Nebraska Cottage Food Law

Nebraska's cottage food law sets no statewide revenue cap and producers must register with the state before the first sale. Directly to the consumer only (§ 81-2,245.01(7)): at a farmers market, fair, festival, craft show, or other public event, or for pickup at or delivery from your home. Food that is not time/temperature control for safety (non-TCS) may be delivered by U.S. mail or a commercial mail delivery service; TCS food must be delivered by you to the consumer in person, kept at a safe temperature, and transported no longer than two hours (§ 81-2,280(7)). Pickup and delivery sales can be advertised online, and § 81-2,280(5)(c) requires the not-inspected notice on your website and in your ads. No resale: NDA says a coffee shop may not sell your cottage food. The statute does not say whether mail delivery may cross state lines and NDA has not addressed it; shipping out of state brings in federal rules and the destination state's law, so confirm with NDA first.

Watch for: The rules split on TCS food. TCS foods such as cheesecake are allowed, but they must stay cold, list ingredients on the label, and be delivered by you in person; only non-TCS food may be mailed. The "not inspected / may contain allergens" notice is not a label line: it goes on a sign where you sell at events, and for pickup or delivery sales at your home, on your website, and in every print, radio, TV, or online ad.

Annual revenue cap

No cap

Permit / registration

Registration required

Kitchen inspection

Not required

Food handler training

Required

Acidified foods

Excluded

Interstate shipping

In-state only

Where you can sell

Directly to the consumer only (§ 81-2,245.01(7)): at a farmers market, fair, festival, craft show, or other public event, or for pickup at or delivery from your home. Food that is not time/temperature control for safety (non-TCS) may be delivered by U.S. mail or a commercial mail delivery service; TCS food must be delivered by you to the consumer in person, kept at a safe temperature, and transported no longer than two hours (§ 81-2,280(7)). Pickup and delivery sales can be advertised online, and § 81-2,280(5)(c) requires the not-inspected notice on your website and in your ads. No resale: NDA says a coffee shop may not sell your cottage food. The statute does not say whether mail delivery may cross state lines and NDA has not addressed it; shipping out of state brings in federal rules and the destination state's law, so confirm with NDA first.

Direct (in-person)
Farmers markets
Online (in-state)
Online order, in-person pickup
In-state mail

What's required before your first sale

Before your first sale, complete a food safety and handling course (a nationally accredited course, a culinary school or local food handler permit course, or a course approved by the Nebraska Department of Agriculture) and register with NDA, giving your name, address, and phone number, the course and its completion date, and nitrate and bacteria test results if you use private well water (§ 81-2,280(3)-(4)). NDA completes a registration only when a food safety course is shown and says it can take up to 10 days to appear on its public list. Exception: a producer selling only non-TCS food directly to consumers at a farmers market needs neither the course nor the registration. No kitchen inspection, and § 81-2,280(8) preempts local food safety rules that do not conform to the statute. Since LB 262 (2024), all cottage food must be prepared in a private home.

Allowed and excluded foods

Examples of permitted foods

Any food is allowed except those listed under “Excluded” →

traditional jams and jellies made with pectin
chocolate-covered strawberries
cakes and other foods in which any eggs are fully cooked
TCS foods such as cheesecake, pudding, ice cream, and cheese made with approved-source (store-bought) milk products, kept cold and delivered in person
freeze-dried foods, when the food being freeze-dried is not excluded

Illustrative examples, not a complete list.

Excluded from cottage food

any part of an animal or an animal by-product, such as meat, lard, tallow, bone broth, or bone meal
fluid milk and milk products defined in the Grade A Pasteurized Milk Ordinance (NDA names milk, cream, sour cream, and yogurt), and anything made with raw milk
raw eggs, including uncooked eggs in ice cream
unpasteurized juice
infused oils and infused honey
sprouts
low-acid canned food and hermetically sealed acidified food (NDA: hermetically sealed BBQ sauce is not allowed)
tofu, tempeh, and similar meat substitutes
kimchi, kombucha, and similar fermented foods
food not prepared in a private home (NDA: for example, snow cones made in a mobile trailer)

Label requirements

Name and address of the producer on the package or container label (Neb. Rev. Stat. § 81-2,280(6)); NDA says the address "needs to be the specific mailing address where you can be contacted" and, asked whether a city or P.O. box alone is fine, does not say a P.O. box is acceptable
TCS foods only: ingredients in descending order of predominance by weight (§ 81-2,280(6))
Not on the label, but required: a clearly visible notification that the food (i) was prepared in a kitchen that is not subject to regulation and inspection by a regulatory authority and (ii) may contain allergens — on a sign at farmers markets, fairs, festivals, craft shows, and other events, and for pickup or delivery sales at your home, on your website if you have one, and in any print, radio, television, or Internet advertisement (§ 81-2,280(5)). The statute sets no fixed wording; NDA's answer for event signs is "This food was prepared in a kitchen that is not subject to regulation and inspection by the regulatory authority and may contain allergens."
Federal allergen labeling (FALCPA as amended by the FASTER Act) is not part of § 81-2,280; a "Contains:" line naming any of the nine major allergens (milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans, sesame) is recommended

How Ardent Seller helps

Generate your Nebraska disclosure label in one click

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

Start free See all food features