2026 reference
North Dakota Cottage Food Law
North Dakota's cottage food law sets no statewide revenue cap and no state permit or registration is required. Every transaction must be directly between the cottage food operator and the informed end consumer, and only for home consumption. Transactions may occur at a farm, ranch, farmers market, farm stand, home-based kitchen, or any other venue not otherwise prohibited by law, or through delivery (NDCC 23-09.5-02(2)). SB 2386 (2025) repealed the former bans on interstate commerce and on transactions over the internet or phone, through the mail, or by consignment. Poultry products still may not be sold in a transaction involving interstate commerce (§ 23-09.5-02(3)(c)). Except for whole, unprocessed fruits and vegetables, cottage food may not be sold or used in any food establishment, food processing plant, or food store (§ 23-09.5-02(4)), so retail, restaurant, and wholesale channels are closed. Consignment is no longer expressly banned, but the direct-transaction requirement makes it doubtful; confirm with the Department of Health and Human Services before relying on it.
Watch for: North Dakota law no longer bars interstate or mail sales: SB 2386 (2025) deleted that ban and left only poultry products barred from interstate transactions. That does not make an out-of-state sale legal everywhere, because federal FDA food law still applies to food shipped across state lines and the destination state may have its own rules. Every sale must still be direct to an informed end consumer for home consumption, and cottage food may not be sold through, or used by, a store, restaurant, or other food establishment.
Key facts
Federal food law and the destination state's rules still apply to packages that leave North Dakota.
Where you can sell
Every transaction must be directly between the cottage food operator and the informed end consumer, and only for home consumption. Transactions may occur at a farm, ranch, farmers market, farm stand, home-based kitchen, or any other venue not otherwise prohibited by law, or through delivery (NDCC 23-09.5-02(2)). SB 2386 (2025) repealed the former bans on interstate commerce and on transactions over the internet or phone, through the mail, or by consignment. Poultry products still may not be sold in a transaction involving interstate commerce (§ 23-09.5-02(3)(c)). Except for whole, unprocessed fruits and vegetables, cottage food may not be sold or used in any food establishment, food processing plant, or food store (§ 23-09.5-02(4)), so retail, restaurant, and wholesale channels are closed. Consignment is no longer expressly banned, but the direct-transaction requirement makes it doubtful; confirm with the Department of Health and Human Services before relying on it.
- Direct (in-person)
- Farmers markets
- Online (in-state)
- In-state mail
- Interstate shipping
What's required before your first sale
No license, permit, certification, registration, inspection, fee, or training. NDCC 23-09.5-02(1) bars state agencies and political subdivisions from requiring licensure, permitting, certification, inspection, packaging, or labeling for cottage food sold under the section, though an agency may assist, consult, or inspect at the producer's request. The operator must tell the end consumer that the product is not certified, labeled, licensed, packaged, regulated, or inspected, and must post a consumer advisory sign or apply a label with the required statement. Uninspected meat products may not be sold, and uninspected poultry products only if the operator slaughters no more than 1,000 birds a year that the operator raised. Products that require refrigeration need safe handling instructions and a statement that the product was transported and maintained frozen. The Department of Health and Human Services or a local regulating authority may investigate illness or environmental health complaints.
Allowed and excluded foods
Permitted under cottage food
- baked goods, jams, jellies, and other food and drink products made in a kitchen designed and intended for use by the residents of a private home (NDCC 23-09.5-01)
- products that require refrigeration, such as baked goods containing cream, custard, meringue, cheesecake, pumpkin pie, or cream cheese, labeled with safe handling instructions and a statement that the product was transported and maintained frozen (§ 23-09.5-02(7))
- uninspected poultry products, only from an operator who slaughters no more than 1,000 birds a year that the operator raised, and never in a transaction involving interstate commerce (§ 23-09.5-02(3)(b)-(c))
Excluded from cottage food
- uninspected products made from meat (§ 23-09.5-02(3)(a))
- uninspected poultry products that do not meet the 1,000-bird conditions (§ 23-09.5-02(3)(b))
- poultry products in any transaction involving interstate commerce (§ 23-09.5-02(3)(c))
Label requirements
- Verbatim statement required by NDCC 23-09.5-02(8), on a consumer advisory sign at the point of sale OR a label on the cottage food product: "This product is made in a home kitchen that is not inspected by the state or local health department."
- Products that require refrigeration, such as baked goods containing cream, custard, meringue, cheesecake, pumpkin pie, and cream cheese: safe handling instructions plus a product disclosure statement indicating the product was transported and maintained frozen (§ 23-09.5-02(7); no fixed wording prescribed)
- The operator must also inform the end consumer that the product is not certified, labeled, licensed, packaged, regulated, or inspected (§ 23-09.5-02(5); no fixed wording prescribed)
- State agencies and political subdivisions may not require any other licensure, permitting, certification, inspection, packaging, or labeling (§ 23-09.5-02(1))
- Recommended: a "Contains:" statement for any of the nine major allergens (milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans, sesame); federal allergen labeling (FALCPA + FASTER Act) applies to packaged food shipped across state lines
Generate your North Dakota disclosure label in one click
Ardent Seller assembles a print-ready cottage food label for North Dakota 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 North Dakota requires that's missing before you print. Included on every plan.
Sources
- North Dakota HHS — Cottage Food
- Forrager — cottage food law database
- North Dakota Century Code ch. 23-09.5 — Cottage Food Production and Sales (§ 23-09.5-02), enacted by HB 1433 (2017)
- SB 2386 (2025) — repealed the interstate, internet, phone, mail, and consignment bans in § 23-09.5-02(3); signed March 21, 2025 as an emergency measure
- North Dakota HHS — Consumer Advisory Notice (PDF)
Reference content only — not legal advice. State laws change frequently. Verify against the official source before launching.
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