hazard Analysis.
Allow six to eight weeks for processing. You can send your application by email to cottagefood@cityofchicago.org, by mail to the Food Protection Program at 2133 W. Lexington Street, 2nd floor, Chicago, IL 60612, or by fax.8City of Chicago. Register a Cottage Food Operation If you’re aiming for a specific market opening date, work backward from that.
What You’re Allowed to Sell
Since 2018, Illinois has allowed every food and drink product except those on a prohibited list. Baked goods, jams, jellies, candy, dry mixes, honey, pickles, acidified salsas, fresh-pressed juices, and dehydrated foods are all in bounds. Buttercream frosting made with cooked eggs is allowed, as are baked goods containing cheese like cheddar sourdough or parmesan croissants.
The prohibited list covers higher-risk foods: meat, poultry, fish, and shellfish; most dairy products (dairy is allowed only as an ingredient in a non-hazardous baked good, candy, or frosting); raw eggs; pumpkin, sweet potato, custard, and cream pies, cheesecakes, and pastries with fillings or toppings that need refrigeration; garlic in oil unless properly acidified; low-acid canned foods like canned vegetables or meats; raw sprouts, wild-harvested mushrooms, and cut leafy greens (unless dehydrated, acidified, or blanched and frozen); cut or pureed fresh tomato or melon; alcoholic beverages; and kombucha.
Acidified and fermented foods and canned tomato products are allowed but require a lab-tested recipe or food safety plan showing a final pH of 4.6 or below. Your local health department may require refrigeration at or below 41°F for anything it considers potentially hazardous unless you can produce a pH or water-activity test proving otherwise.
Where and How You Can Sell
You can sell directly from your home, at farmers’ markets, and at fairs, festivals, and community events. The Home-to-Market Act, effective January 2022, added online sales with delivery or pickup anywhere in Illinois. Phone orders work the same way.
Two limits are firm. You cannot sell for resale, so grocery stores, restaurants, and distributors are off the table. And you cannot ship outside Illinois. Sales have to be handled by you, a family member, or an employee of your operation; third-party delivery platforms aren’t currently allowed to move your product.
Zoning, Insurance, and Taxes
Health department registration doesn’t clear you with local zoning. Municipalities often have home-occupation rules covering signage, customer traffic, and parking. Check with your city or village zoning office before you start selling from your home.
Illinois does not require routine inspections of cottage food kitchens, but your local health department can inspect if someone files a complaint.
State law doesn’t require liability insurance either, but many farmers’ markets and event venues do. If a market asks for a Certificate of Insurance before you can set up, you need a policy in hand before your first sales day. Product liability coverage handles food-illness or allergic-reaction claims; general liability handles things like a customer tripping at your booth. Small home-food policies commonly bundle both around $1 million per incident and $2 million aggregate, with annual premiums starting in the low hundreds and rising with volume, product complexity, and the number of venues you sell at. A standard homeowner’s policy almost never covers commercial food production.
Cottage food income is taxable, and the IRS treats you as self-employed. You report revenue and expenses on Schedule C. If your net profit exceeds $400 in a year, you owe federal self-employment tax for Social Security and Medicare, which a few strong farmers’ market weekends can trigger.9Internal Revenue Service. Self-Employment Tax (Social Security and Medicare Taxes) Your income is also subject to Illinois state income tax. Business expenses are deductible: ingredients, packaging, labels, booth fees, mileage, equipment, and your CFPM course. Keep receipts.