What License Do You Need to Sell Food in Maryland?

To sell food in Maryland, you need a license to sell food in Maryland that matches how and where you plan to operate: a fixed food service license for a restaurant or store, a mobile license for a truck or cart, a temporary license for a festival booth, or a cottage food registration for a home kitchen making non-hazardous items. Retail food licenses are issued by your county’s environmental health division, while the Maryland Department of Health handles food processing plants and dairy facilities directly.¹ State law makes the license non-negotiable: you cannot operate a food establishment without one.²

Which License Fits Your Operation

Maryland’s rules recognize four main categories, and picking the right one is the first decision that shapes everything after it.

A fixed food service facility covers brick-and-mortar restaurants, cafés, and grocery stores. These face the most extensive plan review and inspection requirements because of their full kitchens and daily service.
A mobile food service facility covers trucks, trailers, and carts. Mobile units must meet health codes for on-board food storage, handwashing stations, potable water tanks, and wastewater holding tanks, and each unit needs a licensed base of operations for water, sewage disposal, and food storage.³
A temporary food service facility covers vendor booths at festivals and fairs operating for a limited number of days. The process is streamlined, but you still follow food safety protocols, including containerized potable water for handwashing if pressurized water isn’t available.³
A cottage food business covers non-hazardous foods made in your home kitchen and sold directly to consumers. It follows a much simpler set of rules, detailed further below.

What to Have in Place Before You Apply

Several prerequisites need to be done before the health department will touch your application. Missing any of them stalls or sinks the process.

Business Registration and EIN

Register your business with the Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation through the Maryland Business Express portal.⁴ Then get a Federal Employer Identification Number from the IRS for tax filings and payroll.⁵

Trader’s License

Unless you’re a grower or manufacturer selling your own products, Maryland requires a trader’s license from the Clerk of the Circuit Court in the county where you do business before you sell goods at retail.⁶ Fees and process vary, so contact your local Clerk’s office directly.

Sales and Use Tax Account

Retail sales in Maryland require a sales and use tax license from the Comptroller. Register through the Combined Registration Application online.⁷ It’s easy to overlook, and operating without it creates tax trouble later.

Workers’ Compensation

This is the one that catches new owners off guard. Before any license or permit is issued to an employer, Maryland law requires a certificate of compliance with the Workers’ Compensation Act or a workers’ compensation insurance policy number.⁸ If you’ll have even one employee, you need proof of coverage before the health department processes anything. Sole proprietors with no employees can file for a waiver.

Certified Food Manager Requirement

Several of Maryland’s largest jurisdictions require a Certified Food Service Manager on duty whenever a food facility operates. Prince George’s County mandates a certified manager present during all operating hours at any restaurant or mobile unit serving prepared foods.⁹ Montgomery County prohibits a food service facility from operating unless it’s under the immediate control of a certified manager.¹⁰

Certification requires passing an ANSI-accredited food safety exam covering foodborne illness prevention, temperature control, cross-contamination, and sanitation. Check with your county health department before you apply, because proof of certification is usually part of the application package in counties that enforce the rule.

Plan Review Before You Build

Before any construction or renovation of your food space begins, you have to submit detailed plans to your local health department for approval.¹¹ The department won’t issue a license for a facility that wasn’t built to approved specs.

Your submission typically needs to include:

Scaled floor plans showing food preparation, cooking, and storage areas along with all equipment locations.¹¹
Plumbing diagrams showing sewage disposal and your potable water source.
Your proposed menu, which health officials use to assess food safety risk and confirm your equipment matches what you plan to serve.¹²
A HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) plan for moderate and high-priority facilities. Lower-priority facilities can skip the formal HACCP but still submit a menu or product list.¹²
Equipment specification sheets (cut sheets) for all commercial kitchen equipment.¹³

The health department sends a comment letter, and you may revise and resubmit before approval. Don’t start construction without written approval. Retroactive sign-off rarely goes well.

The Application, Fee, and Pre-Opening Inspection

Once your plans are approved and the space is built out, submit your food service license application to your county health department with the applicable fee.¹ Fees vary by county and facility type. For reference, Montgomery County charges between $130 and $525 annually for year-round food facilities depending on priority classification, with nonprofit facilities at $100.¹⁴ Confirm your county’s exact amount with its health department.

After the fee is paid, the health department schedules a pre-opening inspection. The inspector verifies the facility matches the approved plans and complies with food safety codes. Expect checks on:

Handwashing sinks properly installed and accessible
Equipment calibration and functionality
Food storage temperatures (refrigerators at 40°F or below)
Adequate ventilation and waste disposal
Overall cleanliness and pest control measures

Pass, and the department issues your food service facility license. Post it where it’s visible. Fail, and the inspector gives you a list of violations to correct before a re-inspection. Most failures are fixable, like a missing thermometer or a sink in the wrong place, but structural issues can mean real delays and expense.

The Cottage Food Path

Home-kitchen operations follow a simpler route. If you make non-hazardous foods such as baked goods, jams, candies, or dried herbs, you can sell them without a full food service license. Allowed sales channels include farmers’ markets, bake sales, public events, personal delivery, and mail order.¹⁵

Annual gross sales are currently capped at $50,000, though legislation in the 2026 session has proposed raising that limit. To sell cottage food products to retail stores, you have to take an extra step: submit your product labels and proof of an ANSI-approved food safety course to the Maryland Department of Health, and wait for written approval before selling.¹⁵

Cottage food operations skip plan review, pre-opening inspection, and the certified food manager requirement. You still have to follow labeling rules and stay within the allowed categories. Non-hazardous means foods that don’t need refrigeration to stay safe. Cream-filled pastries, fresh salsa, and anything with meat or dairy that needs temperature control are off the list.

Food Trucks Across County Lines

Your mobile license comes from the county where your base of operations sits, but trucks naturally want to serve customers in multiple counties. A mobile reciprocity license lets you operate in other jurisdictions without a full separate license in each.¹⁶

To qualify, your mobile unit must hold a valid license from its county of origin, and your base of operations must be within 90 miles of the county where you want to operate.¹⁷ Reciprocity packets usually include a copy of your home-county license, your base of operations agreement, your menu and HACCP plan, and interior and exterior photos. Each county charges its own reciprocity fee.¹⁶

Your base of operations has to be a licensed food service facility, not a home garage, providing potable water, sewage disposal, waste receptacles, and food storage.³ One exception: mobile vendors selling only prepackaged frozen desserts don’t need a base of operations.

Renewals and Routine Inspections

Food service licenses are issued annually. Renew and pay the renewal fee before the expiration date. Montgomery County, for example, adds a $100 late fee on top of the standard renewal if you miss the deadline.¹⁴ Timelines vary by county, but the rule everywhere is the same: an expired license means you’re operating illegally.

Routine unannounced inspections continue throughout the year. Repeated violations can lead to suspension. Keeping temperature logs, cleaning schedules, and staff training records makes these visits far less stressful.

Penalties for Operating Without a License

Operating without a license carries real legal exposure. Baltimore City’s health code sets penalties of up to $1,000 in fines or up to 12 months in jail for operating without a license or violating license terms, and each day of violation counts as a separate offense.¹⁸ Other counties set their own penalties, with the same pattern: daily fines that add up fast, suspension that keeps you closed until issues are resolved, and criminal charges in serious cases.

Health departments can also shut down any food establishment that poses an immediate health risk, licensed or not. Getting caught operating unlicensed makes every future interaction with regulators harder: clearing fines, possibly re-applying from scratch, and rebuilding standing with the people who decide whether you stay open.

1
Maryland Department of Health. Food License and Permit
2
Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Health-General Code 21-305
3
Legal Information Institute. Maryland Code of Regulations 10.15.03.25 – Special Food Service Facility
4
Maryland Business Express. Register Your Business in Maryland
5
Internal Revenue Service. Get an Employer Identification Number
6
Maryland Courts. Frequently Asked Questions – Business Licenses
7
Maryland Comptroller. Business Tax Tip 13
8
Maryland Department of Health. Mobile Food Service Application
9
Prince George’s County, Maryland, USA. Food Service Manager Certification
10
Montgomery County Government. Certified Food Service Manager (CFSM) – Fact Sheet
11
Legal Information Institute. Maryland Code of Regulations 10.15.03.33 – Plan Review
12
Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services. Plan Review Guidelines for Food Service Establishments
13
Baltimore County Department of Health. Guidelines for Retail Food Establishment Plans Review Submittals
14
Montgomery County Government. Fee Schedule – Licensure and Regulatory Services
15
Legal Information Institute. Maryland Code of Regulations 10.15.03.27 – Farmers Market, Bake Sales, and Cottage Food Business
16
Maryland Department of Health. Mobile Food Service Reciprocity Application
17
Maryland Division of State Documents. COMAR 10.15.03.02 – Definitions
18
City of Baltimore Law Library. Baltimore City Health Code 6-802 – Penalties