Tennessee Cottage Food Law

Public Chapter 431 amended T.C.A. § 53-1-118 to add time-and-temperature-control-for-safety (TCS) foods to the allowed-foods list, provided they contain (1) pasteurized dairy products (butter, hard cheeses, yogurt, kefir, cultured buttermilk, cream-based fillings and frostings, custards, quiches, cheesecakes) or (2) poultry from a federally or state-inspected source under 9 CFR § 381.10(d), or from a small-flock producer operating under the federal 1,000-bird exemption at 9 CFR § 381.10(c). The expansion is paired with a structural in-person-handoff rule: TCS cottage food products must be sold by the producer (or an authorized agent or employee), in person, to the consumer, within Tennessee. TCS items cannot be shipped, cannot be wholesaled to retail, and cannot move through third-party delivery platforms like DoorDash, UberEats, Instacart, or Grubhub. Unpasteurized milk products, fish, shellfish, alcoholic beverages, and red meat (with a narrow USDA-inspected direct-to-consumer carve-out) remain excluded categorically.

Tennessee is one of perhaps three US states that explicitly authorizes both acidified foods (pH ≤ 4.6) and low-acid canned foods (pH > 4.6 in a hermetically sealed shelf-stable container) at the cottage food tier without a separate process authority letter, scheduled-process filing, or commercial-kitchen requirement. Neighboring North Carolina and Kentucky require a 21 CFR Part 114 acidified-foods pathway with Better Process Control School and process authority letter; Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, and Virginia categorically exclude acidified foods from cottage food. Tennessee permits both — but the legal authorization does not eliminate the underlying food-safety physics. A producer making low-acid canned products is responsible for proper pressure-canning protocols (the *Clostridium botulinum* risk in improperly canned low-acid food is real). The verbatim disclaimer is the consumer notification mechanism.

For shelf-stable (non-TCS) cottage food products, T.C.A. § 53-1-118 authorizes wholesale to retail food sales establishments — grocery stores, convenience stores, gift shops, coffee shops, gas stations, and restaurants that resell the cottage food product (not restaurants that use it as a recipe ingredient in prepared meals). This is a meaningful structural advantage over most adjacent states; among Tennessee's eight neighbors, only post-HB-398 Georgia and North Carolina authorize wholesale to retail at the cottage tier. Wholesale to institutional food service (schools, hospitals, daycares, prisons) is not authorized because those settings are governed by separate retail food code. TCS items cannot be wholesaled regardless of buyer.

Does Tennessee have a cottage food law?

Yes. The Tennessee Food Freedom Act lives at T.C.A. § 53-1-118, originally enacted by Public Chapter 862 (HB 813/SB 693, 2022) and amended by Public Chapter 431 (HB 130) effective July 1, 2025. The 2022 act replaced two earlier, narrower frameworks (a Department of Agriculture "Domestic Kitchen" program and a separate Department of Health home-baking framework). The 2025 amendment expanded the allowed-foods list to include time-and-temperature-controlled items containing pasteurized dairy and small-flock or federally inspected poultry. The result is one of the simplest and most permissive cottage food frameworks in the country: no permit, no inspection, no registration, no fee, no training, no annual renewal.

Is there a revenue cap on Tennessee Food Freedom Act sales?

No. T.C.A. § 53-1-118 imposes no annual gross-revenue cap. Tennessee joins Arizona, Wyoming, North Dakota, Maine, Utah, Iowa, Alabama, and post-HB-398 Georgia as a "food-freedom" state with no statutory ceiling on cottage food sales. The constraints that replace the cap are the food list (broad, but not unlimited), the verbatim disclaimer, the in-state-only rule, and the in-person-only rule for TCS foods added by HB 130 in 2025.

Do I need a permit, license, or inspection to sell cottage food in Tennessee?

No to all three. The Tennessee Food Freedom Act exempts foods produced in a private residence from "all licensing, permitting, inspecting, packaging, and labeling laws of the state." There is no state-level registration, no fee, no kitchen inspection, no food handler card requirement, and no annual renewal. The Tennessee Department of Agriculture explicitly states it does not issue permits, does not maintain a registry, and does not inspect cottage food kitchens. The Department of Health retains investigative authority if a foodborne illness is reported and traced back to a cottage food producer — at which point the exemption pauses for the duration of that investigation.

What did HB 130 change in 2025?

HB 130 (Public Chapter 431), sponsored by Rep. Michele Reneau of Signal Mountain, took effect July 1, 2025 and amended T.C.A. § 53-1-118 to add time-and-temperature-controlled (TCS) foods to the allowed-foods list. The expansion authorized two new TCS categories: pasteurized dairy ingredients (allowing cheesecakes, quiches, custard pies, cream-filled pastries, dairy desserts, butter, hard cheeses, yogurt, kefir) and poultry from either a federally or state-inspected source under 9 CFR § 381.10(d) or from a small-flock producer operating under the federal 1,000-bird exemption at 9 CFR § 381.10(c). The expansion is paired with an in-person-handoff rule: TCS cottage food products must be sold by the producer (or an authorized agent) in person, within Tennessee. TCS items cannot be shipped, cannot be wholesaled to retail, and cannot move through third-party delivery platforms.

Can I sell Tennessee cottage food online or wholesale to retail stores?

For shelf-stable (non-TCS) products, yes — through nearly any in-state channel. Non-TCS Food Freedom Act foods may be sold direct to consumer (in person, by phone, by text, online), at farmers markets and events, from roadside stands, by in-state mail order, by home delivery, by an agent or employee, through third-party delivery platforms (DoorDash, Instacart) for shelf-stable items, and at wholesale to retail food sales establishments like grocery stores, convenience stores, and gift shops. TCS foods (anything containing pasteurized dairy or poultry under the 2025 expansion) are a different story: TCS items must be sold directly by the producer, in person, to the consumer. No mail order, no wholesale of TCS, no third-party delivery platforms. The non-TCS framework is among the most permissive in the country; the TCS subset sits closer to a farmers-market-only model.

What goes on a Tennessee cottage food label?

The act exempts homemade food from "all packaging and labeling laws of the state," but it does require one verbatim disclaimer: "This product was produced at a private residence that is exempt from state licensing and inspection. This product may contain allergens." The disclaimer must appear on the package label (if packaged), on a placard at the point of sale (if unpackaged), on the website or product listing (if sold online), or be communicated orally to the consumer (if sold by phone or by custom verbal order). The wording is statutory and may not be paraphrased — both clauses (about state inspection AND about allergens) must appear together. Best practice (not state-required but strongly recommended) is to also include producer name, contact info, product name, ingredient list in descending order by weight, major allergen disclosure consistent with federal FALCPA/FASTER Act rules, net weight, and a production date or lot identifier.

Can I ship Tennessee cottage food across state lines?

No. The Tennessee Food Freedom Act is an exemption from Tennessee state food laws — it does not, and cannot, exempt a producer from federal jurisdiction. Once a package crosses a state line, FDA jurisdiction picks up under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and FDA does not recognize state cottage food exemptions. This restriction applies to every US state's cottage food framework, but Tennessee's permissive in-state rules make the temptation to ship out of state higher than in most states. The discipline is to keep sales inside Tennessee.

How does Tennessee compare to its neighbors?

Tennessee is structurally distinct from every one of its eight neighbors. Georgia (after HB 398 in 2025) has a no-cap framework with retail wholesale permitted but no TCS foods and acidified foods excluded. North Carolina has a Home Processor Inspection Exemption with no cap but requires a pre-operational kitchen inspection and routes acidified foods through 21 CFR Part 114. South Carolina caps at $25,000 with direct-only sales and no acidified foods. Virginia's Home Food Processing exemption has no general cap but caps acidified vegetable products at $9,000 per year. Kentucky requires a Microprocessor Exemption with registration and processing approval. Arkansas, Alabama, Mississippi, and Missouri all have caps or registration requirements. Tennessee's combination of no cap + no registration + no inspection + no training + TCS authorization (with the in-person handoff rule) + low-acid canned food allowance + wholesale-to-retail for non-TCS makes it the most permissive home-kitchen regime in the entire southeast, and one of the most permissive in the country.