Cottage food laws · Maryland

Selling homemade food in Maryland

Maryland keeps the home-baking path genuinely free: no license, no registration, no fee, no routine inspection. Make shelf-stable goods — breads, cookies, cakes, candy, high-acid jams and fruit butters — in your home kitchen, label them, and sell to your Maryland neighbors as soon as the label’s printed. Two boundaries shape the whole path: you sell only inside Maryland, and to put your goods on a store shelf you first take a short food-safety course and clear it with the state. Refrigerated goods like cheesecake aren’t on the free path. Here’s the whole picture, in plain English.

Verified against Md. Health-General §21-330.1, COMAR 10.15.03.27 and MDH Guidelines for Cottage Food Businesses

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.

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. (At-a-glance reflects current law; the cap rises to $100,000 on October 1, 2026 — see “What changed.”)

Selling to neighbors?

Make shelf-stable goods in your home kitchen, put the required label on every package (one exact sentence the rules spell out), and sell direct — your home, a farmer’s market, a public event, by personal delivery, or by mail within Maryland. No license, no registration, no fee for the home path.

$0 — nothing to fileNo routine inspection$50k a yearLabel = the one rule

In Maryland only

The hard boundary: interstate sales and sales outside Maryland are prohibited — you may advertise online, but the sale and any mailing stay in-state. To reach a store shelf you first complete a short food-safety course and clear it with the state.

In-state sales onlyNo interstate salesStores need a course first

Kids’ stands?

Maryland didn’t write kids into the law — a cookie table runs under the same (light) cottage food path as any porch shop: shelf-stable foods, prepackaged, labeled. The only state requirement is the label. (Lemonade itself isn’t a cottage food — all beverages are off the list.)

Same light rulesLabel onlyA baked-goods stand fits cleanly
Sound doable? Show me the steps ↓Meet the Maryland porch bakers already doing it

One way to sell from home in Maryland — and it’s the free one

In shortMaryland gives you one true home path — the cottage food business — plus heavier licensed paths for when you outgrow it. The home path is the light one: shelf-stable goods, sold inside Maryland, and you owe the state nothing to start. The only extra step is a short food-safety course before you can reach a store shelf.

Maryland gives you one true home path — the cottage food business — plus three heavier paths for when you outgrow it. The home path is the light one: if your products are shelf-stable and you sell only inside Maryland, you owe the state nothing to start — no license, no registration, no fee, no routine inspection. You follow the rules in this section (the food list, the label, the in-state boundary) and the exemption applies automatically.

The cottage food business · §21-330.1$0 · automatic

The whole shape of the home path

  • Make shelf-stable (“non-potentially hazardous”) foods in your home kitchen in Maryland (the statute says “nonhazardous food, as specified in regulations”; the regulations and MDH guidance define that as non-potentially hazardous)
  • Put the required label on every package — including one exact sentence the rules spell out
  • Sell only inside Maryland — from your home, a farmer’s market, a public event, by personal delivery, or by mail within the state
  • Stay under $50,000 a year in cottage food revenue (rising to $100,000 on October 1, 2026)

One extra step to reach a store shelf. Selling direct to neighbors needs nothing from the state. But to sell to a retail food store (a grocery, convenience store, retail market, retail bakery, or food co-op), you first complete a short food-safety course and send MDH your course documentation plus your label; you may not sell to the store until MDH notifies you in writing. Still no fee — just the course and the sign-off.

Pick this path if: you’re making shelf-stable foods at home and selling them to your Maryland neighbors.

When you outgrow the home pathThe next rung

The licensed paths

The cottage path ends and a licensed path begins — a local food service facility license for refrigerated retail, or an MDH food processing plant license ($400/year) for majority-wholesale or out-of-state. There’s also an On-Farm Home Processing license for farm owners who want to make acidified/canned goods, dried produce, or certain pies the cottage list doesn’t allow. Most porch shops never need any of these.

Pick this path if: you want refrigerated or perishable goods (cheesecake, cream pies), customers outside Maryland, or sales that are mostly wholesale.

Sources: Md. Health-General §21-330.1 · §21-301 (definitions) · COMAR 10.15.03.27 · MDH Guidelines for Cottage Food Businesses

Where you can sell

In shortIn Maryland only — interstate sales are prohibited. Direct to neighbors (home, farmer’s market, public event, personal delivery, mail within the state) needs nothing from the state; a store shelf needs the food-safety course first. You may advertise online, but the sale and any mailing stay in-state. Your town can still be more restrictive.

In Maryland only. This is the boundary that shapes everything: “Interstate sales or sales outside of Maryland are prohibited.” You may advertise online, but sales — and any mailing — are restricted to within Maryland.

Direct to your neighbors: directly to a consumer from your residence, at a farmer’s market, at a public event, by personal delivery, or by mail delivery — but only within Maryland.

To a store shelf — after a course. You can supply a retail food store (grocery, convenience store, retail market, retail bakery, or food co-op) only after you complete the food-safety course and MDH notifies you in writing that your course and label clear. Maryland’s definition of a “retail food store” deliberately excludes restaurants, coffee shops, cafeterias, mobile food units, sandwich shops, and produce stands — those don’t qualify. No general wholesale beyond that retail-food-store provision.

Bake sales — fundraisers only. You may sell cottage foods at a bake sale held in conjunction with a fundraising event; selling in front of a store for individual profit doesn’t qualify.

No making food onsite. Everything must be produced, packaged, and labeled in your residence — you can’t pop kettle corn or bag goods at the market.

Your town can still say no. A Maryland city or town may have local laws, zoning, or ordinances that are more restrictive — and a local city or town government within the state may not allow home food/cottage food production at all. Check your local health department and zoning office.

Sources: Md. Health-General §21-301 · §21-330.1 · MDH Cottage Food FAQ · MDH Guidelines for Cottage Food Businesses

What you can sell

In shortThe rule behind the list: cottage food must be non-potentially hazardous — safe at room temperature without refrigeration. Breads, cookies, cakes, candy, high-acid fruit jams and named fruit butters — yes. Cheesecake and all refrigerated goods, acidified/pickled products, dairy, beverages — no.

MDH’s allowed examples

The rule behind the list: cottage food must be non-potentially hazardous — food that stays safe at room temperature without refrigeration. (The statute’s word is “nonhazardous food, as specified in regulations”; the regulations and MDH guidance define that as non-potentially hazardous.)

  • Breads, biscuits, tortillas & muffins
  • Cakes, cupcakes, cookies & pastries (no perishable toppings/fillings)
  • Fruit pies, turnovers & tarts (pH 4.6 or less)
  • Hot-filled high-acid jams, jellies & preserves
  • Fruit butters (apple, apricot, grape, peach, plum, prune, quince)
  • Non-potentially-hazardous candy
  • Popcorn & kettle corn
  • Nuts & roasted whole coffee beans
  • Repackaged commercial spice/tea blends
  • Snack mixes

High-acid jams, jellies, and preserves come from acid fruits (apple, apricot, grape, peach, plum, prune, quince, oranges, nectarines, berries, cherries, cranberries, strawberries, and similar acid fruits). The broader shelf-stable goods come from MDH’s Appendix A. Borderline — may need a lab test: some buttercream and cream-cheese icings, and moist quick breads (banana, pumpkin, zucchini), may be potentially hazardous depending on recipe. Maryland’s rules let you sell a borderline product only if food-laboratory testing confirms it’s shelf-stable (water activity ≤ 0.85 and/or pH ≤ 4.6). If you’re not sure, ask MDH before you sell it.

Not allowed

  • Cheesecake & all baked goods needing refrigeration
  • Meringue, pecan, pumpkin, cream & custard pies
  • Cream-cheese or buttercream icings/fillings
  • Low-acid canned foods
  • Acidified/pickled products (salsa, pickles, relish, pepper jelly, BBQ sauce, mustard)
  • Garlic or fresh/dried vegetables in oil
  • Raw-seed sprouts (alfalfa, bean)
  • Fish, shellfish, meat & poultry
  • Milk & dairy products
  • All beverages

Cheesecake test: it fails. Cheesecake needs refrigeration, so it can’t ride the free cottage path — to sell it you’d need a licensed path (a local food service facility or a food processing plant).

Sources: MDH Guidelines for Cottage Food Businesses · COMAR 10.15.03.27 · COMAR 10.15.03.02

The rules that actually matter

In shortA $50,000/yr cap (rising to $100,000 on October 1, 2026). In-Maryland only. Shelf-stable foods only. Make it at home — no making food onsite. Store shelves need the course first. No routine inspection — only on a complaint. Local rules can be stricter.

  • $50,000 a year in cottage food revenueThe statutory cap that defines a cottage food business. Rising to $100,000 on October 1, 2026 (HB 535) — see “What changed.” Until then, $50,000 governs.
  • In Maryland onlyInterstate sales and sales outside Maryland are prohibited; you may advertise online but not sell or mail across state lines.
  • Shelf-stable foods onlyThe non-potentially-hazardous list; refrigerated goods (cheesecake, cream pies) are out.
  • Make it at homeProduced, packaged, and labeled in your residence; no making food onsite at markets or events.
  • Store shelves need the course firstThe food-safety course + label submission + MDH’s written sign-off before you supply any retail food store.
  • No routine inspectionBut the state may enter and inspect on a complaint, and may sample a product to check for misbranding or adulteration.
  • Local rules can be stricterA town may restrict or even disallow home food production; check local zoning and your local health department.

Sources: Md. Health-General §21-301 · §21-330.1 · COMAR 10.15.03.02 · MDH Cottage Food FAQ

Getting set up

In shortThe home path is nothing to file with the state — check your products, make your label, check local zoning. Reaching a store shelf adds one step: a basic ANSI-accredited, MDH-approved food-safety course, then submit your course documentation and label and wait for MDH’s written notification. No fee for the review.

The home (cottage food) path — nothing to file with the state

  1. Check your productsAgainst the shelf-stable list and the no-refrigeration rule (above).
  2. Make your labelNext section — the one mandatory artifact, with one exact sentence.
  3. That’s it for the stateNo license, no registration, no fee, no food-handler card, no preliminary or routine kitchen inspection. The state may inspect only on a complaint.
  4. Check local zoning and ordinancesWith your county/city and local health department — Maryland lets localities be more restrictive.
  5. Business-registration and sales-tax questions are separateSet by Maryland Business Express and the Comptroller — not part of the cottage food exemption.
  6. Optional — keep your home address off the labelRequest a unique identification number (ID#) from MDH to print in place of your address. If you use the ID#, your phone number then becomes required on the label.

That’s it for the home path — no license, no registration, no fee.

To sell to a retail food store (the course step)

  1. Complete a basic food-safety courseANSI-accredited and MDH-approved, within the past 3 years, covering basic food safety, cleaning/sanitizing, personal hygiene, pest control, and receiving/storing/preparing/serving food.
  2. Submit your course documentation plus the label you’ll use to MDH
  3. Wait for MDH’s written notificationYou may not sell to the store until MDH tells you, in writing, that you’ve cleared. There is no fee for this review.

Beyond the home path (refrigeration, out-of-state, or wholesale)

  1. On-Farm Home Processing license (MDH)For farm owners who want acidified/canned goods, dried produce, or pies the cottage list doesn’t allow; requires MDH plan review and a farm-kitchen inspection. (A license fee applies but the exact dollar amount isn’t published in any primary source we could find — confirm with MDH; see the disclaimer.)
  2. Local food service facility licenseFor refrigerated/perishable retail direct-to-consumer; fees vary by county.
  3. Food processing plant license (MDH) — $400/yearFor majority-wholesale, commercial-scale shelf-stable foods, or out-of-state shipping.

Sources: Md. Health-General §21-330.1 · COMAR 10.15.03.27 · COMAR 10.15.04.15 (On-Farm Home Processing) · MDH Office of Food Protection fee schedule · MDH Guidelines for Cottage Food Businesses

Labels

In shortEvery product is prepackaged in your home and labeled in English: the cottage food business name and address (or the business name + phone + MDH-issued ID#), product name, ingredients heaviest-to-lightest, net quantity, allergens — and one exact sentence, word for word, in 10-point-or-larger type that contrasts with the background. Selling to a store adds phone, email, and the date made.

Maryland cottage food label

  • Name and address of the cottage food business — a physical address, no P.O. box — or the business name with the MDH-issued unique ID#, in which case the phone number also becomes required on the label (the rule names the business, not an individual producer’s personal name)
  • The name of the product
  • Ingredients (and sub-ingredients) in descending order by weight
  • Net weight, count, or net volume
  • Allergen information per federal requirements
  • Nutrition information per federal requirements — only if you make a health/nutrition claim
  • This exact sentence, word for word, in 10-point or larger type, in a color that provides a clear contrast to the background: “Made by a cottage food business that is not subject to Maryland’s food safety regulations.” — MDH’s guidance is blunt: it must be worded exactly as the regulation states
Chesapeake Honey Wheat Bread
Bay Lane Bakery · 123 Bay Lane, Annapolis, MD 21401
Ingredients: flour (wheat), water, honey, butter (milk), yeast, salt.
Contains: wheat, milk.
Net Wt 24 oz (680 g)
Made by a cottage food business that is not subject to Maryland’s food safety regulations.
Maryland cottage food label — note the verbatim required statement.

Selling to a retail food store adds three things to the label: the business phone number, an e-mail address, and the date the product was made.

Sources: Md. Health-General §21-330.1 · COMAR 10.15.03.27 · MDH Cottage Food FAQ · MDH Guidelines for Cottage Food Businesses

What changed recently

In shortEffective October 1, 2026, the cottage food cap rises from $50,000 to $100,000 (2026 HB 535 / Chapter 320) — signed but NOT yet in effect as of this page’s date. Two “let cheesecake in” bills (SB 701 in 2025, SB 838 in 2026) both failed, so refrigerated goods stay out. MDH refreshed its guidance in 11/2025.

  • Effective October 1, 2026 — the cottage food cap rises from $50,000 to $100,0002026 HB 535, Chapter 320, was approved by the Governor April 28, 2026 (House 136-0, Senate 42-0) and takes effect October 1, 2026. Its synopsis: “Increasing from $50,000 to $100,000 the maximum amount of annual revenue a business may generate from the sale of cottage food products to be considered a cottage food business.” As of this page’s date (June 2026) it is not yet in effect — the live statute (§21-301) and COMAR 10.15.03.02 still read $50,000, and a conforming COMAR amendment hadn’t landed yet. Until October 1, the $50,000 cap governs.
  • 2025–2026: two “let cheesecake in” bills failedSB 701 (2025) would have redefined cottage food to include “refrigerated baked goods” (the cheesecake bill); it did not pass. SB 838 (2026) (“Cottage Food Businesses and Home Bakeries”) would have shifted the definition from “nonhazardous” to “nonpotentially hazardous” and exempted “home bakeries” in some cases; it also did not pass before the 2026 session adjourned. So as of now, refrigerated goods like cheesecake are still out of the cottage path.
  • Agency guidance refreshed (11/2025)MDH updated its Guidelines for Cottage Food Businesses and its Cottage Food FAQ — both Last Updated 11/2025, both consistent with the $50,000 cap and the shelf-stable lists above. (Expect MDH to revise these again to reflect the $100,000 cap once it takes effect.)

Sources: 2026 HB 535, Chapter 320 · 2025 SB 701 · 2026 SB 838 · Md. Health-General §21-301

Common questions

What’s the cap — $50,000 or $100,000?
Today (June 2026) it’s $50,000 in cottage food revenue — that’s the figure in the live statute and rules. On October 1, 2026 it rises to $100,000 under HB 535 (Chapter 320). If you’re reading this after that date and still see $50,000, the law won — tell us and we’ll fix it.
Can I ship my cookies to my cousin in Virginia?
No. Maryland cottage foods can be sold only within Maryland — “interstate sales or sales outside of Maryland are prohibited,” and you can’t mail across state lines. You may advertise online, but the sale and delivery stay in-state.
Do I need a license or registration for the home path?
No — a cottage food business “is not required to be licensed by the Department.” No registration, no fee, no food-handler card, no preliminary inspection.
How do I get my goods into a grocery store?
Take a basic food-safety course (ANSI-accredited, MDH-approved, within the past 3 years), send MDH your course documentation and your label, and wait for MDH’s written notification that you’ve cleared — only then can you sell to the store. There’s no fee for this review.
Can I sell cheesecake from home?
No — cheesecake needs refrigeration, which puts it outside the cottage food path. That’s a licensed path (a local food service facility or a food processing plant). Two bills to let refrigerated baked goods in (SB 701 in 2025, SB 838 in 2026) both failed.
Can I sell salsa, pickles, or pepper jelly?
No — acidified and pickled products (salsa, pickles, pepper jelly, barbecue sauce, mustard, relishes) are not allowed on the cottage path. High-acid fruit jams, jellies, and fruit butters from the named fruit list are allowed. If you own a farm, the On-Farm Home Processing license covers acidified/canned goods.
Apple butter or pumpkin butter?
Apple butter yes — it’s on the named fruit-butter list (apple, apricot, grape, peach, plum, prune, quince). Pumpkin isn’t on that list, and pumpkin pies are out as refrigerated goods.
Can I keep my home address off the label?
Yes — request a unique ID# from MDH and print it instead of your address. If you do, your phone number becomes required on the label.
Do I charge sales tax?
That’s a Comptroller question, separate from the cottage food exemption — the cottage food law doesn’t address state tax. Check with the Maryland Comptroller for how sales tax treats your products.
Does anyone inspect my kitchen?
Not routinely — no pre-approval and no scheduled visits. The state may enter and inspect only on a complaint or illness report, and may sample your product to check for misbranding or adulteration.
Can my town shut down my porch shop?
Possibly — unlike some states, Maryland lets local governments be more restrictive, and “a local city or town government… may not allow home food/cottage food production” at all. Check your local zoning and health department before you start.

Sources: Md. Health-General §21-301 (cottage food business definition, $50,000 cap) · §21-330.1 (license exemption, label elements, store-shelf course, inspection) · 2026 HB 535, Chapter 320 ($100,000 cap, effective October 1, 2026) · MDH Guidelines for Cottage Food Businesses · MDH Cottage Food FAQ

You won’t be doing this alone

37 porch bakers are already selling across Maryland 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.

See all 37 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 Maryland’s official sources and wrote down what they say (every claim above links to its source). Maryland’s cottage food cap rises from $50,000 to $100,000 on October 1, 2026 (HB 535, Chapter 320); this page describes the law in force now and flags that raise as upcoming — when it takes effect, the statute controls over any agency guidance that still shows $50,000. Some details aren’t set by the cottage food law at all — local zoning and ordinances (a Maryland town can be more restrictive, or disallow home food production entirely), sales-tax treatment (the Comptroller), and the On-Farm Home Processing license fee (confirm the amount with MDH) — check those with the right office. 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.