Free tool · Cottage food label rules

Iowa cottage food label rules

What has to be on the label when you sell homemade baked goods in Iowa, and the limits that matter at a market. Checked September 2026.

Another state Confirmed in official sources

Your label must include

Name and address, phone number, or email of the producer
Common name of the food
Ingredients in descending order of predominance
Required statement
Allergen statement naming each major food allergen present
Date processed and canned (home-canned pickles/vegetables/fruits only)

Required statement

“This product was produced at a residential property that is exempt from state licensing and inspection.”

No font size specified. Contact info may be address, phone OR email.

Brown Butter Toffee Cookies

Sunny Crumb Co. · 123 Palm Ave, Your City, IA 00000 · (305) 555-0188

Ingredients: enriched flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), butter (cream, salt), brown sugar, toffee bits (sugar, butter, almonds, soy lecithin), eggs, vanilla extract, baking soda, sea salt.

This product was produced at a residential property that is exempt from state licensing and inspection.

Contains: wheat, milk, eggs, tree nuts (almond), soy.

Baked on 10/03/2026

Sample label for illustration, made from the checklist above. Your own label has to match your recipe and your state’s exact rules.

Key limits in Iowa

Permit: none — cottage food is exempt from all state licensing, permitting and inspection if sold directly by the producer to the consumer
Training: none
Sales cap: none
Where you can sell: Directly from producer to consumer (from home, farmers markets, events). The only food establishment where it may be sold is a temporary food establishment operated by the producer. No wholesale/retail/restaurant sales (that requires a home food processing establishment license under ch. 137D).
Online & shipping: Sales may be in person, remote, by phone, by internet, or through the producer’s agent/employee; delivery by the producer, by mail, or by an agent. Out-of-state shipping is not addressed by the statute; federal law still applies (§ 137F.20(3)).
Law: Cottage food, Iowa Code § 137F.20 (2022 Iowa Acts ch. 1129, HF 2431); Iowa Admin. Code r. 481-30.13

What we could not confirm (1)

Whether shipping to other states is allowed — statute does not say, and DIAL does not address it

Check with: Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing (DIAL), Food & Consumer Safety Bureau

Last change to the law: 2022 (HF 2431, 2022 Iowa Acts ch. 1129; rule eff. 11/9/2022); no later amendment found

Sources

Made by BakersKeep

Set up this label once. Print it for every cookie.

BakersKeep builds your Iowa label from each recipe: ingredients in order, allergens and the required statement. Change a recipe and every label updates. It also prices your cookies, takes pre-orders and writes the week’s posts.

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This page is general information, not legal advice. Rules change and counties can add their own. Confirm with Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing (DIAL), Food & Consumer Safety Bureau before you print. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.

Iowa cottage food label rules

Your label must include

Required statement

Set up this label once. Print it for every cookie.

Other states