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New Hampshire cottage food label rules

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

Another state Mostly confirmed. Check the open points below

Your label must include

Required statement

“This product is exempt from New Hampshire licensing and inspection.”

He-P 2310.01(d) requires the statement in at least the equivalent of 10-point font. A 2025 amendment lets direct sales from home or a farm stand use a QR code or website for ingredients instead of a printed list, with a sign at the point of sale. Licensed operations use a different statement: "This product is made in a residential kitchen licensed by the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services."

Brown Butter Toffee Cookies

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

(305) 555-0188 · hello@sunnycrumb.co

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.

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

Baked on 10/03/2026

This product is exempt from New Hampshire licensing and inspection.

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 New Hampshire

Permit: none for the exempt tier (no license, no registration, no fee). An optional Homestead Food License (about $150/year per forrager) is required for internet, mail-order, restaurant or wholesale sales.
Training: none
Sales cap: none (the cap was removed by HB 119, 2023)
Where you can sell: Exempt tier: from the home, at your own farm stand, at farmers markets, and at retail food stores (per the RSA 143-A:12 text). Sales to restaurants or other retail food establishments, or to wholesalers, brokers and distributors, need a license.
Online & shipping: Internet and mail-order sales require a Homestead Food License. Exempt operators may not sell online or by mail. Out-of-state shipping was not confirmed.
Law: Homestead food operations, RSA 143-A:12 (license exemption) and N.H. Admin. Rules He-P 2300 (He-P 2310 exempt operations)

What we could not confirm (5)

Exempt sales ‘at retail food stores’ (statute) vs. forrager saying retail requires a license; the statute also requires a license for sales to ‘other retail food establishments’
Exact enacted wording of the 2025 QR-code ingredient option (HB 304 introduced text seen, not the chaptered text)
SB 418 effective date
Whether the He-P 2310 10-point rule has been updated after the 2025 statutory changes
Agency URL not verified

Check with: NH Department of Health and Human Services, Food Protection Section (licensed tier only; exempt tier is unregistered)

Last change to the law: Multiple 2025 amendments (RSA history: 2025 ch. 18, 28, 46, 193, incl. HB 304 labeling); SB 418 (2026), which bars towns from licensing exempt homestead operations

Sources

Made by BakersKeep

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

BakersKeep builds your New Hampshire 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 NH Department of Health and Human Services, Food Protection Section (licensed tier only; exempt tier is unregistered) before you print. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.

New Hampshire cottage food label rules

Your label must include

Required statement

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

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