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Nebraska 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 sales limit at all, and the registration is free. Nebraska opened this up with LB 304 in 2019 and widened it with LB 262, effective 19 July 2024, which added some foods that need temperature control. You register with the Department of Agriculture, take an accredited food safety course, and sell.

Online and mail orders are allowed — including mail order to other states where it is legal to mail cottage foods, which almost no state in this guide permits. What stays closed is the trade route: no restaurants, no retail stores, no catering, no wholesale.

Free registration, and the four things it asks for

Nebraska registers cottage food businesses through the Department of Agriculture — not the health department, which is where several states put it. Registration is free and can be completed online in a few minutes.

Registration
Required, free, with the Department of Agriculture.
Sales limit
None.
Food safety course
Required — accredited, online or in person, a few hours, generally $20 to $25.
Private well
If you have one, it must be tested for nitrates and bacteria.
Local rules
You must comply with county, city or village food safety guidelines for sale at public events.

Your registration has to include your contact information, the name of your food safety course and the date you completed it, and your well testing date if that applies to you. Nebraska Extension offers both an in-person and an online accredited training option, and the course is also available in English and Spanish.

Nebraska cottage food law, University of Nebraska-Lincoln · Cottage Food Law, Nebraska Extension

What you may not sell — the list that matters

LB 262 expanded what is allowed in 2024, including some foods that require temperature control for safety. Rather than an approved list, the useful thing to know is the prohibited one. Your food must not be adulterated, and must not be any of these time or temperature control for safety foods:

Two of these catch people out. Infused oils and infused honey look like the most innocent shelf-stable products imaginable, and they are on the list. And Nebraska excludes kimchi and kombucha, which several other states in this guide allow with a pH test. If fermenting is your plan, Nebraska is not the state for it under this law.

Where you may sell — including out of state by mail

Allowed:

Prohibited: restaurants, retail stores, catering, wholesale.

Two things here are worth dwelling on.

The out-of-state mail clause is genuinely unusual. Most cottage food laws in this guide stop at the state border and say so. Nebraska's reference site says you may mail to states where it is legal to mail cottage foods — which puts the question on the destination state rather than on Nebraska. That is a real opportunity and also a real homework assignment: the answer depends on where the box is going.

Catering being named is unusual too. Plenty of states simply do not mention it, leaving cooks to reason by analogy. Nebraska puts it on the prohibited list explicitly, so there is nothing to interpret.

The label, and the notice that follows you everywhere

The label must be legible and in English, and must include:

Then there is a separate duty that is easy to miss, and it is the one with the widest reach. No matter the venue — at home, online, or in any print, radio or television advertising — you must visibly notify customers that the products were prepared in a kitchen not subject to regulation or inspection by the state regulatory authority, and that the food may contain allergens. UNL gives the wording:

This food was prepared in a kitchen not subject to regulation or inspection by the state regulatory authority and may contain allergens.

Read "in any print, radio or television advertising" again. The disclosure attaches to your advertising, not only to your packaging. If you run a radio spot or a newspaper ad, the notice goes in it. Arizona comes closest — it wants your label on your online listing — but no other state in this guide reaches into broadcast and print advertising.

Sales tax and local rules

Nebraska's sales tax treatment of food depends on what it is and how it is sold, and there are local rates on top of the state one. The Department of Revenue and your accountant are the right place for your own position.

On the food safety side, the state registration is not the end of it: you must comply with the food safety guidelines required by your county, city or village for sale at public events. Ask the market or event organizer what their jurisdiction requires before you book a stall.

Official sources

Last verified: 1 November 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 Nebraska?

You need to register, and it is free. Registration goes to the Department of Agriculture, not the health department, and can be done online in a few minutes. You also need an accredited food safety course, which generally costs $20 to $25 and takes a few hours, and a nitrate and bacteria test if your home is on a private well.

How much can I sell in a year in Nebraska?

There is no sales limit. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln states it directly: Nebraska producers can sell outside the farmers' market season with no sales limit, as long as the conditions on venues, foods and labeling are met.

Can I sell online in Nebraska?

Yes, and by mail order — within Nebraska, or to states where it is legal to mail cottage foods. That last part is unusual; most cottage food laws in this guide stop at the state line. It does mean the answer depends on the destination state, so check where the box is going.

Can a shop or a restaurant sell my food?

No. Restaurants, retail stores, catering and wholesale are all on the prohibited list. Nebraska names catering explicitly, which most states do not, so there is nothing to interpret there.

Can I sell kombucha or kimchi?

No. Kimchi, kombucha and similar fermented foods are on Nebraska's prohibited list, along with tofu, tempeh and similar meat substitutes, all sprouts, raw eggs, unpasteurized juice, fluid milk and milk products, low-acid canned food, hermetically sealed acidified food, infused oils and infused honey, and any part of an animal or animal byproduct.

What exactly does my label say?

The label must be legible and in English and carry the common name of the food and your name and address. A food that requires time or temperature control for safety must also list ingredients in descending order of predominance. Separately, you must visibly notify customers with wording like: "This food was prepared in a kitchen not subject to regulation or inspection by the state regulatory authority and may contain allergens."

Does the disclosure really have to go in my advertising?

Yes. The requirement is that no matter the venue — including at home, online, or in any print, radio or television advertising — the producer must visibly notify customers that the products were prepared in a kitchen not subject to state regulation or inspection and may contain allergens. It attaches to how you advertise, not only to your packaging, and no other state in this guide reaches that far.

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