California Cottage Food Laws 2026: Class A, Class B and MEHKO

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Class A: sell directly to customers

Register with your county or city environmental health department and submit its self-certification checklist. You get a registration number, renewed every year, and no routine inspections; an inspector can visit only after a complaint (H&SC § 114365).

Direct sales cover selling from home, at farmers' markets, farm stands and events, through CSA subscriptions, and by phone or online. You can hand the order over yourself, mail it, or use a delivery service (H&SC § 113758).

Class B: add shops, cafés and restaurants

Get a permit from your county or city after an initial home inspection, renew it every year, and expect no more than one routine inspection a year. Class B adds indirect sales: a shop, café or restaurant that holds its own food permit buys your products and resells them (H&SC § 113758).

MEHKO: home-cooked meals

A microenterprise home kitchen operation (MEHKO) cooks meals at home and sells them straight to customers to eat on site, pick up or have delivered. Orders may come through a delivery app, but you, an employee or a household member must deliver them; an app's couriers may deliver only to a customer whose disability requires it (H&SC § 114367.5). Food must be prepared, cooked and served the same day, with no more than 30 meals a day and 90 a week, or fewer if your local agency sets a lower limit (H&SC § 113825). The operator must pass an accredited food safety certification exam. It is a separate program with its own permit, open only where the county or city has voted to allow it; a county's approval covers every city in it. Ask your county or city environmental health department whether it takes applications. The rest of this guide covers Class A and Class B.

Rules for both classes

• Approved foods only. Products must be on CDPH's Approved Cottage Foods list, which covers ten categories, among them baked goods such as bread, cookies, brownies and fruit pies without cream, custard or meat fillings; candy and confections such as fudge and chocolate; dried foods; pure honey; frostings without cream, cream cheese or eggs (meringue powder, powdered or pasteurized eggs are fine); and jams and jellies made from the fruits federal rules list. CDPH has proposed adding chocolate and nut spread, with an updated list due around November 16, 2026.
• Training within three months of registering or getting your permit.
• Kitchen rules. While you make or pack products: no other household activity in the kitchen and no infants, small children or pets in it. No smoking where you make, pack or store products while you are doing so. Sanitize surfaces and utensils before each use and keep the area free of pests (H&SC § 114365).
• One employee. You may have one full-time-equivalent employee, paid or volunteer, not counting family or household members or people who only deliver (H&SC § 113758).
• Keep your paperwork with you. Have your registration or permit, or a copy, wherever you sell. It covers only you, your address and the sales it lists, and cannot be transferred.

Salsa, pickles, hot sauce, custard pies and pepper jelly are not approved, and CDPH's FAQ explains why. Eggs are fine baked into a dry product such as a cookie, but not in a custard or curd. To propose a new food, CDPH accepts requests to add it to the list.

Labels

Class A and Class B products need the same label. The block below lists each item with the official wording.

Before your first sale

• ☐To do: Check every product and ingredient against the approved list.
• ☐To do: Choose Class A or Class B and contact your county or city environmental health department for its forms and any fee.
• ☐To do: Book the training so it is done within three months.
• ☐To do: Print labels and keep a copy of your registration or permit with your stock.
• ☐To do: Check city business license, zoning and tax rules separately; the cottage food rules do not cover them.

Common questions