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Idaho 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 Idaho now asks less of you than almost any state in this guide. On 20 March 2026 the Idaho Direct-to-Consumer Commerce Act replaced the old cottage food rule outright. There is no license, no permit, no registration, no fee, no inspection and no sales cap.

It also allows what almost nowhere else does: perishable food. Milk and dairy, eggs, raw doughs, cooked vegetables, pickled products and baked goods with real cream fillings are all inside the Act, provided you keep them at temperature and tell the customer how to handle them. The boundary is the state line — everything must happen "wholly within the state of Idaho".

No permit, and a department with almost nothing to do

The Act's stated purpose is "to facilitate the production and direct sale of homemade food and nonalcoholic drink products from producers to informed end consumers with minimal regulatory burden", and it means it.

The Department of Health and Welfare's only affirmative duty under the chapter is to "compile educational information on food safety, shelf-stable and perishable food storage, and prevention of the spread of foodborne illness" and make it public. Producers "shall become familiar with" it. That is the whole of the state's ongoing role outside an illness investigation.

Anything you read about Idaho cottage food written before 20 March 2026 describes a system that no longer governs. The old IDAPA 16.02.19 rule is superseded by this chapter. SB 1283, Session Law Chapter 91

Perishable food is allowed — this is the unusual part

Most states in this guide stop at shelf-stable food. Idaho splits into two named categories and allows both.

Perishable food here means homemade food and drinks that require time or temperature control — kept at or below 41 °F for cold foods, or at or above 135 °F for hot. The Act's own list:

Shelf-stable food is the other category and is equally broad: hermetically sealed preserves, fermented products, tallow, lard, fruit leathers, pies and turnovers, chocolates, nut mixes, granola, dry soup mixes (not meat-based), roasted coffee beans, popcorn, honey, and dried, dehydrated and freeze-dried foods including jerky.

Two conditions ride with perishable food. It "shall be produced, processed, stored, transported, and sold under conditions reasonably intended to maintain the safety and integrity of the product", and it must carry handling instructions "sufficient to inform the consumer of safe storage and preparation practices".

Where you may sell, and the one hard border

Annual limit
None. The Act contains no cap of any kind.
License, permit, registration, fee
None.
Where you may produce
"a private or leased farm, home kitchen, or other non-licensed facility" — so a rented space qualifies.
Designated agent
Allowed — "a person, cooperative market, consignment market, or other entity", named in writing, who "shall not take ownership" of the product.
Farm stands
Temporary or permanent, operated by you or your agent.
Outside Idaho
No. Transactions must "occur entirely within the state of Idaho and shall not constitute or involve interstate commerce. All production, processing, packaging, sale, and delivery activities shall take place wholly within the state."
Food establishments
No. Nothing in the chapter allows a product to be used as an ingredient in a food establishment, "including in public school kitchen facilities".

What "homemade" excludes is worth reading. It "does not include food that is prepared, cooked, or served on-site for immediate consumption, including restaurant-style food service, mobile food units, concession trailers, or other facilities preparing ready-to-eat meals." You are selling food to take away, not running a kitchen.

Meat is out, with six exceptions: poultry if you slaughter no more than 1,000 of your own birds a year and do not buy or sell others'; live animals; portions of live animals before slaughter; domestic rabbit meat; farm-raised fish that is not catfish; and meat from cattle, sheep, swine and goats inspected by the USDA.

The disclosure — a sign, a label or a card

Idaho does not insist on a packaging label. It insists the customer is told, and gives you three ways: "a conspicuously displayed sign, label affixed to the food product, or card given to the informed end consumer". Whichever you use, it must state:

This product is not subject to government food safety inspection or licensing requirements. It may contain allergens.

and include your name and contact information, and a list of ingredients if the product contains two or more.

That three-way choice is genuinely practical. A farm stand can post one sign; a market seller can hand over a card; a packaged product carries a label. Other states prescribe the format and leave you to make it fit.

If your products sit in a retail space alongside a commercial food establishment's, two more rules apply: physically separate them — "shelving in coolers, freezers, warehouses, or other storage areas" — and post "signs or other markings clearly indicating which area offers products available pursuant to this chapter".

Records: two years, and confidential from the state

This is the part of the Act with no parallel anywhere else in this guide, and it cuts both ways.

You must keep records. For every transaction: the type and quantity of product sold, the date of the sale, the date of production, where the food was produced, and where each ingredient was produced or acquired. Retained for at least two years. If you use a designated agent, name them in the record for each transaction they conducted.

And the state cannot routinely see them. The records "shall be considered confidential records that are not subject to disclosure… and shall not be disclosed to any state agency, political subdivision, or health district except in the event of a confirmed foodborne illness investigation." The Act adds that nothing in the section "shall be construed to require routine reporting, inspection, or submission of records absent a confirmed foodborne illness investigation."

The penalty for not keeping them is specific and modest: if during an illness investigation the department finds the records were not maintained, a fine not to exceed $500. And a producer who maintains and provides records in good faith "shall not be held civilly liable for any subsequent use, resale, or misuse of the product".

So the bargain Idaho strikes is: no inspection, no permit, no cap — in exchange for a paper trail you keep yourself and hand over only if someone gets ill.

Your city and county are preempted

Idaho does not merely allow home food sales; it forbids local government from narrowing them. The legislature declares its intent "to wholly occupy the field of products made directly available to consumers pursuant to this chapter within this state."

Then the operative sentence: agencies and political subdivisions "shall not adopt, continue in effect, or enforce any ordinance, rule, regulation, resolution, or policy pertaining to the licensing, permitting, inspection, packaging, or labeling of products made available pursuant to this chapter that is more stringent than the corresponding state or federal requirement. Any law, rule, regulation, ordinance, or policy that is in violation of this chapter is hereby declared to be unenforceable."

That is far stronger than the local-control language in any other state here. Most guides on this site end a section by telling you to check your city's zoning. In Idaho, a city rule that is stricter than the state rule on licensing, permitting, inspection, packaging or labeling is void.

What is not preempted: weights and measures, representation, marketing or branding, lawful use of pesticides or fertilizers, and pest, weed or disease prevention. Milk, dairy and raw milk remain subject to their own chapters of Title 37. And nothing limits liability "in cases of gross negligence or misrepresentation".

Sales tax

No permit is not no tax. Whether what you sell is taxable, and whether you need a seller's permit, belongs to the Idaho State Tax Commission, and we are not going to print a rate that could change.

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 license to sell food from home in Idaho?

No. Since 20 March 2026 the Idaho Direct-to-Consumer Commerce Act requires no license, permit, registration, fee or inspection. It replaced the old cottage food rule entirely, so anything written about Idaho before that date describes a system that no longer governs.

How much can I sell in a year in Idaho?

There is no cap. The Act contains no sales limit of any kind, which makes Idaho one of the most open states in the country on this point.

Can I really sell refrigerated food, dairy and eggs?

Yes, and that is what makes Idaho unusual. The Act allows perishable food — food needing time or temperature control, kept at or below 41 °F or at or above 135 °F — and its own list names milk and dairy products, eggs and egg products, raw doughs, cooked vegetables, pickled products and baked goods with animal-product frosting or filling. Perishable products must be handled to maintain safety and must carry handling instructions for the customer. Milk and dairy also remain subject to their own chapters of Title 37.

Can I ship my products?

Not out of state. Transactions must occur entirely within Idaho and may not involve interstate commerce — and the Act is emphatic that all production, processing, packaging, sale and delivery activities take place wholly within the state. Inside Idaho you may use a designated agent to deliver.

Can someone else sell for me?

Yes. A designated agent may handle marketing, transport, storage, selling and delivery — a person, a cooperative market, a consignment market or another entity. Two conditions: the agent must be named in writing, and the agent "shall not take ownership" of the food. You keep ownership through the sale.

What do I have to put on the label?

Idaho lets you choose the format: a conspicuously displayed sign, a label on the product, or a card handed to the customer. It must say "This product is not subject to government food safety inspection or licensing requirements. It may contain allergens." and carry your name and contact information, plus an ingredient list if the product has two or more ingredients.

What records do I have to keep?

For each transaction: the type and quantity sold, the date of sale, the date of production, where the food was produced, and where each ingredient was produced or acquired — kept at least two years. They are confidential and may not be disclosed to any state agency, political subdivision or health district except in a confirmed foodborne illness investigation. If an investigation finds you did not keep them, the fine is not more than $500.

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