Labels

Q1. Do I have to label my cottage food products?

• Your business name and your home address.  If you register with DSHS after September 1, 2025, you can get a unique identifier that you can use on your labels instead of your address. 
• The common or usual name of the product.
• You must disclose any major allergens that are present in the food. At this date, the 9 major allergens are:
  • Eggs
  • Nuts
  • Peanuts
  • Soy
  • Milk
  • Wheat
  • Fish
  • Shellfish
  • Sesame
• As of September 1, 2025, the new statement of non-inspection is: “THIS PRODUCT WAS PRODUCED IN A PRIVATE RESIDENCE THAT IS NOT SUBJECT TO GOVERNMENTAL LICENSING OR INSPECTION.”  You must use all caps, just as the statement appears in the statute.
• ONLY IF you are selling refrigerated goods or wholesale, you must include the date on which the food was produced.
• ONLY for refrigerated foods, Your label, invoice or receipt must include the following statement: “SAFE HANDLING INSTRUCTIONS: To prevent illness from bacteria, keep this food refrigerated or frozen until the food is prepared for consumption.”
•  Advertising media of cottage food products for health, disease, or other claims must be consistent with those claims allowed by the Code of Federal Regulations Title 21, Part 101, Subparts D and E.

NOTE: If your food is a pickled, fermented, or acidified canned plant-based product, then the label also must contain a unique batch number to correspond with your record-keeping.  Read more about pickling, canning, and fermenting.

Q3: Does the label have to be attached to the food package?

A: Yes, except for items that are too large or bulky for packaging (like wedding cakes); in that case, the label can be incorporated into the invoice.

Q4: Instead of listing the allergens, can I make a blanket statement that my product MAY contain all of the allergens listed in the labeling requirements?

A: No, you must actually list which allergens are present.

Q5. Do I have to list all the ingredients on the label?

A: You are not required to, but you can if you like. The rule only requires you to list any of the major allergens present in the food.

Q6: Can I add information to my label, such as a statement that the food may have come into contact with other allergens?

A: Yes. As long as you have all the required elements on your label, you can add any information you wish, such as your website, phone number, QR code, etc.

Q7: I don’t like the way that statement about the food being prepared in a home kitchen sounds. Can I re-write it in my own words?

A: No, you must print the statement of non-inspection exactly the way it appears in the rule. After September 1, 2025, the new statement of non-inspection is: “THIS PRODUCT WAS PRODUCED IN A PRIVATE RESIDENCE THAT IS NOT SUBJECT TO GOVERNMENTAL LICENSING OR INSPECTION.”

Q8: I don’t want to put my home address on the label. Can I leave it off or put something else in its place?

After September 1, 2025, you will be able to register with DSHS to get a unique identifier number that you can put on your labels instead of your home address.  Registration for this is not yet available. 

The cottage food law does not require the customer to visit your home.  If you have an issue with the customer coming to your home, you can deliver the food or meet the customer at a safe public meeting spot.  Many police departments offer safe spaces for internet transactions such as craigslist purchases.

You can add “By Appointment Only” on your label to discourage drop-ins.

NEVER:

• • • Open the door to a stranger.
    • Invite a stranger inside your home.

Q9: If I am selling a lot of small items, such as cookies or cake pops, to the same customer, does each one have to be individually packaged and labeled?

A: The law says that “food must be packaged” and “all food must be labeled.”  We would advise labeling every package of food in order to fully comply with the law.

Example: 10 unwrapped cookies in one large box: 1 label

Example: 10 wrapped cookies in one large box: 10 labels

“(a)  Food described by Section 437.001(2-b)(A) sold by a cottage food production operation
must be packaged in a manner that prevents product contamination,
except that a food item is not required to be packaged if it is too
large or bulky for conventional packaging.

“(d) … All foods prepared by a cottage food production operation must be labeled.”

Q10. I’d like to split up my required information into two labels.  Can I do that?

A: Yes.