Montana Cottage Food Law

Montana's cottage food law sets no statewide revenue cap and no state permit or registration is required. Direct sales, farmers markets, and online sales permitted.

Watch for: Montana's Local Food Choice Act allows almost any homemade food except certain meats. Among the most permissive in the country.

Annual revenue cap

No cap

Permit / registration

Not required

Kitchen inspection

Not required

Food handler training

Not required

Acidified foods

Permitted (pH test)

Interstate shipping

In-state only

Where you can sell

Direct sales, farmers markets, and online sales permitted.

Direct (in-person)
Farmers markets
Online (in-state)

What's required before your first sale

No registration required. Standard labeling.

Label requirements

Montana's Local Food Choice Act requires the producer to inform the end consumer that the food "has not been licensed, permitted, certified, packaged, labeled, or inspected per any official regulations" (MCA § 50-49-203(3)) — this may be communicated verbally or in writing; no fixed label wording is prescribed
Producer name, address, ingredient list, and allergen disclosure are recommended best practice but are not statutorily required for direct sales under the Local Food Choice Act
Federal allergen labeling under FALCPA + FASTER Act applies to packaged foods in commerce: "Contains:" statement for any of the nine major allergens (milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans, sesame)

How Ardent Seller helps

Generate your Montana disclosure label in one click

Ardent Seller assembles a print-ready cottage food label for Montana 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 Montana requires that's missing before you print. Included on every plan.

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