Kentucky Cottage Food Law: Allowed Foods, Sales Cap, and Labeling

The Kentucky cottage food law lets you make and sell certain shelf-stable foods from your home kitchen without a commercial facility license, provided you register with the state, pay $50 a year, follow the labeling and sanitation rules, and keep gross sales at or below $60,000 per year. The program runs through the Food Safety Branch of the Kentucky Department for Public Health and splits home food producers into two tiers: standard “home-based processors” for low-risk items like baked goods and jams, and “home-based microprocessors” for acidified foods like pickles and salsa.

Foods You Can Make

The regulation gives a specific list rather than a general standard, so what qualifies is only what’s actually named. Allowed products include:

Bread, cookies, cakes, fruit pies, and pecan pies
Fruit jams, jellies, preserves, and fruit butter made from high-acid fruit (no low-acid, vegetable, or herb varieties)
Candy, made without added alcohol and without bare-hand contact
Popcorn (plain or seasoned), granola, and trail or snack mixes with dried fruit, nuts, or seeds
Dried or freeze-dried whole fruits and vegetables, dried herbs, spices, and dried grains
Sweet sorghum syrup and maple syrup
Whole fruit, vegetables, and mixed greens

The core product list sits in the statutory definition of “home-based processor,” and the regulation adds items like pecan pies, granola, and trail mix.¹²

Foods You Cannot Make

Several categories are banned outright because they carry higher food safety risks:

Crème-filled pies
Custard or custard pies
Pies with meringue topping
Cheesecake
Cream, custard, or meringue pastries
Raw seed sprouts
Garlic-in-oil products
Pureed baby foods

Garlic in oil creates an anaerobic environment where dangerous bacteria can grow, and pureed baby food lacks the acidity needed to stay safe at room temperature.¹

Home-based processors also cannot produce acid foods, acidified foods, or low-acid canned foods. Pickles, salsa, canned tomatoes, BBQ sauce, and pepper jellies fall into the separate microprocessor track described below.³

The $60,000 Annual Sales Cap

Kentucky defines a home-based processor as someone whose gross income from cottage food sales does not exceed $60,000 per year. This ceiling is written into the statutory definition itself, so once you exceed it you no longer qualify for the exemption and would need a commercial food processing license to keep operating.² The same $60,000 cap applies to home-based microprocessors.⁴

The number is gross revenue, not profit. Ingredient costs, packaging, registration fees, and booth rentals don’t come off the top. Sell $61,000 in cookies with half of that eaten up by expenses, and you’ve still exceeded the cap. Careful sales tracking through the year is the only way to stay on the right side of the limit.

How to Register

Registration goes through the Food Safety Branch of the Kentucky Department for Public Health, under the Cabinet for Health and Family Services. The application form (DFS-250) is available from the department’s website or your local health department office.⁵

The form asks for your contact information, the physical address of the home kitchen where you’ll produce food, and a complete list of every product you plan to sell. Submit it with a $50 annual fee to the Food Safety Branch at 275 East Main Street, HS1C-F, Frankfort, KY 40621. The fee is not prorated; you pay $50 no matter when in the year you register.⁵

Registrations run on a fixed cycle from April 1 through March 31 and expire at the end of March each year. If you renew by the April 1 deadline, you don’t file a new application, you just pay the fee. Miss the deadline and you’ll need to submit a fresh application.⁵

Water source verification is not part of the home-based processor application. That’s a microprocessor requirement.⁶

Labeling Requirements

Every product needs a label with specific information. A missing element makes the product “misbranded” under the statute and can trigger an inspection. Your label must include:

The common or usual name of the food
Your name and full street address, city, state, and zip code
A complete ingredient list in descending order by weight
Net weight or volume by standard measure or numerical count
The date the product was made
The disclosure “This product is home-produced and processed” in at least 10-point type
Declarations for any major food allergens present

The requirements come from both the statute and the regulation.³⁷

The major food allergens you have to declare are milk, eggs, wheat, soy, peanuts, tree nuts (by name), sesame, fish, and shellfish. You can identify them within the ingredient list or in a separate “Contains” statement immediately after the ingredients. Either approach satisfies the rule.⁷

Skip nutrient content and health claims. Phrases like “low fat,” “heart healthy,” or “good source of fiber” pull you into federal FDA rules that require scientific substantiation and specific formatting, a compliance burden a cottage food producer has no reason to take on.

Where You Can Sell

Kentucky gives home-based processors a fairly wide range of direct-to-consumer options: farmers markets, flea markets, festivals, county fairs, craft fairs, nonprofit charity events, and roadside stands. You can also sell directly from your home through pick-up or delivery.¹

Online sales are explicitly allowed. You can advertise and accept orders and payment in person, electronically, by phone, or through the internet. The key rule is that the food itself must go directly to the end consumer, whether by in-person pick-up or delivery. Wholesale to grocery stores, restaurants, or any other retail outlet is not permitted. Retail distribution requires a commercial food processing permit.¹⁸

All sales must stay within Kentucky. Shipping cottage food across state lines pulls you under federal FDA jurisdiction, and the state exemption doesn’t extend there.

Kitchen and Hygiene Standards

Kentucky does not require a kitchen inspection before you start. Inspections happen only in response to a consumer complaint or when the state has reason to believe your products are misbranded or adulterated.³

The regulation still imposes sanitation rules during production, packaging, and handling:

Wash your hands regularly with soap and water
Clean, rinse, and sanitize all food-contact surfaces, equipment, and utensils before each use
Keep kitchen equipment in good repair
Keep children under 12 and all pets out of the kitchen while you’re producing food
Stop all domestic kitchen activities during production, including family meal prep, dishwashing, and laundry
Do not produce food while you’re sick with a contagious illness

These are the standards an inspector will apply if a complaint brings them to your door.¹

The Microprocessor Tier for Acidified Foods

Pickles, salsa, BBQ sauce, canned tomatoes, and pepper jellies fall outside standard home-based processor rules and require registering as a “home-based microprocessor.” The requirements are more demanding.

Before you can apply, you have to complete the University of Kentucky Home-Based Microprocessor Workshop, which covers safe acidified food processing under federal regulations at 21 C.F.R. 114.10. The workshop costs around $50, and the certification is valid for three years.⁹

Beyond the training, microprocessors submit proof of workshop completion, approved recipes (only recipes from approved cookbooks are allowed), draft labels for each product for state review before sales begin, and verification of an approved water source. If your home is on a private well, you’ll need to show the water meets potable standards.⁶

One more constraint: you must grow the predominant ingredient yourself. This tier was designed for farmers adding value to their own crops, not for someone buying bulk produce and canning it at home. Microprocessors sell at farmers markets, certified roadside stands, or from their own farm.¹⁰

What Happens If You Break the Rules

Enforcement starts with complaint-driven inspections. When the state receives a consumer complaint or has reason to believe your products are misbranded or adulterated, it can conduct food sampling and inspect your operation.³

If the Cabinet for Health and Family Services believes an imminent health hazard exists, it can order you to stop production immediately until the problem is resolved. For microprocessors, the enforcement path goes further: written notices with a deadline to fix violations, suspension of the certificate for failure to comply within ten days, and permanent revocation for serious or repeated violations. You can request an appeal before a suspension or revocation takes effect.²

Liability Insurance, Local Licenses, and Taxes

Kentucky does not require cottage food producers to carry liability insurance. Operating without it is still a gamble. If a customer claims an allergic reaction or food poisoning, your personal assets are exposed, and a standard homeowner’s policy typically excludes business activity conducted from the home. Cottage food product liability policies are available from several insurers and generally start around $300 per year, usually covering bodily injury claims, property damage, and legal defense costs. Some farmers markets require proof of insurance as a condition of renting a booth.

Beyond the $50 state fee, many Kentucky cities and counties require a local occupational or business license for any home-based business, with fees commonly running $50 to $100. Check with your local clerk’s office before you start selling.

Kentucky exempts most food and food ingredients from state sales tax under KRS 139.485, so most cottage food products won’t require you to collect sales tax. Certain prepared items can be treated differently; confirm with the Kentucky Department of Revenue if you’re unsure. Income from cottage food sales is taxable at both the state and federal level regardless of amount. You can deduct business expenses including ingredients, packaging, the registration fee, and booth fees.

Pet Treats Are Not Included

Homemade pet treats do not fall under the cottage food law. They’re regulated as commercial feed, which means registering each product with the University of Kentucky Division of Regulatory Services, submitting a copy of each product label, and paying a $50 annual fee per product for items sold in packages of ten pounds or less.¹¹

1
Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Kentucky Administrative Regulations 902 KAR 45090 – Home-Based Processors and Farmers Market Home-Based Microprocessors
2
Justia Law. Cottage Food Law Statutes – Kentucky
3
Justia Law. Kentucky Revised Statutes 217.136 – Home-Based Food Processors
4
Institute for Justice. Selling Homemade Food in Kentucky
5
Cabinet for Health and Family Services. Home Based Processor Application Instructions
6
Cornell Law Institute. Kentucky Administrative Regulations 902 KAR 45090 – Home-Based Processors and Farmers Market Home-Based Microprocessors
7
Cabinet for Health and Family Services. Labeling Requirements for Home-Based Processors
8
Green River District Health Department. Home Based Processors and Home Bakers
9
FindLaw. Kentucky Revised Statutes 217.138 – Administrative Regulations on Home-Based Microprocessors
10
Justia Law. Kentucky Revised Statutes 217.137 – Administrative Regulations on Home-Based Microprocessors
11
University of Kentucky Division of Regulatory Services. Registering Feed Products