Cottage food laws · Illinois
Selling homemade food in Illinois
Illinois flipped the usual script in 2021: instead of a short list of foods you’re allowed to make, the cottage food law lets you sell almost anything from your home kitchen except a named list of risky foods — and there’s no sales cap. The trade is a little more setup than the lightest-touch states: you register with your local health department (often a small fee, capped at $50 a year), and one person on the operation has to hold a certified food protection manager credential. Once you’re set up, you can sell anywhere in Illinois — markets, online, your porch, even ship shelf-stable goods within the state. Here’s the whole picture, in plain English.
Verified against 410 ILCS 625/4 (cottage food operation), the 2021 reform (P.A. 102-633)— informally the Home-to-Market bill and the Illinois Dept. of Public Health
Last checked June 12, 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.
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.
Sell almost anything — no cap
Illinois runs a prohibited-list model: you may sell any food or drink that isn’t on a named list of risky foods — far broader than an “approved foods” state. No revenue or volume limit, sell anywhere in Illinois, online and in-state shipping allowed.
The setup: register + certify
You register annually with your local health department (the statute caps the fee at $50 — some counties charge less or nothing), and one person preparing or packaging must hold a certified food protection manager credential (a third-party course the state doesn’t price).
Cheesecake? No.
Cheesecake is on the prohibited list by name, alongside pumpkin, sweet-potato, custard, and creme pies — the refrigerated, custard-style desserts are out. So are meat/seafood, kombucha, and a handful of other risky foods (full list below).
Three ways to sell in Illinois — pick your path
In shortMost porch shops use exactly one. Path A is the modern statewide cottage food operation almost everyone wants; Path B is a tiny legacy carve-out that only exists in towns that opted in; Path C is just for kids’ drink stands.
Most porch shops will use exactly one of these. The first is the modern, statewide path almost everyone wants; the second is a small legacy carve-out that only exists in towns that opted in; the third is just for kids. The cleanest way to see Path A vs Path B: the same batch of chocolate-chip cookies fits either. Under the cottage food path you can also sell jam, hot sauce, and candy, with no monthly limit and statewide reach — but you register and certify. Under the home kitchen path the cookies are fine with almost no setup — but only if your town opted in, only baked goods, and only up to $1,000 a month.
Cottage Food Operation
The statewide regime created by the 2021 reform (SB 2007 / P.A. 102-633), known to its backers as the Home-to-Market bill. It works backwards from how most states do it: you may make and sell any food or drink that isn’t on the prohibited list — far broader than an “approved foods” state. No sales cap, sell anywhere in Illinois, online and in-state shipping allowed.
The setup: register annually with your local health department (fee capped at $50), hold a certified food protection manager credential, and label correctly. Heads-up for Chicago (any city of 1,000,000+): home-pickup must also follow city rules that apply to all home-based businesses — check with the City.
Pick this path if: you’re selling baked goods, jams, candy, dry mixes, fermented/acidified foods (pickles, hot sauce, kimchi), or basically any shelf-stable food as a real recurring venture — this is the default, and the path Front Porch listings map to.
Home Kitchen Operation
An older, narrower exemption that’s still on the books. It covers baked goods only (breads, cookies, cakes, pies, pastries — fruit pies only from an enumerated high-acid fruit list), caps you at $1,000 a month in gross sales, and is direct-to-consumer only (sold by the owner or a family member).
The catch: it only exists in a municipality, township, or county whose local governing body has passed an ordinance authorizing it. No state registration and no food-manager certification in the section itself. (Whether your specific town has opted in is a local question — see “Getting set up”.)
Pick this path if: your town has actually opted in, you bake only, you’re under $1,000/month, and you’d rather skip the cottage-food registration + manager certification. For most people, Path A is strictly better.
The kid lemonade stand (under 16)
A flat ban on regulating drink sales by sellers under 16 (410 ILCS 625/3.9). Drinks only — not baked goods. Health departments are simply barred from regulating it: no registration, no fee, no label, no food-manager certification.
Pick this path if: a person under 16 is selling lemonade or nonalcoholic drinks — see “Kid stands” below.
Illinois has no food-freedom law and no home-kitchen meal (hot-food) permit. The communal-kitchen exemption at 410 ILCS 625/3.7 is for shared kitchens in residential leaseholds (food made by and for the lessees) — it isn’t a sales path.
Sources: 410 ILCS 625/4 (cottage food) · 410 ILCS 625/3.6 (home kitchen) · 410 ILCS 625/3.9 (lemonade stand) · P.A. 102-633 (Home-to-Market)
Where you can sell
In shortDirect to consumers, anywhere in Illinois — you register where your kitchen is, but you may sell outside that unit of local government. Markets, fairs, online, delivery, in-state shipping of shelf-stable goods. Never wholesale or resale.
Direct to consumers, anywhere in Illinois. You register with the local health department where your kitchen is located, but you may sell outside that unit of local government — statewide reach. The hard line, from the statute: “Food and drink produced by a cottage food operation shall be sold directly to consumers for their own consumption and not for resale” — no wholesale, no restaurants, no retail shelves.
The permitted venues, listed in the statute: farmers’ markets; fairs, festivals, public events, or online; pickup from your private home or farm; delivery to the customer; pickup from a third party’s private property with that owner’s consent; and mobile farmers markets (added by the 2025 amendments). Heads-up for Chicago (any city of 1,000,000+): home-pickup must also follow city rules that apply to all home-based businesses — check with the City.
Online: yes — it’s named in the venue list, with a required notice on your online sales interface at the point of sale (see Labels).
Shipping: in-state, shelf-stable only. The statute is exact: “Only food that is not a time/temperature control for safety food may be shipped. A cottage food product shall not be shipped out of State.” Shipped products must be sealed in a tamper-revealing way.
Your city can’t undercut the state. A home-rule unit “may not regulate cottage food operations in a manner inconsistent with” the state regime. (Home kitchen operations on Path B are direct-to-consumer only, and only where the local ordinance authorizes them.)
Sources: 410 ILCS 625/4 · P.A. 103-903 (mobile markets) · 410 ILCS 625/3.6 (home kitchen)
What you can sell
In shortThe rule behind the list: everything is allowed unless it’s prohibited. That’s broader than most states — there’s no “approved list” to be on. Fermented/acidified foods are allowed with extra steps; cheesecake is prohibited by name.
Allowed — everything not prohibited
The statute defines a cottage food operation as one producing “food or drink, other than foods and drinks listed as prohibited,” in a kitchen in your primary domestic residence “or another appropriately designed and equipped kitchen on a farm.” That’s broader than most states — there’s no “approved list” to be on.
- Breads, cookies & cakes
- Jams, jellies & preserves
- Candy & confections
- Dry mixes & seasonings
- Pickles, hot sauce & kimchi (extra steps)
- Buttercream-frosted shelf-stable baked goods
- Dry noodles
Fermented, acidified, and canned foods — extra steps, but allowed. To sell a fermented or acidified food (pickles, kimchi, hot sauce) you must either follow a recipe tested by the USDA or a cooperative extension, or submit a written food safety plan per product category plus a pH test of a representative product (plan submitted annually at registration; the pH test every 3 years). Canned versions go through a boiling-water bath in a Mason-style jar; non-canned ones are stored, transported, and sold at or below 41°F. Canned tomatoes similarly need a tested recipe. A baked good with cheese may require submitting the recipe to a commercial lab, at your expense, so the local health department can confirm it isn’t a time/temperature-control-for-safety food.
The prohibited list — 410 ILCS 625/4(b)(1.5)
- Meat, poultry, fish, seafood, shellfish
- Dairy (except baked-good / candy / buttercream carve-outs)
- Eggs (except non-TCS carve-outs)
- Cheesecakes, custard, creme, pumpkin & sweet-potato pies
- Garlic in oil (unless acidified)
- Low-acid canned foods
- Sprouts
- Cut leafy greens (except dehydrated/acidified/blanched-frozen)
- Cut or pureed fresh tomato or melon
- Dehydrated tomato or melon
- Frozen cut melon
- Wild-harvested mushrooms
- Alcoholic beverages
- Kombucha
Cheesecake test: FAIL. Cheesecake is prohibited by name, alongside pumpkin, sweet-potato, custard, and creme pies — the pattern is that refrigerated, custard-style desserts are out. But Illinois isn’t strictly shelf-stable-only: buttercream-frosted shelf-stable baked goods are an explicit carve-out, and certain fermented/acidified foods that aren’t shelf-stable are allowed if held at or below 41°F and food-safety-plan-gated (above). Charity bake-sale exemption: a person who produces or packages a non-TCS baked good for sale by a religious, charitable, or nonprofit organization for fundraising is exempt from the cottage-food rules entirely — so a school or church bake sale isn’t a cottage food operation.
Home kitchen path (Path B) — baked goods only
- Breads, cookies & cakes
- Pies & pastries
- Fruit pies (enumerated high-acid fruits only)
Breads, cookies, cakes, pies, and pastries; fruit pies are limited to an enumerated high-acid fruit list (apple, apricot, grape, peach, plum, quince, orange, nectarine, tangerine, blackberry, raspberry, blueberry, boysenberry, cherry, cranberry, strawberry, red currants, or a combination).
Sources: 410 ILCS 625/4(b)(1.5) · 410 ILCS 625/3.6 (home kitchen)
The rules that actually matter
In shortNo sales cap on the cottage food path (the legacy home kitchen path caps at $1,000/month). Direct-to-consumer only on both. In-state shipping, shelf-stable only. No routine inspection. Taxes and local licensing are separate.
- No sales cap on the cottage food pathThe statute carries no revenue or volume limit; the 2021 rewrite (P.A. 102-633) removed the prior cap. (The legacy home kitchen path, Path B, caps you at $1,000 a month in gross sales.)
- Direct to consumers onlyOn both home paths — no wholesale, no resale, no retail shelves, no restaurants.
- In-state shipping, shelf-stable onlyNo shipping out of state; nothing that needs temperature control gets shipped.
- No routine inspectionLocal health departments may inspect only on a consumer complaint, a foodborne-illness report, or a reasonable belief of a health hazard or noncompliance — and may revoke a registration through their procedures.
- Taxes and local business licensing are separateThe food statute doesn’t speak to sales tax (IDOR) or municipal business licensing — those are their own questions, outside this law. (We don’t have a verified Illinois sales-tax answer for cottage food yet — see “Common questions.”)
Sources: 410 ILCS 625/4 · P.A. 102-633 (cap removed) · 410 ILCS 625/3.6 (home kitchen $1,000/mo)
Getting set up
In shortPath A: become a certified food protection manager, register annually with your local health department (fee capped at $50), label every package. Path B: first confirm your town opted in. Path C: nothing to do.
Path A — Cottage Food Operation
- Become a certified food protection managerThe statute requires that the person preparing or packaging be a “Department-approved certified food protection manager” — the manager-level credential (an ANSI-accredited course/exam like ServSafe Manager), not the cheaper food-handler card. The state doesn’t set the course price; it’s a third-party cost (so we don’t quote a figure — check current course providers).
- Register annually with your local health departmentThe one for the unit of local government where your kitchen is located. The statute lets that department “impose a fee not to exceed $50” a year; some charge less or nothing, so confirm your county’s amount. If your county has no health department, it must contract with an adjacent county’s department to register you. Some departments run self-certification programs.
- Extra steps only for fermented/acidified/canned productsA tested recipe, or a written food safety plan plus pH testing (see “What you can sell”).
- Possible water testIf you’re on a private well rather than a municipal water supply, the local health department may require a water-sample test at your expense.
- Label every packageSee the next section.
No state business license is required by the cottage food statute itself — but municipal business licensing and tax registration are separate matters this law doesn’t cover.
Path B — Home Kitchen Operation
- First, confirm your town opted inThe section only applies where the local governing body — your municipality, township, or county — has adopted an ordinance authorizing home kitchen operations. (Whether your town has opted in is a local question — ask your local health department; we can’t verify it per-city.)
- Meet the conditionsBaked goods only (the enumerated fruit-pie list for pies), ≤$1,000/month, direct sale, a notice to the purchaser that the product was home-produced, and a label with the product’s common name + federal allergen labeling. No state registration or manager-certification step appears in the section.
Path C — Kid lemonade stand
- Nothing to doHealth departments are barred from regulating it (see “Kid stands”).
Sources: 410 ILCS 625/4 · 410 ILCS 625/3.6 (home kitchen) · IDPH — Cottage Food
Labels
In shortTwo distinct verbatim strings, not one: the package label carries the full two-sentence statement; the point-of-sale placard / online notice carries only the first sentence. Illinois sets no point-size floor — only “in prominent lettering.”
The package label — 410 ILCS 625/4(b)(7)
- The name of the cottage food operation and the unit of local government in which it’s located
- The registration number the local health department gave you, plus the name of the municipality or county where the registration was filed
- The common or usual name of the product
- All ingredients, in descending order by weight, with common names — including any color, artificial flavor, and preservative — and allergen labeling per federal requirements
- The date the product was processed
- This exact two-sentence phrase, in prominent lettering: “This product was produced in a home kitchen not inspected by a health department that may also process common food allergens. If you have safety concerns, contact your local health department.” (Illinois sets no point-size floor — the statute says only “in prominent lettering.”)
The point-of-sale notice — §4(b)(10)
- A separate, shorter string — not the same as the package label. At every point of sale, a prominent notice must state the first sentence only: “This product was produced in a home kitchen not inspected by a health department that may also process common food allergens.”
- At a physical display this notice is a placard; online it’s a message on your online sales interface at the point of sale.
- Note the difference: the package label carries the second sentence (“If you have safety concerns…”); the point-of-sale placard / online notice does not — they are two distinct verbatim strings in the statute.
Whose name goes on the label: Illinois keys the name element to the cottage food operation — the operation’s name (plus the unit of local government and the registration number), not your personal legal name. There’s no separate street-address element; the operation name + unit of local government + registration number together identify you. The home kitchen path (Path B) label is lighter — the product’s common or usual name + federal allergen labeling, plus a notice to the purchaser that the product was produced in a home kitchen; it does not carry the cottage-food verbatim statement.
Sources: 410 ILCS 625/4(b)(7), (b)(10) · 410 ILCS 625/3.6 (home kitchen label)
What changed recently
In shortThe 2021 reform (P.A. 102-633, the Home-to-Market bill) rebuilt the whole regime — prohibited-list model, cap removed, statewide, food-manager requirement. P.A. 103-903 tuned it in 2025. No substantive bill pending as of June 2026.
- Jan 1, 2022 — the 2021 reform rebuilt the whole regimeSB 2007 / P.A. 102-633, known to its backers as the Home-to-Market bill, flipped Illinois to a prohibited-list model, removed the prior sales cap, opened statewide direct sales, and built in the certified food protection manager requirement and the local-health-department registration (fee capped at $50). The lemonade-stand statute (P.A. 102-78) took effect the same day. (Worth flagging: the certified-food-protection-manager rule is not new in 2025 — it was in the original 2022 Act.)
- Jan 1, 2025 — P.A. 103-903 (SB 2617) tuned the regimeIt added mobile farmers markets as a venue; added the adjacent-county registration contracting for counties with no health department; extended the point-of-sale notice to online sales interfaces; and reworked the fermented/acidified food-safety-plan language (plan submitted annually at registration; pH test every 3 years).
- Aug 15, 2025 — P.A. 104-417, technical onlyThe First 2025 General Revisory Act appears in §4’s Source line but is technical/reconciliation only — no substantive cottage-food change. No substantive cottage-food bill was found pending in the 104th General Assembly (2025–2026) as of June 2026. (A search-based check, not an exhaustive bill-tracker review — re-confirm on the ILGA bill search at the next update.)
Sources: P.A. 102-633 (Home-to-Market) · P.A. 103-903 (2025 amendments) · P.A. 104-417 (revisory)
Common questions
- Can I sell cheesecake from home in Illinois?
- No — cheesecake is on the prohibited list by name, along with pumpkin, sweet-potato, custard, and creme pies (the refrigerated, custard-style desserts). Illinois has no home-bakery tier that unlocks them; that’s licensed-food-establishment territory.
- Can I sell pickles, hot sauce, or kimchi?
- Yes — fermented and acidified foods are allowed, but with extra steps: either a USDA- or extension-tested recipe, or a written food safety plan plus a pH test of a representative product (plan annually at registration, pH test every 3 years). Canned versions go through a boiling-water bath in Mason-style jars; uncanned versions are sold at or below 41°F.
- Can I sell jam, candy, bread, and dry mixes?
- Yes — none of those are on the prohibited list, so the cottage food path covers them with registration + the food-manager credential + a label.
- Do I need a license?
- Not a state business license under the food statute — but you do register annually with your local health department (fee capped at $50), and one person must be a certified food protection manager. Municipal business licensing is a separate matter the food law doesn’t address.
- How much does it cost to start?
- The registration fee is set by your local health department and can’t exceed $50 a year (some counties charge less or nothing). Add the cost of the certified-food-protection-manager course — a third-party cost the state doesn’t set, so we don’t quote a figure.
- Can I sell online or ship?
- Yes to online — it’s a named venue, with a required notice on your online sales interface. Shipping is allowed for shelf-stable foods within Illinois only — nothing temperature-controlled, and never out of state.
- Can I sell at a farmers’ market in another county?
- Yes — you register where your kitchen is, but you may sell anywhere in Illinois.
- Can a grocery store or restaurant carry my goods?
- No — cottage food is direct-to-consumer only; no resale, no wholesale, no retail shelves.
- Is there a limit on how much I can earn?
- Not on the cottage food path — the statute carries no revenue or volume limit; the 2021 rewrite (P.A. 102-633) removed the prior cap. (The legacy home kitchen path, where it exists, caps you at $1,000 a month.)
- Can my kid run a lemonade stand?
- Yes, freely — health departments may not regulate the sale of lemonade or nonalcoholic drinks by anyone under 16. That covers drinks only, not baked goods.
- Do I charge sales tax?
- We don’t have a verified Illinois answer for cottage food sales tax — it’s outside the food statute, and we won’t guess. Check with the Illinois Department of Revenue before you rely on any treatment.
You won’t be doing this alone
105 porch bakers are already selling across Illinois under these exact laws. Browse their pages and learn from people two steps ahead of you — what they sell, how they price, how they talk about their bread. Cottage bakers are famously generous with what they’ve learned, and most are a DM away on Instagram.
This page is educational, not legal advice — we’re not lawyers, just neighbors who read Illinois’s official sources and wrote down what they say (every claim above links to its source). Two things vary locally: your registration fee is set by your county or city health department (the state only caps it at $50), and the home kitchen operation path exists only where your local government has passed an ordinance authorizing it — so check both with your local health department. Sales-tax and municipal business-licensing rules are separate from the food law and set elsewhere. 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.