2026 reference
Indiana Cottage Food Law
Indiana's cottage food law sets no statewide revenue cap and no state permit or registration is required. Direct to the end consumer only. A Home Based Vendor may take orders in person, by phone, or over the internet, and deliver to the consumer in person, by mail, or by a third-party carrier (USPS, UPS, FedEx) — but every sale and shipment must stay inside Indiana. No wholesale: the label must read "NOT FOR RESALE," so sales to grocery stores, gift shops, and restaurants for resale are not permitted. No interstate shipping.
Watch for: HEA 1149 (effective July 1, 2022) rewrote Indiana's framework at IC 16-42-5.3: it removed the prior $2,500 sales cap, opened online and phone sales plus in-state mail and third-party-carrier delivery, and preempted local add-on rules. Two restrictions survived the reform and catch new producers: (1) acidified foods (pickles, salsas, hot sauces, BBQ sauce) and all TCS/refrigerated foods remain excluded — the allowed jams/jellies must be HIGH-ACID fruit with FULL-SUGAR recipes; and (2) every Home Based Vendor still needs an ANSI-accredited food handler certificate. Sales are direct-to-consumer only ("NOT FOR RESALE") and in-state only — a package crossing the state line shifts jurisdiction to FDA, which does not recognize state cottage food exemptions.
Key facts
Read the full Indiana cottage food law guide
Editorial guide with statute citations, special-program details, label requirements, and complete FAQ coverage.
Where you can sell
Direct to the end consumer only. A Home Based Vendor may take orders in person, by phone, or over the internet, and deliver to the consumer in person, by mail, or by a third-party carrier (USPS, UPS, FedEx) — but every sale and shipment must stay inside Indiana. No wholesale: the label must read "NOT FOR RESALE," so sales to grocery stores, gift shops, and restaurants for resale are not permitted. No interstate shipping.
- Direct (in-person)
- Farmers markets
- Online (in-state)
- In-state mail
What's required before your first sale
No state license, no registration, no permit fee, and no kitchen inspection. HEA 1149 (effective July 1, 2022) also preempted local governments — county and city health departments cannot add registration, inspection, permit, or fee requirements, and cannot prohibit Home Based Vendor sales. The one affirmative requirement is a food handler certificate from an issuer accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), such as ServSafe or StateFoodSafety. Label disclaimers are required (see below).
Allowed and excluded foods
Permitted under cottage food
- baked goods (cookies, cupcakes, cake pops, brownies, muffins, breads, rolls, quick breads)
- custom cakes — only if they contain no cream or custard filling and need no refrigeration for safety (buttercream and fondant decorating is fine)
- candy and confections (chocolates, dipped and molded chocolate, nougats, caramels, brittles, fudge, chocolate-covered nuts)
- whole and uncut produce (fruits and vegetables sold whole and intact)
- tree nuts and legumes, including roasted and seasoned nuts
- honey, molasses, sorghum, and maple syrup — the ag-forward sweetener category that makes Indiana's list unusually farm-friendly
- mushrooms grown as a product of agriculture (cultivated, not foraged wild mushrooms)
- traditional jams, jellies, and preserves made from HIGH-ACID fruits using FULL-SUGAR recipes (reduced-sugar, no-sugar, and low-acid-fruit preserves are excluded)
- dry goods and similar shelf-stable items consistent with the non-TCS standard (dried herbs, dry mixes, granola, popcorn, and the like), per ISDH guidance
Excluded from cottage food
- anything requiring refrigeration / time-and-temperature control (TCS): cheesecakes, cream pies, custard-filled pastries, anything with a perishable filling or topping
- acidified foods (pickles, salsas, hot sauces, BBQ sauces, relishes) — excluded outright, unlike Tennessee
- low-acid canned foods (canned vegetables, green beans, pumpkin butter, chili in a jar)
- reduced-sugar or low-sugar jams and jellies, and preserves made from low-acid fruit
- fermented foods (sauerkraut, kimchi, fermented sauces, kombucha)
- meat, poultry, fish, and seafood products
- dairy products, including cheese and anything containing unpasteurized milk
- juices and beverages requiring time-temperature control, and alcoholic products
Label requirements
- Verbatim statutory disclaimer, in at least 10-point type: "This product is home produced and processed and the production area has not been inspected by Indiana Department of Health. NOT FOR RESALE." (both clauses — the home-production/no-inspection clause AND the "NOT FOR RESALE" clause — must appear, and the wording may not be paraphrased)
- Product name
- Vendor name and address
- Full ingredient list in descending order by weight
- Allergen declaration covering the federal major allergens (milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans, sesame), in plain language — federal FALCPA rules apply to any packaged food in commerce regardless of state cottage food status, and Indiana's allowed list is heavy on tree nuts
- Net weight or quantity
Generate your Indiana disclosure label in one click
Ardent Seller assembles a print-ready cottage food label for Indiana from data you already track — the state's required disclosure statement rendered verbatim (and sized to meet the state's minimum type size where one applies), your operator info, ingredients in descending order by weight, the federal "Contains:" allergen line, net weight, and lot code. A validation checklist flags anything Indiana requires that's missing before you print. Included on every plan.
Adjacent programs
ANSI-Accredited Food Handler Certificate (the one affirmative requirement)
Indiana waives the license, registration, fee, and inspection that most states impose — but it does not waive food-safety training. Every Home Based Vendor must hold a food handler certificate from a certificate issuer accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), such as ServSafe, StateFoodSafety, or another ANSI-accredited provider. This is a certificate earned by passing an accredited online course (typically a modest fee and a couple of hours), not a card issued by the local health department, and it is the single piece of paperwork the Home Based Vendor law does not waive. There is no annual renewal of any state registration because there is no state registration.
Local Government Preemption under HEA 1149
Before July 1, 2022, Indiana home-food rules varied county to county and some local health departments added their own permits or restrictions. HEA 1149 ended that: it expressly bars local governments (county and city health departments) from imposing registration, inspection, permit, or fee requirements on Home Based Vendors, and from prohibiting Home Based Vendor sales outright. The statewide rule is now both the ceiling and the floor — a county official cannot require a local permit to sell allowed foods at a farmers market.
Stepping beyond the Home Based Vendor tier
The Home Based Vendor tier is built for shelf-stable, non-TCS foods sold direct to consumers inside Indiana. Three goals require leaving the tier for a licensed commercial operation: wholesaling to retail stores or restaurants (the "NOT FOR RESALE" rule blocks this), selling acidified or TCS foods (pickles, salsas, sauces, cheesecakes, anything needing refrigeration), and shipping out of state (federal jurisdiction). A producer with any of those goals needs a retail food establishment license or a commercial/commissary kitchen rather than the Home Based Vendor exemption.
Frequently asked questions
Does Indiana have a cottage food law?
Yes — Indiana calls it the Home Based Vendor (HBV) law, codified at Indiana Code IC 16-42-5.3 and substantially rewritten by House Enrolled Act 1149, effective July 1, 2022. The reform replaced a narrow framework (a $2,500 annual sales cap, farmers-market-and-roadside-stand-only sales, and a ban on online and mail orders) with one of the more permissive regimes in the Midwest. A Home Based Vendor is someone who prepares and sells non-potentially-hazardous food made at their primary residence. The Indiana State Department of Health publishes the official guidance, including a Home-Based Vendors FAQ and a Home Based Vendor Handbook.
Is there a sales cap or revenue limit for Indiana home based vendors?
No. HEA 1149 eliminated Indiana's prior $2,500 annual gross-sales cap entirely. As of July 1, 2022, a Home Based Vendor can sell any volume of allowed food per year with no revenue ceiling. The constraints that replace the cap are the allowed-food list (non-potentially-hazardous foods only, no acidified foods), the direct-to-consumer-only "NOT FOR RESALE" rule, the in-state-only sales boundary, and the verbatim label disclaimer. Indiana now sits with the no-cap "food freedom"-style states rather than the capped-revenue states like neighboring Kentucky ($60,000) and Michigan ($50,000).
Do I need a license, registration, or inspection to be a Home Based Vendor in Indiana?
No to all three. The Home Based Vendor law requires no state license, no registration, no permit fee, and no kitchen inspection. The Indiana State Department of Health does not inspect home kitchens operating under IC 16-42-5.3 and does not maintain a vendor registry. Critically, HEA 1149 also preempted local governments — county and city health departments cannot add their own registration, inspection, permit, or fee requirements, and cannot prohibit Home Based Vendor sales. The one affirmative requirement is a food handler certificate.
Do Indiana home based vendors need a food handler certificate?
Yes — this is the single affirmative requirement that survived the 2022 reform. Every Home Based Vendor must obtain a food handler certificate from a certificate issuer accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), such as ServSafe, StateFoodSafety, or another ANSI-accredited provider. This is a certificate you earn by passing an accredited course, not a card issued by your local health department, and it is the one piece of paperwork the law does not waive.
What foods can a Home Based Vendor sell in Indiana?
Only non-potentially-hazardous (non-TCS) foods that do not require time or temperature control for safety. The allowed list includes baked goods (cookies, cupcakes, cake pops, breads, muffins, and custom cakes without cream or custard filling); candy and confections; whole and uncut produce; tree nuts and legumes; honey, molasses, sorghum, and maple syrup; mushrooms grown as a product of agriculture; and traditional jams, jellies, and preserves made from high-acid fruits using full-sugar recipes. Excluded: anything requiring refrigeration (cheesecakes, cream pies, custards), acidified foods (pickles, salsas, hot sauces, BBQ sauce), low-acid canned goods, reduced-sugar or low-sugar jams, fermented foods, and meat or dairy products.
Can I sell Indiana home based vendor food online and ship it?
Yes, within Indiana. HEA 1149 opened online and phone sales, and allows delivery to the end consumer in person, by mail, or by a third-party carrier (USPS, UPS, FedEx) — but every shipment must stay inside Indiana. You cannot ship Home Based Vendor food across state lines. The moment a package crosses the Indiana border, federal jurisdiction under the FDA picks up, and FDA does not recognize state cottage food exemptions. This is the same interstate-shipping line that applies to every state cottage food law in the country.
Can Indiana home based vendors sell wholesale to stores or restaurants?
No. Indiana's Home Based Vendor law authorizes direct sales to the end consumer only. Your label must carry the words "NOT FOR RESALE," which means you cannot wholesale to grocery stores, gift shops, or restaurants for resale. This is a meaningful difference from states like Tennessee, Georgia, and Texas, which permit some form of wholesale-to-retail at the cottage tier. In Indiana, the person who buys from you must be the person who eats it.
What has to go on an Indiana Home Based Vendor label?
Every label must carry, in at least 10-point type, the verbatim statement: "This product is home produced and processed and the production area has not been inspected by Indiana Department of Health. NOT FOR RESALE." Beyond that disclaimer, the label must include the product name, your name and address, a full ingredient list in descending order by weight, an allergen declaration covering the major allergens, and the net weight or quantity. The disclaimer wording is statutory and cannot be paraphrased.
Sources
- Indiana State Department of Health — Home-Based Vendors guidance documents
- Forrager — cottage food law database
- Indiana Code IC 16-42-5.3 — Home Based Vendors (as amended by HEA 1149, 2022)
- ISDH — Home-Based Vendors FAQ
- Purdue Extension FS-35-W — Home-Based Vendor Food Product Labeling Overview
- FDA — Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act (FALCPA)
Reference content only — not legal advice. State laws change frequently. Verify against the official source before launching.
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