Selling homemade food in Massachusetts

The 2-minute version

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

How selling from home works — start with your town’s board of health

Most states hand you one statewide “cottage food” exemption: meet the rules and you’re covered everywhere in the state. Massachusetts works differently, and this is the thing to get right. There’s no statewide cottage food statute. Instead, the state Retail Food Code (105 CMR 590) defines a “Cottage Food Operation” — someone who makes shelf-stable food in their own home kitchen for direct sale — and then leaves the permitting and the inspection to your local board of health. The state’s own FAQ says it plainly: retail residential kitchens are “inspected and permitted by the local board of health in the city or town where the Residential Kitchen is located.”

Sources: DPH — Residential Kitchen Questions and Answers · MDAR — Scaling up: where to make your product · Starting a wholesale food business ($300) · 105 CMR 590 (Retail Food Code, LII text)

How permitting works — two tracks, two regulators

Massachusetts splits home-food selling across two regulators. The retail path — direct to the consumer — is run entirely by your local board of health under the state Retail Food Code (105 CMR 590, which adopts the FDA Food Code). The state writes the floor; your city or town issues the permit, inspects the kitchen, and sets the fee. There’s no statewide form to file and no statewide fee — “every municipality has its own interpretation of these regulations,” so the first call is always to your own town.

The wholesale path — where a supermarket, café, or restaurant re-sells your product — is run by the state Department of Public Health under 105 CMR 500, as a Wholesale Residential Kitchen. You apply through the DPH Environmental Health eLicensing Portal, one application per facility or activity, with a $300 application fee and a state inspection; plan for stricter facility rules (separate dry/refrigerated storage for raw vs. finished, a three-compartment sink or approved alternative). Manufacturing, processing, or holding food also requires a free FDA facility registration. The two tracks are separable — you can hold a local retail permit and a state wholesale license at once.

Where the home path stops: anything refrigerated (cheesecake, cream-filled pastry, custard) falls outside the residential-kitchen food limits — that means a licensed commercial or shared-use kitchen, with a permit from the local board of health where the production kitchen sits (or a wholesale license for wholesale).

Where you can sell

The retail permit covers direct-to-consumer sales, and Massachusetts reads that broadly. Per the DPH FAQ, “‘Direct to the consumer’ includes events like farmers markets, craft fairs, and sales by internet or mail.” So: from your home (neighbors picking up porch orders); farmers markets and craft fairs (named explicitly); and internet and mail (taking orders online and shipping by mail are inside the direct-to-consumer definition).

Selling to stores and restaurants — yes, but it’s the wholesale path. If a supermarket, café, or restaurant will re-sell your product, that’s wholesale — a separate state DPH license under 105 CMR 500, not your local retail permit.

One honest boundary — out-of-state shipping. The FAQ contemplates internet and mail sales but doesn’t resolve crossing state lines; it says anyone selling into another state “should confirm that they are in compliance with both Federal law and the state laws where they are doing business.” Translation: once a package leaves Massachusetts you’re into federal law plus the destination state’s own rules, and no DPH source clears that for you. We won’t tell you interstate shipping is allowed when the source doesn’t — if it matters to your porch shop, confirm before you build on it.

Local zoning applies. Permitted residential kitchens “must comply with all applicable municipal laws and zoning ordinances” for running a business from a home residence. That’s another reason the first call is to your town.

Sources: DPH — Residential Kitchen Questions and Answers · DPH — Retail Food Code Standards (zoning) · 105 CMR 500 (wholesale, LII text)

What you can sell

Sources: DPH — Residential Kitchen Questions and Answers · 105 CMR 590 (definitions, LII text) · DPH — Retail Food Code Standards (TCS ingredients)

The rules that actually matter

• Your local board of health is the authority — not the stateThe retail permit, the fee, the inspection, and any local fine print all come from your city or town. “Every municipality has its own interpretation of these regulations.” Two towns can run the same state code differently — different fees, different paperwork, sometimes a local training ask. Always call yours first.
• The kitchen gets inspectedA residential kitchen “must be inspected and licensed by the local board of health” before you sell; the inspection checks the Retail Food Code’s Residential Kitchen standards (below). The state DPH inspects only the wholesale path.
• No statewide fee — and it variesA state guide estimates the local annual permit “usually costs between $50 and $100,” but immediately adds “the cost varies” by town. Treat $50–$100 as a ballpark, never as “the fee” — your town sets the real number.
• No statewide sales capNeither 105 CMR 590 nor 105 CMR 500 imposes an annual gross-sales limit, and none appears in the DPH FAQ or guidance — MA limits what you make and who permits you, not how much you earn. (Local boards set their own terms, so confirm with yours.)
• Home-kitchen conditions during prepRooms used as living or sleeping quarters may not be used. No infants or small children in the kitchen during prep, packaging, or handling. Pets must be excluded from the kitchen area during food preparation (a during-prep rule, not a whole-home ban). No concurrent domestic activities — no family-meal prep, laundry, or guest entertainment while you’re producing. A domestic dishwasher is allowed if it reaches at least 150°F after the final rinse-and-dry cycle.
• Private well? Test the water — and no statewide training mandateA residential kitchen on a private water supply “must have the supply tested prior to permitting and at least annually thereafter” and keep a written record showing it’s potable. And there’s no statewide training requirement — the DPH standards impose no ServSafe / food-handler certification on cottage operators; a state guide notes only that “Serv-Safe certification … may be required” depending on the product or locality. Treat any training ask as a local question for your board of health.

Sources: DPH — Residential Kitchen Questions and Answers · DPH — Retail Food Code Standards · MDAR — Scaling up: where to make your product · 105 CMR 590 / 500 (no statewide cap, LII text)

Getting set up

There’s no statewide form and no statewide fee — but there is a real local permit, a kitchen inspection, and (if you’re on a well) a water test. The sequence:

Sources: DPH — Residential Kitchen Questions and Answers · DPH — Retail Food Code Standards · MDAR — Scaling up: where to make your product · Going wholesale? ($300, state track)

Labels

No required home-kitchen disclaimer. There is no mandated “made in a home kitchen that is not subject to inspection” string for permitted cottage food sales — and that string would be false here, because your local board of health did inspect your kitchen. MA relies on the permit, not a disclaimer.

The one placard MA does mandate is for the unpermitted bake-sale path. If you’re making food for a religious or charitable organization’s bake sale (no permit required), consumers must be told via “a clearly visible placard at the sales or service location that the food is prepared in a kitchen that is not subject to regulation and inspection by the regulatory authority.” No exact statutory wording is mandated — the rule fixes the placard’s content, not its phrasing. (This is the opposite of your permitted-cottage situation: there, the kitchen was inspected.)

Sources: DPH — Retail Food Code Standards (label elements) · DPH — Residential Kitchen Questions and Answers (placard) · FDA — sesame (FASTER Act)

What changed recently

• S.69 (194th, 2025–26) — the live vehicle, not law“An Act to promote economic opportunities for cottage food entrepreneurs.” It got a favorable committee report on December 31, 2025 and was referred to Senate Ways and Means, where it sits as of this check. If it moves out of Ways and Means, this page needs a watch-item — Massachusetts runs a two-year session, so S.69 lives until the end of 2026.
• H.140 (194th) — the House companion, parkedIt was “Accompanied a study order” (H.5241) on March 16, 2026 — the polite legislative parking spot. Its text shows the reform shape lawmakers are weighing: exempt direct-to-consumer cottage food from local permitting, a voluntary state registration with a fee “not to exceed $25,” and a mandatory label disclaimer. None of that is current law — the $25 cap and that disclaimer string belong to a parked bill; we don’t print them.
• S.2761 (193rd, 2023–24) — diedThe prior-session version got a favorable report but died in Senate Ways and Means at the end of 2024. The takeaway: reform has been attempted and stalled before. If Massachusetts ever enacts a statewide cottage food exemption, the whole “call your town” framing on this page changes — that’s the one to watch.

Sources: S.69 (194th) — status · H.140 (194th) — status + text · S.2761 (193rd) — status

Common questions

Is there really no “cottage food law” in Massachusetts?

Right — there’s no statewide cottage food statute. Home food sales run through the state Retail Food Code (105 CMR 590), but the permit and the kitchen inspection come from your local board of health, town by town.

Who do I actually call to get started?

Your city or town’s board of health — that’s the authority that permits and inspects retail residential kitchens. The state keeps a list of local board contacts; or search your town name plus “board of health.”

What does it cost?

There’s no statewide fee — your town sets it. A state guide estimates the local annual permit “usually costs between $50 and $100,” but says plainly “the cost varies,” so confirm with your board of health. (The wholesale state license is a fixed $300 — a different track.)

Do they really inspect my kitchen?

Yes — your local board of health inspects the home kitchen before you sell. It’s checked against the Retail Food Code’s Residential Kitchen standards (no living/sleeping rooms, no small children or concurrent domestic activities during prep, pets out of the kitchen during prep, a 150°F dishwasher).

Can I sell cheesecake from home in Massachusetts?

No — cheesecake needs refrigeration, and only shelf-stable (non-TCS) foods are allowed in a home kitchen; cheesecake is named on the not-allowed list. Refrigerated and cream-filled items mean a commercial or shared-use kitchen.

What about salsa, BBQ sauce, or pickles?

No — tomato and barbeque sauce, pickled products, relishes, and salad dressings are on the not-allowed list, and acidification is a prohibited home process (the only carve-out is jams and jellies thermal-processed in sealed containers).

Can a store or restaurant carry my baked goods?

Yes, but that’s the wholesale path — a separate state DPH license under 105 CMR 500, with a $300 application fee and a state inspection, not your local retail permit.

Is there a limit on how much I can earn?

No statewide cap — neither 105 CMR 590 nor 105 CMR 500 sets an annual gross-sales limit. Your local board can set its own terms, so confirm with your town.

Do I have to put a “made in a home kitchen” disclaimer on my label?

No — and you shouldn’t. Your local board inspected your kitchen, so the usual “uninspected home kitchen” line would be false; none is required for permitted cottage products. Your label is the operation’s name and address, the product name, ingredients, net weight/volume, and allergen info. (The only mandated placard is for unpermitted charitable bake sales — a different situation.)

Can I ship my products?

Within Massachusetts, yes — internet and mail sales are inside the “direct to the consumer” definition. Across state lines is unresolved: the FAQ says to comply with “both Federal law and the state laws where they are doing business,” which brings in federal law and the destination state’s own rules — confirm before you rely on it.

Can I run a charity bake sale without a permit?

Yes — food made at home for a religious or charitable bake sale needs no permit, as long as it’s non-TCS and a “clearly visible placard” tells buyers the kitchen isn’t regulated or inspected. Donating home-made food to a nonprofit that gives it away free or at handling cost is also exempt — even for higher-risk foods.