Missouri Cottage Food Laws 2026: No License or Sales Cap

Pick your route

Missouri has two routes for food made at home: the cottage law, and a Food Code exemption for individual stands that applies only where your local code allows it.

Cottage law: from your home and online

The statute covers an individual operation out of the individual's home that produces a baked good, a canned jam or jelly, or a dried herb or herb mix "for sale at the individual's home" and sells it "only directly to consumers" (§ 196.298.1). The home must be a primary residence with a kitchen and appliances designed for common residential usage.

A local health department may not regulate how you produce the food (§ 196.298.3), and DHSS says you sell without being subject to routine inspection.

Individual stand: the Food Code exemption

The Food Code's definition of a food establishment leaves out, "where local codes allow," individual stands in which only foods meeting its conditions are sold, sampled or served, such as non-potentially hazardous processed food other than low-acid canned and acidified foods (Food Code). If a local agency has its own code, DHSS says other non-potentially hazardous foods may or may not be exempt from routine inspection, and sellers must meet the local agency's requirements (guidance). Ask your local public health agency whether it allows the exemption.

What you can sell

The cottage law covers three kinds of food. None may be a potentially hazardous food, which DHSS defines as a food that is natural or synthetic and requires temperature control for food safety.

• Baked goods: the statute names cookies, cakes, breads, danish, donuts, pastries and pies, "and other items that are prepared by baking the item in an oven" (§ 196.298.1).
• Canned jams and jellies.
• Dried herbs and herb mixes.

DHSS says these are not cottage law foods (guidance, pages 8 and 13 to 14):

• Meringue and cream pies, and baked goods garnished with fresh fruit.
• Sugar-free and no-sugar-added jams and jellies, and hot pepper jams and jellies, because their altered pH or water activity may make them potentially hazardous.
• Salsa, pickles, and sauces such as barbecue and hot sauce.
• Meat, dairy, eggs, pet food, cut produce, sprouts, wild mushrooms and freeze-dried foods.

DHSS says the Missouri Department of Agriculture issues licenses to people selling eggs in retail, wholesale or processor settings.

The stand exemption allows more. The Food Code's list includes fruit butters, honey, sorghum, cracked nuts, packaged spices and spice mixes, and dry cookie, cake, bread and soup mixes, and it is not limited to those (Food Code). DHSS says freeze-dried, non-potentially hazardous foods such as candy may fall under that exemption, but only where local laws allow and will be determined by the Local Public Health Agency (guidance). It describes non-potentially hazardous as a water activity of 0.85 or less or a pH of 4.6 or below measured at 75°F, and says some products need testing first (guidance).

DHSS says pure honey that a farm harvests, filters and packages on the farm is a raw agricultural commodity that is not routinely inspected, but adding ingredients, packaging it off the farm, or further processing makes the operation subject to inspection (guidance).

Check your local agency's list too. Springfield-Greene County's health department, for example, lists brownies, cupcakes, muffins and fruit pies as allowed, and pumpkin pies, meringue pies, and cream cheese frosting or filling as not allowed.

How and where you can sell

• From home or online. The cottage law covers food produced "for sale at the individual's home." You may sell through the internet only if both you and the purchaser are located in Missouri (§ 196.298.5). DHSS adds that a cottage food producer may not sell their products across state lines. Ask DHSS how an online order may reach the buyer before you promise shipping.
• Who sells. DHSS says only the person who prepared the food, or a member of their household with extensive knowledge of the food items, can sell the cottage food item. The Food Code sets a similar rule for stands: the seller is the individual actually producing the food or an immediate family member residing in the producer's household with extensive knowledge about the food.
• Stands and samples. DHSS says individual stands vending non-potentially hazardous foods may be allowed to be sold directly to the end consumer without being subject to regulation and inspection under the Food Code exemption if local laws allow, with requirements such as proper labeling and a clearly visible placard at the point of sale (guidance). The Food Code itself requires the placard only when foods are sold, sampled or served in unpackaged, individual portions, so ask your agency which applies. The Food Code exemption covers foods "sold, sampled or served," but DHSS's guidance lists sampling activities under "Foods requiring inspection by LPHA", so ask your local agency before you give samples.
• Wholesale. If foods are to be wholesaled, they no longer are exempted by the Missouri Cottage Law. DHSS sends wholesalers to its Manufactured Food program at 573-751-6095 for more information.

Training, kitchen and local rules

A cottage food production operation is not a food service establishment and shall not be subject to any health or food code laws or regulations of the state or department other than the cottage law section and rules promulgated thereunder (§ 196.298.2). DHSS says Missouri has no statewide food handler certification, though some local health agencies require one.

Zoning and business licenses are set locally; Springfield's health department says cottage food operations there must follow all local zoning laws. Springfield's health department, for one, says cottage food operations there must follow all local zoning laws.

Labels

Missouri has two label versions: one for the cottage law and one for the Food Code's individual-stand exemption, which also calls for a placard where food is sold, sampled or served in unpackaged, individual portions. The statute says the label shall include the operation's name and address and a statement that the food is not inspected by "the department or local health department"; the longer item list comes from DHSS's guidance, which says it does not bind agencies and names only DHSS in that statement. Ask DHSS or your local agency which wording to print.

Before your first sale

• ☐To do: Check each product against the three cottage law categories and DHSS's not-covered list, and ask DHSS or your local agency about any recipe in doubt.
• ☐To do: Decide where you will sell. If you plan to sell away from home, ask your local public health agency whether it allows the individual-stand exemption.
• ☐To do: Print a label for each product, and weigh the packages so the net weight is right.
• ☐To do: Ask your city or county about zoning and any business license.
• ☐To do: Ask the Missouri Department of Revenue whether you must register to collect sales tax.
• ☐To do: Set prices that cover ingredients, packaging and your time (first sales guide).

Common questions