Indiana 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, with no license — and since 1 July 2026 there are two different ways to do it. House Enrolled Act 1424 created a new homestead vendor route (IC 16-42-5.4). It did not replace the old one: the Department of Health told local health departments plainly that "although new categories of home food processors have been established, all statutes for home-based vendors (IC 16-42-5.3) remain in force."

The short version. Home-based vendor: shelf-stable food only, made in your primary residence, no sales cap at all. Homestead vendor: a much wider menu including meat, prepared foods and produce, but you operate on property and stop at $1.5 million a year. Both let you sell online and ship inside Indiana, both require an ANSI food handler certificate, and neither reaches across the state line.

Which route are you on?

Home-based vendor IC 16-42-5.3 (2022): Non-TCS food only — shelf stable, no refrigeration. Operate in your primary residence. Sell in person at markets and events, at a roadside stand, online, by delivery or by third-party carrier. No annual gross income restriction.
Homestead vendor IC 16-42-5.4 (from 1 Jul 2026): Meat products, prepared foods, baked goods, candy, produce, natural sweeteners and fruit spreads. Operate on property — your primary residence or agricultural land. Sell at the property, at a farmers market, online or by delivery. $1.5 million a year.

There is a third category in the department's table, the small farm operator, which is the homestead vendor rules applied to someone operating on a small farm rather than on their own property. Same foods, same $1.5 million, same certificate rule.

Both routes sell only to the direct end consumer. Step outside that and the department says you may be treated as an unlicensed retail or wholesale food establishment — which is a far worse position than simply needing a license, because you are now operating one without having one. IDOH memorandum, 26 May 2026

What you can make on each route

Home-based vendor: non-TCS food only. TCS means time/temperature control for safety — food that has to be kept hot or cold to stay safe. If it needs refrigeration, it is not on this route. The food is made at your primary residence, in a preparation or packaging area where animals are not present, and it is not for resale.

Homestead vendor: a much wider list.

Meat products
Prepared foods, including baked goods
Candy
Produce
Natural sweeteners
Fruit spreads

Three of those carry conditions worth knowing before you plan a menu:

Meat must be raised at your property and slaughtered, processed and labeled in compliance with IC 15-17-5. Covered animals are cattle, sheep, swine, bison, poultry, goat and rabbit.
Prepared foods — pre-packaged meals, deli items, ready-to-eat snacks, meal kits — are often subject to federal rules. The department warns specifically about USDA FSIS oversight of cooked and raw meat items: meat pizza, lasagna, casseroles, meat pies, open face sandwiches, meat and tallow broths, and dehydrated or freeze dried whole eggs.
Produce means eggs other than domestic chicken eggs, mushrooms, fruits and vegetables. Domestic chicken eggs need permitting through the Indiana State Egg Board. And produce intended to be eaten raw is exempt from the federal produce safety rule only while your annual gross income from produce is under $25,000 — above that you are subject to inspection.

Caps, shipping and the state line

Home-based vendor cap: None. No annual gross income restriction.
Homestead vendor cap: $1,500,000 in gross sales in a single year.
Online: Yes, on both routes.
Shipping and delivery: Yes, inside Indiana.
Outside Indiana: No. Food may not be shipped or delivered to an end consumer outside the state — that is interstate commerce, and it means registering with IDOH as a manufactured foods business under 21 CFR 117.

Shipping on the homestead route has four conditions, and they are worth copying down: an ANSI food handler certificate, sealed packaging, meat kept refrigerated consistent with best food handling practices, and products handled, refrigerated, transported and stored so as to prevent contamination and adulteration.

Nothing may be manipulated after packaging. Food requiring packaging is prepared and packaged at the property before it travels to a farmers market. The department's list of what counts as manipulation is long and deliberate: serving, stirring, cutting, removing from original packaging, ladling, cooking, reheating, pickling, drying, cooling, peeling, pouring, re-packaging, combining ingredients, canning, marinating, fermenting, acidifying, dicing, chopping, rehydrating. In practice that means you sell sealed packages at the market — you do not portion, plate or finish anything at the table.

Two routes, two different label statements

Do not mix these up. The required sentence is different on each route.

Home-based vendor labels carry your name and address, the common name of the food, the ingredients in descending order, the net weight or volume, the date processed, and this statement in at least 10-point type:

This product is home produced and processed, and the production area has not been inspected by the state department of health. NOT FOR RESALE.

There is one more duty on this route that is easy to miss and easy for a regulator to check: you must post the label of each food product on your website.

Homestead vendor labels carry the name and address of the vendor, the ingredients in descending order by predominance by weight, a description of the product, a description of allergens that might have come into contact with it, and this statement in at least 10-point type:

This product was produced by a homestead vendor or the owner of a small farm that is exempt from government licensing and inspection.

Unpackaged products use a sign instead of a label. Not everything needs packaging — whole uncut produce is the department's own example.

The food handler certificate

This is the one requirement Indiana does not leave optional, and it catches people who have read that there is no license.

Home-based vendor: a food handler certificate through an ANSI accredited certificate issuer is required. Full stop — not only if you ship.
Homestead vendor and small farm operator: required if the product is shipped or delivered.

Compare that with Tennessee or Missouri, where no course is required at all. Indiana trades the license away but keeps the training, which is a defensible place to draw the line and a real step to budget for.

License, local rules and what happens if you slip

Neither route requires a state license, a permit or a routine kitchen inspection. Local government is limited too: units may not require licensure, certification or inspection of a home-based vendor, and the memo states that a local health department and the state department of health may not be more restrictive than public law.

Two honest qualifications, and they matter.

First, farmers markets are owner operated and can be more restrictive than state law about what they allow at their market. The state saying yes does not oblige a market to let you in.

Second, the protection is conditional on compliance. If the requirements are not met, the department says you will be considered an unlicensed retail food establishment subject to 410 IAC 7-26. And on a foodborne illness complaint, IDOH or your local health department may investigate.

One scope note: HEA 1424 covers food intended for people. Pet food, including raw animal milk, is unchanged and belongs to the Office of Indiana State Chemist; alcohol-based beverages belong to the Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission.

Sales tax

No license is not no tax. Whether what you sell is taxable, and whether you need to register to collect, belongs to the Indiana Department of Revenue, and we are not going to print a rate that could change.

Official sources

Indiana Home-Based Vendor Handbook — IC 16-42-5.3, the route still in forceIndiana Department of Health
Farm and Homestead Food Sales, memorandum of 26 May 2026 — HEA 1424, IC 16-42-5.4, and the confirmation that IC 16-42-5.3 remains in forceIndiana Department of Health, Food Protection Division

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 Indiana?

No. Neither the home-based vendor route nor the newer homestead vendor route requires a state license, a permit or a routine kitchen inspection, and local units may not require licensure, certification or inspection of a home-based vendor. You do need a food handler certificate from an ANSI accredited issuer, which is a different thing and is genuinely required.

Did HEA 1424 replace the old Indiana cottage food law?

No, and this is the most common misunderstanding about Indiana right now. The Department of Health told local health departments on 26 May 2026 that although new categories of home food processors have been established, all statutes for home-based vendors under IC 16-42-5.3 remain in force. Since 1 July 2026 the two laws run side by side with different food lists, different caps and different label statements.

Which route should I be on?

If you make shelf-stable food in your own kitchen — cookies, breads, candy, jams — the home-based vendor route fits and it has no sales cap at all. The homestead vendor route exists for a wider menu including meat, prepared foods and produce, but it requires you to operate on property and caps you at $1.5 million a year. Most home bakers are on the first route.

How much can I sell in a year in Indiana?

On the home-based vendor route there is no annual gross income restriction at all. On the homestead vendor and small farm operator routes the limit is $1,500,000 in gross sales in a single year. Separately, if you sell produce intended to be eaten raw, staying under $25,000 a year in produce income is what keeps you exempt from the federal produce safety rule.

Can I ship my products to a customer?

Inside Indiana, yes. You may not ship or deliver to an end consumer located outside the state — that is interstate commerce and it requires registering with the Indiana Department of Health as a manufactured foods business and complying with 21 CFR 117. Shipping on the homestead route also requires an ANSI food handler certificate, sealed packaging, refrigeration of meat consistent with best practices, and handling that prevents contamination.

What label statement do I use?

It depends which route you are on, and they are not interchangeable. A home-based vendor uses "This product is home produced and processed, and the production area has not been inspected by the state department of health. NOT FOR RESALE." A homestead vendor uses "This product was produced by a homestead vendor or the owner of a small farm that is exempt from government licensing and inspection." Both must be in at least 10-point type. Home-based vendors must also post the label of each product on their website.

Can I cut and serve samples at a farmers market?

No. Products are packaged at the property before they travel, and the product being sold cannot be manipulated after packaging. The department lists what manipulation means, and it includes serving, cutting, removing finished product from original packaging, portioning, reheating and combining ingredients. You sell sealed packages at the market. Note too that farmers markets are owner operated and may be more restrictive than state law about what they allow.

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How to start a home bakeryThe practical order: rules, product, price, photos, packaging, orders, first customers

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