Ohio Cottage Food Law

Authorizes a home bakery with one oven, in a stove of ordinary home kitchen design, to produce potentially hazardous baked goods (cheesecakes, cream pies, custard pies, pumpkin pies) that fall outside the cottage food list, as well as non-potentially hazardous bakery products. $10/year registration under ORC 911.02, renewed by September 30; the home bakery is inspected by ODA. Often still called a "Home Bakery License."

Do I need a license or registration to sell cottage food in Ohio?

No. Ohio Cottage Food Production Operations are excluded from the definition of a food processing establishment under Ohio Revised Code 3715.021. No permit, no registration, no fee, no application form, and no routine inspection. The Ohio Department of Agriculture retains the right to sample finished cottage food products to confirm they are not misbranded or adulterated, but it does not enter the home kitchen. The one gate is the definition of "home" in ORC 3715.01(A)(17): the primary residence occupied by the residence's owner, with only one stove or oven (a double oven counts).

Is there a revenue cap on Ohio cottage food sales?

No. Ohio imposes no statutory revenue ceiling on cottage food sales. A producer can sell $5,000 a year or $200,000 a year and the cottage food framework does not change. This puts Ohio in a small group of states (alongside New York, Pennsylvania, and a handful of others) where the rule does not have a "you are below this dollar number" tier. The constraints that replace the cap are the food list, the venue list, and the in-state-only restriction.

Can Ohio cottage food operators sell to grocery stores and restaurants?

Yes. This is one of the meaningful differences between Ohio and most cottage food states. Under ORC 3715.023(B), properly labeled cottage food products are acceptable food products that a licensed retail food establishment or food service operation may offer for sale or use in preparing and serving food — provided the products themselves are on the approved cottage food list and the retailer accepts them.

Can I ship Ohio cottage food products to customers in other states?

No. Ohio Administrative Code 901:3-20-05(F) prohibits selling cottage food products outside the state of Ohio. Shipping inside Ohio is not a safe assumption either: the Ohio Department of Agriculture lists the approved channels — directly to the consumer from the home, licensed grocery stores, registered farm markets, farmers markets, licensed restaurants, and festivals organized by a political subdivision lasting seven days or less — and mail order or shipping is not on that list.

What is the Ohio Home Bakery registration, and how is it different from cottage food?

A home bakery is the ODA program that authorizes a home-based producer to make potentially hazardous baked goods — cheesecakes, cream pies, custard pies, pumpkin pies, and other items that need refrigeration — that fall outside the cottage food list. Under ORC 911.02, a home bakery with one oven pays $10 a year for registration, renewed by September 30, and the home bakery is inspected by ODA. Many guides still call it a Home Bakery License.

Are acidified foods, pickles, salsas, or hot sauces allowed under Ohio cottage food law?

No. Ohio Revised Code 3715.025 prohibits a cottage food production operation from processing acidified foods, low-acid canned foods, or potentially hazardous foods, and OAC 901:3-20-05(E) bars producing anything not expressly listed in OAC 901:3-20-04. Hot sauce, salsa, pickles, fermented vegetables, kombucha, sauerkraut, kimchi, and chow-chow are all off the cottage food list.

What goes on an Ohio cottage food label?

Ohio Revised Code 3715.023 requires every cottage food product to carry the name and address of the business, the name of the food product, the ingredients in descending order of predominance by weight, the net quantity, and the statement "This product is home produced." in ten-point type. ODA guidance adds that the address is a street address with city, state, and ZIP code, that net weight is declared in both U.S. customary and metric units, and that major food allergens must be declared in the ingredient list or a "Contains" statement.