The Ohio cottage food law lets you make and sell certain shelf-stable foods from your home kitchen with no license, no permit, no registration, and no cap on how much you earn. The rules, set out in Ohio Revised Code Chapter 3715 and Ohio Administrative Code Chapter 901:3-20, control what you can make, how you label it, and where you sell it. Stay inside those lines and you can start selling today.
No License, No Inspection, No Sales Cap
Ohio is one of the least restrictive states in the country for home food producers. You do not need a license or registration from the Ohio Department of Agriculture or any other state agency to run a cottage food operation. You do not need to pass a food safety course. Your kitchen is not inspected before you start selling. And unlike most states, Ohio places no ceiling on your annual sales.
The exemption sits in Ohio Revised Code 3717.22, which excludes cottage food production operations from the retail food establishment license requirement.1Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 3717.22 – Excluded Operations and Entities A parallel exemption in ORC 3717.42 covers the food service operation license.2Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 3717.42 – Exclusions – Exemptions From License Requirement
What You Can Sell
Ohio Administrative Code 901:3-20-04 lists twenty categories of approved cottage food products.3Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Administrative Code 901:3-20-04 – Cottage Food Products Allowed The common thread is that every item must be shelf-stable, meaning it stays safe at room temperature. The permitted categories include:
- Baked goods that are not potentially hazardous: cookies, breads, brownies, fruit pies, unfilled baked donuts, waffle cones (including candy-dipped), and pizzelles. Nothing with cream fillings, custards, or a filling that needs refrigeration.
- Preserves and fruit spreads: jams, jellies, fruit butters, and fruit chutneys.
- Candy: fudge, pralines, chocolate-covered items, and similar confections. Fresh fruit dipped or incorporated into candy is not allowed.
- Granola, granola bars, and candy-dipped granola bars. Any fruit used must be commercially dried.
- Popcorn products: flavored popcorn, kettle corn, popcorn balls, and caramel corn. Unpopped popping corn is excluded.
- Dry mixes and blends: dry baking mixes in a jar, dry soup mixes with commercially dried vegetables, dry herbs, dry seasoning blends, dry tea blends, and dry cereal and nut snack mixes.
- Roasted coffee, whole bean or ground.
- Flavored honey (if you are a registered beekeeper under ORC 3715.021) and maple sugar from a producer who qualifies under the same section.
If your product does not fit one of the categories in the administrative code, it cannot be sold as cottage food. Check the specific rule against your specific item before you start.
What Ohio Does Not Allow
Anything that requires refrigeration to stay safe is out. That rules out cheesecakes, custard pies, cream-filled pastries, pumpkin pies, and meringue pies. Any baked good with a filling that can spoil at room temperature falls outside cottage food.
Meat and poultry products of any kind are excluded, including beef jerky, because production involves handling raw meat even if the finished product is shelf-stable.
Acidified foods like pickles, relishes, salsas, and hot sauces are not permitted. These need precise pH testing and processing controls that go beyond a standard home kitchen. Low-acid canned foods such as green beans or corn carry an even higher botulism risk and require commercial processing and a separate license. Fresh-cut fruits and vegetables are also excluded because they are perishable from the moment they are prepared.
Labeling Requirements
Every product you sell must carry a label that meets Ohio Revised Code 3715.023 and the federal labeling rules in 21 CFR Part 101.4Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 3715.023 – Labels for Cottage Food Production Operation, Processor, or Beekeeper5Cornell Law Institute. Ohio Admin Code 901:3-20-02 – Labeling Your label needs:
- The name and physical address of your cottage food operation.
- The common name of the food, such as “Chocolate Chip Cookie” or “Strawberry Jam.”
- A complete ingredient list in descending order by weight.
- The net weight or volume in standard units of measure.
- The statement “This product is home produced” in at least ten-point type. Use those exact words, at that minimum size.
Because Ohio Administrative Code 901:3-20-02 pulls in federal labeling standards, allergen disclosure applies. Federal law identifies nine major allergens: milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans, and sesame.6U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Food Allergies If your product contains any of them, the label must identify them clearly.
A full Nutrition Facts panel is generally not required. Small operations that meet the FDA’s low-volume exemption criteria do not have to include one, and most cottage food producers fall comfortably under that threshold.
Where You Can Sell
Ohio’s venue rules are more generous than most states. You can sell:
- Directly from your home
- At farmers’ markets and farm stands
- At festivals, fairs, and community events
- Online, with delivery inside Ohio
- To retail grocery stores for resale
- To restaurants, which can use your products as ingredients
Wholesale to grocery stores and restaurants is unusual for cottage food; most states restrict producers to direct-to-consumer sales. In Ohio, a properly labeled cottage food product is explicitly acceptable for a licensed retail food establishment or food service operation to offer for sale or use in food preparation.4Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 3715.023 – Labels for Cottage Food Production Operation, Processor, or Beekeeper
Online sales and delivery are fine, but every transaction and delivery must stay inside Ohio. Shipping cottage food across state lines triggers federal FDA jurisdiction, and your products would then have to meet manufacturing, facility registration, and labeling requirements far beyond what cottage food rules cover.
The Home Kitchen Rule
All production has to happen in your primary residence. Ohio defines “home” specifically: a residence you own and occupy, containing only one stove or oven used for cooking (a double oven counts as one), designed for ordinary household use rather than commercial use, and operated in a regular kitchen inside the residence.7Ohio Department of Agriculture. Home Bakery Renting a commercial kitchen and calling the output cottage food is not allowed. Neither is producing in a second home or an investment property.
The Ohio Department of Agriculture does not routinely inspect cottage food kitchens. It does retain authority to inspect if a consumer complains or a foodborne illness is suspected. That puts the responsibility on you to keep the kitchen clean, store ingredients properly, and handle food safely even when nobody is checking.
When You Need a Home Bakery License Instead
If you want to sell baked goods that need refrigeration, such as cheesecakes, cream pies, custard pies, or cream-filled pastries, Ohio offers a Home Bakery license as a middle step between cottage food and full commercial licensing. The annual fee is $10, paid at the time of inspection.8Ohio Department of Agriculture. Home Bakery Registration
The trade-off is oversight. A Home Bakery license requires:7Ohio Department of Agriculture. Home Bakery
- An Ohio Department of Agriculture inspection of your kitchen before you can start selling
- Walls, ceilings, and floors in good repair and easily cleanable
- No carpeted floors in the kitchen
- No pets anywhere in the home
- A refrigerator with a properly located thermometer, holding 45°F or below
- All equipment and utensils kept in sanitary condition
- Labels available for review at the inspection
The no-pets rule is the one that surprises people. It applies to the whole home, not just the kitchen, and it applies all the time, not only during production. If you have a dog or cat, the Home Bakery path is effectively closed unless you rehome the animal. Cottage food carries no such restriction, which is one practical reason many producers stay inside the cottage food product list even when they would prefer to sell cream pies.
Zoning, Insurance, and Taxes
Ohio does not require liability insurance for cottage food producers. Many farmers’ markets and event organizers do require proof of coverage before letting you set up a booth. A product liability policy for a small food operation typically runs a few hundred dollars a year and protects you if a customer claims your product made them sick. Worth considering once you are selling regularly, even where no venue asks for it.
Check your local zoning rules before you start. State cottage food law removes state-level licensing barriers, but it does not override municipal ordinances. Some cities and townships restrict home-based businesses or require a home occupation permit. A call to your local zoning department can prevent a problem later.
Cottage food income is taxable. Ohio does not exempt these sales from state income tax, and depending on your city, local income tax may apply too. Keep records of sales and expenses from the first month, even when the numbers look small.