Cottage food laws · Alaska

Yes, you can sell what you bake in Alaska.

Alaska is one of the friendliest states in the country for a home kitchen. There’s no food permit, no DEC registration, no kitchen inspection, no sales cap — and unusually, you can sell refrigerated things like cheesecake too, as long as you’re the one handing them to the neighbor buying. The one piece of state paperwork is a $50-a-year business license, the same one any Alaska business carries. Here’s the whole picture, in plain English.

Verified against Alaska Statutes §17.20.332–.338 and the Alaska DEC Homemade Food program

Last checked June 13, 2026 — every section links its sources.

A friendly guide, not legal advice — we’re not lawyers. Always confirm the details with your own city and state before you sell.

A sunlit front porch with fresh loaves on a table and an OPEN sign

The 2-minute version

Three cards, the whole story. Everything below is detail — with the actual laws linked, so you never have to take our word for it.

Selling to neighbors?

Make food in your home kitchen, put the required label on every package (one exact sentence the law spells out), and sell — porch, markets, fairs, farms. There’s no DEC application, no registration, no food permit, and no kitchen inspection; the one state step is a $50-a-year business license.

$50/yr business licenseNo food permitNo inspectionNo sales cap

Cheesecake from home?

This is where Alaska is unusual: refrigerated foods like cheesecake, pumpkin pie, and hummus are allowed as homemade food. The catch is who can sell them — you, the producer, have to hand them directly to the buyer. No agent, no third-party shelf.

Refrigerated OKProducer-direct onlyNo agent, no shelf

Online? Mail?

DEC allows online sales and you can mail homemade food to another part of Alaska. What you can’t do is cross state lines — interstate commerce is off the table, so no shipping to the Lower 48. (Online refrigerated food is still producer-direct — a food hub is a third party.)

Online sales OKIn-state mail OKAlaska only
Sound doable? Show me the steps ↓Meet the Alaska porch bakers already doing it

One main way to sell — and it’s a generous one

In shortMost states make you pick between two or three legal paths. Alaska has one main path for a porch shop: the homemade food exemption. Follow the label, the food boundaries, and the producer-direct rule for refrigerated items, and it applies to you automatically — no DEC application, no permit, no inspection.

The homemade food exemption · AS 17.20.332–.338$50/yr license · automatic

The whole shape of the path

  • Make food — shelf-stable or refrigerated — in your home kitchen
  • Put the required label on every package (below — including one exact sentence the law spells out)
  • Sell shelf-stable food yourself or through an agent or shop; sell refrigerated food producer-direct only
  • Carry an Alaska business license ($50/yr) — and there’s no sales cap

Pick this path if: you’re making food at home and selling it to the people who’ll enjoy it.

What makes Alaska stand out: the exemption covers both shelf-stable and refrigerated foods. The dividing line isn’t what you can make — it’s who can sell it. Shelf-stable food (cookies, breads, jams, fudge, granola, roasted coffee) — you can sell it yourself, or an agent or third-party shop (a gift shop, grocery, coffee shop, food hub) can sell it for you. Refrigerated / “potentially hazardous” food (cheesecake, pumpkin pie, hummus, cold-brew coffee) is allowed too, but only the producer may sell it, directly to the person eating it — no agents, no third-party shelf. Eggs get a special carve-out: an agent or third party may sell them too.

Sources: AS 17.20.332–.338 · DEC Homemade Food FAQ

Where you can sell

In shortYour home, markets, fairs, farms, and a shop’s shelf for shelf-stable goods — plus online and in-state mail. The hard line: Alaska only, no interstate commerce, and no wholesale/resale/consignment. Your borough may add rules, and Anchorage runs its own code.

The statute’s venue list. A homemade food sale must happen in Alaska, at a farmers’ market, an agricultural fair, a farm, a ranch, the producer’s home or office, the retail location of a third-party seller, or any location the producer and buyer agree on. Sales are for personal consumption only — the buyer, the buyer’s employees, or the buyer’s non-paying guests.

Online and by mail — Alaska only. DEC allows online sales, and you can mail homemade food to another part of Alaska. What you can’t do is sell across state lines — interstate commerce is expressly off the table. No shipping to the Lower 48. (And for refrigerated food sold online, you the producer must be the seller — an online food hub counts as a third party, so only shelf-stable food can go through one.)

Shops can carry your shelf-stable goods. Non-refrigerated homemade food may be sold by an “agent of the producer” — gift shops, convenience stores, grocery stores, coffee shops, restaurants, food hubs. DEC strongly recommends a written producer–seller agreement, though it isn’t required.

The hard boundaries. No wholesale, resale, or consignment — every sale runs to the person who’s eating it. And except for raw, unprocessed fruits and vegetables, homemade food may not be used or sold in a commercial food establishment. Homemade food also can’t share a shelf with inspected food: where a shop sells refrigerated homemade food alongside a permitted operation, the statute requires real separation — a separate door, a separate register, separate coolers, and signage telling shoppers which is which.

Your borough or city may add rules. This is the honest Alaska wrinkle: local governments can layer on requirements, and Anchorage runs its own food code. The Municipality of Anchorage allows homemade food without a food-establishment permit or routine inspection under AMC 16.60.105, and its rules closely mirror the state’s. Outside Anchorage, other boroughs, cities, and military installations may differ — check your local officials before you sell.

Sources: AS 17.20.332–.338 · DEC Homemade Food FAQ · Anchorage AMC 16.60.105

What you can sell

In shortThe dividing line is food safety, not a fixed list: a food is either potentially hazardous (needs time or temperature control) or not. Alaska allows both — the difference is just who can sell it. A few things stay out: standalone meat and poultry, seafood, game meat, raw milk, animal-fat oils, and cannabis foods.

Shelf-stable — you or an agent can sell

Non-potentially-hazardous food keeps at room temperature, so you can sell it yourself or through an agent or shop:

  • Breads, cakes & cookies
  • Crackers & muffins
  • Jams & jellies
  • Vinegars & mustards
  • Salsas, relishes & sauces
  • Fudge, candies & brittles
  • Sauerkraut & kimchi
  • Popcorn
  • Dried herb mixtures
  • Roasted coffee beans
  • Tortillas

DEC’s caution: an ingredient can flip a product over the line — focaccia is shelf-stable, but add cheese on top and it now needs refrigeration.

Refrigerated — producer-direct only

Potentially-hazardous food is allowed too — Alaska’s standout — but only you, the producer, may sell it, directly to the buyer (no agent, no shelf):

  • Cheesecakes
  • Pumpkin pie
  • Lemon meringue
  • Hummus
  • Fresh vegetable juices
  • Cold-brew coffee
  • Foods with pasteurized Grade “A” milk
  • Foods with USDA-inspected meat as an ingredient

Foods made with pasteurized Grade “A” milk (ice cream, custards, cheesecake) and foods using USDA-inspected meat or poultry as an ingredient (beef burritos, chicken salad) ride here. Eggs from common domesticated birds are allowed too, with the special carve-out that an agent or third party may sell them — DEC keeps a separate “Selling Eggs” page with washing and handling specifics, so check it before you sell eggs.

Can’t be sold as homemade food

  • Standalone meat & poultry (USDA)
  • Game meat, or food containing it
  • Seafood & shellfish
  • Uninspected/inspection-exempt meat
  • Raw / unpasteurized milk & its products
  • Animal-fat oils (lard, tallow, seal oil)
  • Cannabis foods & controlled substances

This list isn’t exhaustive. DEC’s full “food that cannot be sold as homemade food” list runs longer than what fits here — it reaches less-common animal products (reindeer and other nonamenable species, for instance). The safe move with any unusual or unlisted animal product is to ask DEC before you sell it (FoodSafety questions go to dec.fss.homemade.food@alaska.gov) — don’t read its absence from this list as a yes. The meat nuance: the statute says that, “subject to the requirements of federal law,” a person may sell food containing meat — DEC’s working reading is that meat used as an ingredient must be USDA-inspected and standalone meat sales fall to USDA exemptions, which is why the required label carves out “except for meat and meat products.”

Sources: AS 17.20.332–.338 · AS 17.20.338 (definitions) · DEC Homemade Food FAQ · DEC food-types list

The rules that actually matter

In shortNo sales cap (the old $25,000 figure is repealed). Personal consumption only — no wholesale or consignment. Refrigerated food is producer-direct. Alaska only. Local rules still apply, and nobody inspects your kitchen on a schedule.

  • No sales capDEC is explicit: “There is no limit or sales cap for homemade food sales,” and the statute sets none. The old $25,000 cap that still shows up on out-of-date guides lived in the repealed cottage-food rule — it’s gone.
  • Refrigerated food is producer-directYou can’t hand refrigerated (“potentially hazardous”) food to an agent or a shelf — only the producer may sell it, directly to the buyer. Eggs are the one carve-out.
  • Personal consumption only — Alaska onlyNo wholesale, resale, or consignment; every sale runs to the person eating it. And no interstate commerce — sales happen in Alaska, though in-state mail is fine.
  • No inspection — and local rules still applyDEC won’t conduct initial or routine inspections of home kitchens, and the state requires no food-safety training. DEC keeps the authority to investigate a foodborne-illness complaint and act on misbranded or adulterated food. Separately, your borough, city, or military installation may add requirements — and Anchorage runs its own code.

Sources: AS 17.20.332–.338 · AS 17.20.336 (DEC authority) · DEC Homemade Food FAQ · Old rule repealed (food code PDF)

Getting set up

In shortAlaska’s checklist is short, because the food side has no state step: get the $50/yr business license, make your label and sign, and check your local rules. No DEC registration, permit, inspection, or food-worker card.

  1. Get an Alaska business license — $50 a yearThis is the one piece of state paperwork — a general business license, not a food permit. A business license is required to engage in business in Alaska “with some exceptions” (AS 43.70.020(a)); the official fee schedule is $50 per year for both a new application and renewal. Apply online through the Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing.
  2. No DEC registration, permit, or inspection“There are no State registration or permitting requirements for homemade food producers,” and “DEC will not conduct initial or routine inspections of home kitchens.” No food permit, no well/septic step.
  3. No food-worker card or trainingThe state requires none before you sell. (A market or store may ask for its own.)
  4. Make your label and your signNext section — the one mandatory artifact for packaged food.
  5. Check your local rulesAnchorage allows homemade food with no food-establishment permit under AMC 16.60.105 but has its own page worth reading; other boroughs and cities may differ — a quick call to local officials settles it.

That’s the whole stack: $50/year for the business license, nothing else at the state level.

Sources: DEC Homemade Food FAQ · Business license fees ($50/yr) · AS 43.70.020(a) (license required) · Business Licensing (apply online)

Labels

In shortAny food packaged for individual sale carries your name, current address, telephone number (and your business-license number if you have one) — plus one exact sentence, word for word. Unpackaged food gets a spoken disclosure instead, and a selling space displays a sign.

Alaska homemade food label

  • The producer’s name — the individual who makes and packages the food, not a business or operation name
  • The producer’s current address
  • The producer’s telephone number
  • The producer’s business license number — only if applicable (required on the label only when the producer holds one, which most will)
  • This statement, word for word: “This food was made in a home kitchen, is not regulated or inspected, except for meat and meat products, and may contain allergens.”
Spruce Tip Cheesecake
Maya Holloway · 412 Birch St, Palmer, AK 99645
(907) 555-0142 · AK Business Lic. #1234567
This food was made in a home kitchen, is not regulated or inspected, except for meat and meat products, and may contain allergens.
Alaska homemade food label — the whole requirement.

Two more situations: for unpackaged food, before the sale the producer or seller must tell the buyer the food “was prepared in accordance with AS 17.20.332–17.20.338 and is not subject to certain state certification, labeling, licensing, packaging, regulation, or inspection requirements,” and give the buyer the producer’s name, current address, telephone number, and — if applicable — business license number. And a space selling homemade food must prominently display a sign that the food was made in a home kitchen, may contain allergens, and is not — except for meat and meat products — regulated or inspected. (The statute doesn’t mandate a verbatim sign string; the sign just has to convey those points.)

Sources: AS 17.20.332(e), (g), (d) · DEC Homemade Food FAQ

What changed recently

In shortAlaska went food-freedom in 2024 (HB 251), replacing the old permit-style cottage rule. The old rule — with its $25,000 cap — was formally repealed in 2025. One bill, SB 226, is pending but not law.

  • 2024 — Alaska went food-freedom (HB 251, Ch. 34 SLA 2024)The new homemade food exemption (AS 17.20.332–.338) replaced the old permit-style cottage-food regime — which had been shelf-stable-only, capped at $25,000, and direct-only. The new law adds refrigerated foods, drops the cap, and allows agents and third parties for shelf-stable goods. Signed August 24, 2024; the homemade food sections took effect July 1, 2024.
  • May 11, 2025 — the old cottage-food rule was repealedDEC formally removed 18 AAC 31.012(a), the obsolete cottage-food language, from the Alaska Food Code. So the old $25,000 cap no longer exists anywhere in Alaska law — and Anchorage aligned its own code (AMC 16.60.105) to allow homemade food without a food-establishment permit.
  • Watch item — SB 226 (pending, not law)A 2026 bill would prohibit selling potentially-hazardous homemade food in reduced-oxygen (vacuum-sealed) packaging — a botulism-risk response. As of this writing it’s in Senate Resources committee and has not passed either chamber. If it becomes law, the rules for vacuum-sealed refrigerated products change — we’ll update this page then.

Sources: HB 251 (detail) · Old rule repealed (food code PDF) · SB 226 (pending) · Anchorage AMC 16.60.105

Common questions

Do I need a license or permit to sell homemade food in Alaska?
No food permit and no DEC registration — those don’t exist for homemade food. You do need an Alaska business license, $50 a year, the same one any Alaska business carries (required “with some exceptions” under AS 43.70.020(a)). It’s a general business license, not a food credential.
Can I sell cheesecake from home in Alaska?
Yes — this is where Alaska is unusual. Refrigerated baked goods like cheesecake are allowed as homemade food; the catch is that you, the producer, have to be the one selling it directly to the buyer (no agent, no shop shelf). DEC names cheesecake by name as an allowed potentially-hazardous homemade food.
Can a coffee shop or grocery carry my cookies?
Yes for shelf-stable goods — a shop can sell them as your agent. No for anything that needs refrigeration — that’s producer-direct only.
Can I ship to family in the Lower 48?
No. Sales must happen in Alaska, and interstate commerce is expressly prohibited. You can mail homemade food to another part of Alaska — DEC points you to its Mail Order Food Safety guidance.
Is there a cap on how much I can make?
No — Alaska sets no sales cap. The old $25,000 figure lived in the repealed cottage-food rule and doesn’t apply anymore.
Does anyone inspect my kitchen?
No routine inspection — DEC won’t inspect home kitchens. It keeps the authority to investigate a foodborne-illness complaint and to act on misbranded or adulterated food.
Do I need food-safety training?
Not from the state. A market or store may require its own.
Can I sell raw milk, or cheese made from raw milk?
Not under this law — raw milk and products made from it are a separate state dairy program (18 AAC 32). Foods made with pasteurized Grade “A” milk are fine.
Can I sell jerky or cuts of meat?
Standalone meat and poultry are federal (USDA) territory, not homemade food. USDA-inspected meat used as an ingredient (a burrito, chicken salad) is allowed, under the refrigerated rules. For any unusual or unlisted animal product, ask DEC before you sell — the prohibited list is longer than what fits on the page.
I’m in Anchorage — is it different?
Anchorage runs its own food code, but it allows homemade food with no food-establishment permit or routine inspection under AMC 16.60.105, and its rules track the state’s closely. Other boroughs and cities may differ — check locally.

You won’t be doing this alone

15 porch bakers are already selling across Alaska under this exact law. Browse their pages and learn from people two steps ahead of you — what they sell, how they price, how they talk about their bread. Home bakers are famously generous with what they’ve learned, and most are a DM away on Instagram.

See all 15 in the directory →List your porch shop — always free to list

This page is educational, not legal advice — we’re not lawyers, just neighbors who read Alaska’s official sources and wrote down what they say (every claim above links to its source). Alaska’s boroughs and cities set their own rules on top of the state law — Anchorage runs its own food code, and other local governments and military installations may add requirements. The $50 business license is a general business license, not a food credential, and a handful of business-license exceptions exist that we haven’t enumerated — confirm your own situation with the Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing. Always double-check the details with your own city and state before you sell. When something here and the law disagree, the law wins; if you spot that happening, tell us and we’ll fix it.