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Alabama cottage food law: selling food from home

General information, not legal advice. Rules change, and counties add their own. Check with your state and county before you start selling.

"Cottage food" is the term most states use for food made in a home kitchen and sold directly to customers. What it covers, and whether your state uses the phrase at all, differs by state.

The short answer

Yes, and there is no limit on what you can earn — the Department of Public Health states plainly that "the limit for annual income under the law has been removed". There is no state permit and no inspection of your home kitchen.

Two things are required instead, and both are easy to miss under that headline. You must complete a food safety course, and you must file a Cottage Food Review Form with your county health department, together with a sample label and your course certificate. And the selling rule is strict: direct to consumers in Alabama only — no shops, no consignment, no restaurants.

No permit, but a course and a county form

There is no state cottage food permit and no license. What Alabama asks is a short sequence, and the order matters:

  1. Take a food safety course. The Alabama Cooperative Extension Service runs one designed for cottage food operations. "Other food safety courses are accepted, including any taken through any ANSI-accredited food safety program."
  2. Submit a Cottage Food Review Form to your county health department, with a sample label and your course certificate.
  3. The health department can give you written confirmation of that review, which is what you show when applying for a business license.

Review fees vary by county, so the cost of starting is a local number rather than a state one. And the certification has to be kept current — an expired certificate means retaking a course.

Your kitchen is not inspected. The health department does not inspect home kitchens under this law. The review looks at your label and your paperwork, not your room. Alabama Department of Public Health, cottage food

What you can make

Alabama covers non-potentially-hazardous food. Potentially hazardous food, which many states call TCS food, is food that needs time or temperature control for safety — anything that has to be kept hot or cold. The approved categories are:

Three conditions attach to specific products, and they are the ones that cost time:

Prohibited: meat, poultry and fish. "Meat products are considered potentially hazardous foods and are not allowed."

Where you may sell — and the list of places you may not

Annual limit
None. The income cap was removed.
Direct to customers
Yes, in Alabama — in person, by phone, or online.
Delivery and mail
Yes, within the state: in person, through an agent, or by mail.
Retail stores and consignment
No. Producers "may only sell their products directly to consumers".
Restaurants
No. Permitted food establishments may not sell food produced in a private home.
Permitted premises
No. You may not sell from a health-department-permitted establishment or a mobile food unit. A booth, a tent or a storefront that is not itself permitted is fine.
Outside Alabama
No. Sales are to consumers in Alabama.

So Alabama trades generously on how much and strictly on to whom. The no-cap part puts it with Georgia, New York, Illinois, Arizona, Ohio, Tennessee, Missouri, South Carolina, Alabama, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas and New Mexico; the direct-only part puts it with New Jersey and Washington rather than with Ohio or Tennessee, where a shop may stock you.

Farmers markets are handled separately, by the Farmers Market Authority under the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries — a different office from the one that reviewed your label.

What has to be on the label — and the P.O. Box

Every label carries the product name, the name of your operation, your address, the ingredients in descending order of predominance, an allergen disclaimer, and a statement that the food is not inspected by the Health Department. All text must be at least 10-point.

The address may be a P.O. Box. That is a genuinely useful permission and an unusual one — Oregon expressly forbids a P.O. Box and requires a street address or a state-issued number, and Tennessee requires your home address with no alternative at all. If you would rather not print where you live, Alabama lets you simply not.

One modern restriction worth knowing: a QR code cannot replace the required contact information or the ingredient list. You may add one, but the printed label still has to carry everything.

We are not quoting an exact disclaimer sentence here, because the department states the content required rather than prescribing fixed wording. Take the current form from your county health department when you file the review form — they are reviewing your sample label anyway, which is the moment to get it right.

Food safety training is required

This one is not optional, and it is the main thing Alabama asks of you in exchange for having no cap and no permit.

The Alabama Cooperative Extension Service course is built for cottage food operations. Any ANSI-accredited food safety program is also accepted. Certification must be maintained — if yours has expired, you retake a course.

Compare that with Tennessee, Missouri and Ohio, which require nothing at all, and with Indiana and Oregon, which require a food handler certificate much as Alabama does. It is a reasonable trade and a real one to budget for.

Sales tax and local rules

No state permit is not no tax. Whether what you sell is taxable, and whether you need to register to collect, belongs to the Alabama Department of Revenue, and we are not going to print a rate.

Local rules are separate again. The written confirmation your county health department can give you after the review is often what a city wants to see before issuing a business license, so ask for it while you are there.

Official sources

Last verified: 31 October 2026. Every number on this page is linked to the official page it comes from.

Questions people actually ask

Do I need a permit to sell food from home in Alabama?

No state permit, and no kitchen inspection. What you do need is a food safety course and a Cottage Food Review Form filed with your county health department, together with a sample label and your course certificate. Review fees vary by county, so the cost of starting depends on where you live.

How much can I sell in a year in Alabama?

There is no limit. The Department of Public Health states that the limit for annual income under the law has been removed. If you see a $20,000 figure quoted anywhere, it is out of date.

Can a shop or a restaurant sell my food?

No to both. Producers may only sell their products directly to consumers, so retail stores and consignment are out, and a permitted food establishment may not sell food produced in a private home. You also may not sell from a health-department-permitted establishment or a mobile food unit — but a booth, a tent or a storefront that is not itself permitted is fine.

Can I sell online and post my products?

Yes, within Alabama. You may sell directly to consumers in person, by phone or online, and deliver in person, through an agent, or by mail. The sale and the delivery both stay inside the state.

Can I put a P.O. Box on the label instead of my home address?

Yes. Alabama accepts a home address or a P.O. Box, which is a real advantage if you would rather not print where you live. Oregon expressly forbids a P.O. Box and Tennessee offers no alternative to your home address at all, so this varies more between states than people expect.

Can I sell pickles or salsa?

Yes, but not on your own say-so. Pickles and salsa require pH verification from a processing authority or the Alabama Cooperative Extension Service. Freeze-dried foods separately require water activity verification. Fermented or preserved vegetables and fruit are an approved category provided they do not produce alcohol and meet an allowed acidity level.

Do I need a food safety course?

Yes. The Alabama Cooperative Extension Service runs one designed for cottage food operations, and any course from an ANSI-accredited food safety program is also accepted. Certification must be maintained — an expired certificate means retaking a course. It is the main obligation Alabama asks in exchange for no cap and no permit.

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