North Carolina Cottage Food Law

NCDA&CS lists pickles, BBQ sauce, and other acid and acidified foods among the products a home processor may make, and asks anyone planning them to call its office first. The pathway is meaningfully heavier than the non-acidified pathway: NCDA&CS may require an Acidified Food Course (such as Better Process Control School) with the Certificate of Completion submitted with the application; products may need pH or water-activity testing, with the testing laboratory's Process Authority Letter submitted with the application; and NCDA&CS lists federal 21 CFR 114 (Acidified Foods) and 21 CFR 108 as additional regulations. Under 21 CFR 108.25 a processor must register with the FDA on Form FDA 2541 within 10 days of first processing acidified foods and file scheduled-process information within 60 days of registration and before packing any new product. Georgia and South Carolina exclude acidified foods from their cottage food laws, Virginia caps acidified vegetables at $9,000 a year, and Tennessee allows them without a process authority letter for sales within Tennessee.

NCDA&CS asks every applicant whether they have a pet that comes into the home at any time, even if only at night; if so, the applicant cannot manufacture foods from the home kitchen, because a home processor is viewed as a food manufacturing facility under the Good Manufacturing Practices in 21 CFR 117 Subpart B. NCDA&CS treats indoor pets as pests for inspection purposes. Producers with pets use a different framework instead, such as a shared-use commercial kitchen.

If the only water source is a private well, the application must include coliform bacteria and E. coli test results from an agency certified in well water testing, dated within one year of the application; store-bought test kits are not accepted. NCDA&CS recommends the local health department, and private labs also test. Homes on municipal water submit a recent water bill (or a leasing-office letter) showing the service address instead.

Does North Carolina have a cottage food law?

No. North Carolina does not have a statute called a "cottage food law." What North Carolina has instead is the Home Processor program administered by the NC Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (NCDA&CS) Food and Drug Protection Division under the NC Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (Chapter 106, Article 12 of the NC General Statutes) and federal 21 CFR 117 Subpart B Good Manufacturing Practices. Producers opt in by applying and passing a pre-operational kitchen inspection — and because NCDA&CS says anyone producing and selling food from a home kitchen must first have the kitchen inspected, the program is functionally mandatory for home producers who plan to sell.

What is the revenue cap on North Carolina home-processor sales?

There is none. Because North Carolina does not have a cottage food statute, there is no statutory cap on annual gross sales. A producer making $5,000 a year and a producer making $250,000 a year operate under the same Home Processor program with the same inspection and labeling rules. Many state cottage food laws do couple the home-kitchen exemption to a gross-revenue ceiling, though several neighbors (Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee) have no cap either. In practice, producers who scale meaningfully eventually move to a fully licensed commercial food facility for operational reasons (equipment, volume, multi-operator workflow), not because of a statutory cap.

How much does it cost to start selling home-baked goods in North Carolina?

The state-level costs are minimal: NCDA&CS lists no fee for the Application for Home Processor Inspection or for the kitchen inspection, and no annual or renewal fee. Food-handler training is not required at the state level. Costs that can apply: pH or water-activity testing for products that need it (acidified foods, dressings and sauces, homemade cream cheese frostings, "moist" breads and cakes, some pies); an Acidified Food Course if NCDA&CS requires one for acidified foods; FDA registration and process filing under 21 CFR 108 for acidified foods; and, for homes on a private well, a coliform and E. coli test from a certified testing agency dated within one year of the application. Local zoning permits, business licenses, and sales-tax registration are separate.

Can I sell acidified foods like hot sauce, pickles, or salsa under the North Carolina program?

Yes, with a heavier compliance layer. NCDA&CS lists acid and acidified foods such as pickles and BBQ sauce among the products a home processor may make, and asks anyone planning them to call its office first. NCDA&CS may require an Acidified Food Course (such as Better Process Control School), and products may need pH or water-activity testing, with the laboratory's Process Authority Letter submitted with the application. NCDA&CS also lists federal 21 CFR 114 and 21 CFR 108: under 21 CFR 108.25, a processor must register with the FDA on Form FDA 2541 within 10 days of first processing acidified foods and file scheduled-process information within 60 days of registration and before packing any new product. Georgia and South Carolina exclude acidified foods from cottage food. Virginia permits acidified vegetables at pH 4.6 or lower up to a $9,000 annual sub-cap. Tennessee allows acidified and low-acid canned foods under its Food Freedom Act with no process authority letter, for sales within Tennessee. NC is the only one of the five that pairs an acidified-foods route with no revenue ceiling and sales to retail stores, restaurants, and distributors.

Where can a North Carolina home processor legally sell?

NCDA&CS guidance covers more venues than a typical state cottage food law: on-demand sales directly to the consumer (orders picked up from the home, delivery, special events), farmers markets and similar venues, packaged self-service sales, products shipped through postal or parcel services such as USPS or FedEx, and wholesale to retail stores, distributors, and restaurants. Shipped, self-service, and wholesale products need an affixed label. The guidance does not address shipping across state lines. Interstate sales would be governed by federal food law and the destination state's rules, so confirm with NCDA&CS before shipping out of state.

Why is there a rule that pets cannot be in the home?

Because NCDA&CS views a home processor as a food manufacturing facility subject to federal 21 CFR 117 Subpart B Good Manufacturing Practices. Its guidance asks whether you have a pet that comes into your home at any time, even if only at night, and says that if so you cannot manufacture foods from your home kitchen. NCDA&CS treats indoor pets as pests for inspection purposes. Producers who keep their pets use a different framework instead, such as a shared-use commercial kitchen.

What goes on a North Carolina home-processor label?

There is no NC-specific home-kitchen disclaimer, because there is no NC cottage food statute; the label follows federal 21 CFR Part 101 packaged-food rules. NCDA&CS requires the product name, the manufacturer's name and physical address (a website address cannot be substituted), the net quantity in ounces or pounds with the gram equivalent (or fluid ounces with the milliliter equivalent), a complete ingredient list in descending order of predominance by weight with sub-ingredients in parentheses, and allergens listed in the ingredients or in a "Contains" statement. Nutrition Facts are not required unless you make a claim such as low fat or sugar free. Submit one example label with the application. Labels must be affixed to self-service packaged products, products sold to retail stores, distributors, or restaurants, and shipped products; on-demand sales directly to the consumer can be exempt, but ingredient information must be available on request.

How does North Carolina compare to its neighbors?

NC is structurally distinct from all four neighbors. Georgia (after HB 398 in 2025) has a formal cottage food framework with no cap, retail/restaurant wholesale permitted, in-state-only sales, and acidified foods excluded. South Carolina has a Home-Based Food Production Law with no cap, no permit or registration, direct-to-consumer plus retail/grocery-store sales, in-state-only delivery, and no acidified foods. Tennessee has a Food Freedom Act (T.C.A. § 53-1-118) with no cap, no permit, acidified and low-acid canned foods permitted, and in-state wholesale to retail stores and restaurants for shelf-stable items, but no interstate shipping. Virginia has a Home Food Processing exemption with no general cap, in-state sales in person, online, by phone, or by mail since HB 402 (2026) but no resale, and a separate $9,000 sub-cap on acidified vegetables. NC's combination of no cap, retail, restaurant, and distributor sales, and an acidified-foods pathway makes it one of the broadest home-food regimes in the southeast — at the price of a mandatory pre-operational inspection that none of the four neighboring frameworks require.