Missouri Cottage Food Law: What You Can Sell, Labels, and Venues

Missouri’s cottage food law, RSMo 196.298, lets you make and sell three kinds of shelf-stable food from your home kitchen without a commercial license, local permit, or routine health inspection: baked goods, canned jams and jellies, and dried herbs or herb mixes. A 2022 amendment eliminated the old $50,000 annual sales cap, so there is no revenue ceiling on what you can earn under the exemption. Sales must go directly to the end consumer, and both you and the buyer must be in Missouri.¹

What You Can Sell

The statute names three product categories:¹

Baked goods such as cookies, cakes, breads, danish, donuts, pastries, and pies prepared by baking in an oven.
Canned jams and jellies that are shelf-stable because of their sugar content and acidity.
Dried herbs and dried herb mixes that contain no moisture requiring temperature control.

The thread running through all three is that the finished product cannot need refrigeration to stay safe. A loaf of banana bread or a jar of strawberry jam qualifies. A cream-cheese-frosted cake or a custard-filled pastry does not, because those support bacterial growth at room temperature.

The statute uses the technical phrase “not potentially hazardous” rather than listing every allowed recipe. Whether a specific product qualifies depends on its water activity (0.85 or below) and pH (4.6 or below at 75°F).² If you’re uncertain about a recipe, an inexpensive pH meter or a water activity test will tell you.

What You Can’t Sell

Anything requiring refrigeration is out. Cheesecakes, custard pies, cream-filled pastries, and dairy-frosted items all fall outside the exemption. Foods with cooked vegetables, fresh garlic in oil, or other low-acid ingredients that need temperature control are also excluded.

Meat and poultry products are prohibited entirely. They fall under federal USDA regulations and separate state processing requirements that no home kitchen can satisfy.

Acidified foods like pickles, salsa, and canned vegetables are not covered either. Improperly acidified low-acid canned goods carry a serious botulism risk, which is why the FDA requires commercial producers of these items to register their facility, complete specialized training, and file their processing methods before selling a single jar.³ To sell pickles or salsa, you would need a licensed commercial kitchen and compliance with those federal rules.

Labeling Your Products

Every cottage food product you sell must carry a label with all of the following:²

The full name and physical address of the cottage food production operation.
The common name of the product, such as “Chocolate Chip Cookies” or “Blueberry Jam.”
An ingredients list in descending order by weight.
The net weight of the product as sold.
A statement identifying any allergens present.
A disclaimer that the product is prepared in a kitchen not subject to inspection by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services or the local health department.

The disclaimer wording is required by the statute itself.¹ Make it legible and prominent enough that a buyer can read it before paying. Burying it in tiny print on the back of a label defeats its purpose and invites complaints.

Be careful with health-related claims. Terms like “low-fat,” “sugar-free,” or “heart healthy” are federally regulated nutrient content claims with specific definitions, and using them without meeting the FDA’s criteria creates legal exposure even for small producers. Plain product descriptions are the safe path.

Where You’re Allowed to Sell

Every sale must go directly to the end consumer. No retail stores, no grocery outlets, no wholesale distributors.¹ You can sell from home, from an individual stand, or at farmers’ markets, as long as the transaction is between you and the person who will eat the food.²

Online orders are allowed under the 2022 amendment, but both you and the buyer must be located in Missouri. You can take orders through a website or social media, but delivery or pickup has to happen inside the state.¹

Shipping across state lines is not an option. When food enters interstate commerce, the FDA takes over, and private residences lose the FDA facility registration exemption they would otherwise have under 21 CFR 1.227.³ A single out-of-state sale pulls you into a regulatory framework your home kitchen is not set up for.

No Local Permits or Inspections

The statute is unusually clear on this point. A cottage food production operation is not a food service establishment and is not subject to state or local health and food code laws beyond RSMo 196.298 itself. Local health departments cannot regulate cottage food production.¹ No local permits, no registration, no routine inspections of your kitchen.

If a county office tells you otherwise about products that fall under the law, you can point them to section 3(1) of the statute. Two narrow powers remain with state and local health authorities: both must keep records of complaints filed against a cottage food operation, and both retain authority to investigate foodborne disease or outbreaks.⁴ Nobody is coming for a routine inspection, but a credible illness complaint can trigger a real investigation.

Other Homemade Foods Outside the Cottage Food Law

If you want to sell something that doesn’t fit the three cottage food categories, a separate exemption in the Missouri Food Code allows individuals to sell other non-potentially-hazardous foods from individual stands directly to consumers, where local ordinances permit. Items that may qualify include fruit butters, sorghum, cracked nuts, packaged spice mixes, and dry soup mixes.² The important difference is that this Food Code exemption depends on local approval, while cottage food products are exempt statewide. Ask your local public health agency before relying on it.

Honey sits in its own category. Pure honey is classified as a raw agricultural commodity in Missouri, and beekeepers who harvest, filter, and package their own honey from their own hives are not routinely inspected by local, state, or federal authorities.² Honey is not covered by the cottage food law itself.

Taxes You Still Owe

The cottage food exemption shields you from health code regulation. It does nothing about taxes. The IRS treats cottage food income as self-employment income, reported on Schedule C.

If your net self-employment earnings reach $400 or more in a year, you owe self-employment tax at a combined 15.3%, covering Social Security (12.4%) and Medicare (2.9%).⁵ That threshold is low. A producer selling cookies at weekend farmers’ markets can clear it in the first month or two.

Missouri also applies sales tax to retail food sales. The state rate for food is a reduced 1.225%, and local jurisdictions add their own on top. Check with the Missouri Department of Revenue for the combined rate in your area.

If you take payments through Venmo, PayPal, Square, or similar platforms, those processors may send you Form 1099-K when gross payments exceed $20,000 and transactions exceed 200 in a calendar year.⁶ Even if you fall below that threshold and never receive a 1099-K, the income is still taxable and must be reported.

Liability Risk and Insurance

The cottage food law gives you no liability protection if someone gets sick or has an allergic reaction. If a customer sues over something you sold, you are personally on the hook.

Standard homeowners policies typically exclude business activities, so a claim tied to food you sold for profit will likely be denied. Product liability insurance for food businesses covers medical bills, legal defense, and settlements arising from illness or injury caused by your products. Premiums for small cottage food operations generally start around $300 per year, with the final cost depending on your revenue, location, and coverage limits.

Many farmers’ markets require vendors to carry liability insurance and provide a Certificate of Insurance before setting up a booth. One serious allergic reaction claim can cost more than a lifetime of premiums.

Keeping Your Home Kitchen Safe

The statute defines “home” as your primary residence containing a kitchen with appliances designed for common residential use.¹ Your household oven, mixer, and countertops are fine. There is no requirement to build or rent a commercial kitchen.

“Not inspected” is not the same as “anything goes.” The disclaimer on your label shifts informed-consent risk to the buyer, but you are still selling food that people eat. Keep pets out of the kitchen during production. Store ingredients properly. Follow safe food handling practices. A complaint that leads to a foodborne illness investigation can end your operation even without routine inspections, and sloppy habits make it much harder to defend yourself if something goes wrong.

1
Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Code 196.298 – Definitions – Operation Not Deemed Food Service Establishment, When – No State or Local Regulation
2
Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. Missouri Home-Based Kitchen Food Production Guidance
3
U.S. Food and Drug Administration. How to Start a Food Business
4
The National Agricultural Law Center. Missouri Code 196.298 – Definitions – Operation Not Deemed Food Service Establishment, When – No State Or Local Regulation
5
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 334 (2025), Tax Guide for Small Business
6
Internal Revenue Service. IRS Issues FAQs on Form 1099-K Threshold Under the One, Big, Beautiful Bill; Dollar Limit Reverts to $20,000