Free tool · Cottage food label rules

Kentucky cottage food label rules

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

Another state Confirmed in official sources

Your label must include

Name and address of the home-based processing operation
Common or usual name of the product
Ingredients in descending order by weight
Net weight or net volume (or numerical count)
Allergen information (21 U.S.C. 343(w))
Date the product was processed
Required statement

Required statement

“This product is home-produced and processed”

Statement must be in at least 10-point type (KRS 217.136(3)(e)).

Brown Butter Toffee Cookies

Sunny Crumb Co. · 123 Palm Ave, Your City, KY 00000

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.

Net wt. 4 oz (113 g) · 2 cookies

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

Baked on 10/03/2026

This product is home-produced and processed

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 Kentucky

Permit: registration — annual home-based processor registration (form DFS-250) with the Food Safety Branch, $50/yr, expires March 31
Training: none for home-based processors (Food Processing School training is required only for home-based MICROprocessors)
Sales cap: $60,000
Where you can sell: Direct to consumers within Kentucky only: from home (pickup or delivery), farmers markets, flea markets, roadside stands, festivals, fairs, community/charity events. No wholesale, retail stores or restaurants.
Online & shipping: May advertise and take orders and payments online or by phone, but products must be handed over in person (pickup or personal delivery) within Kentucky. Shipping is not allowed (in-state or out-of-state).
Law: Home-based processors, KRS 217.136 (definition KRS 217.015(56)); 902 KAR 45:090

What we could not confirm (2)

IJ says home-based processors pay no fee, but the regulation and the CHFS form/update sheet both say $50; reported $50 (official)
Whether the statement should end with a period (statute quotes it without one)

Check with: Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services, Department for Public Health, Food Safety Branch

Last change to the law: KRS 217.136 amended 2019 (HB 468, eff. 3/26–27/2019); 902 KAR 45:090 amended eff. 9/9/2019. 2026 bills HB 756 (would repeal 217.136 / food freedom) and HB 678 died in committee.

Sources

Made by BakersKeep

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

BakersKeep builds your Kentucky 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.

Join the founders list See how it works

This page is general information, not legal advice. Rules change and counties can add their own. Confirm with Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services, Department for Public Health, Food Safety Branch before you print. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.

Kentucky cottage food label rules

Your label must include

Required statement

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

Other states