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South Carolina 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 permit and no sales cap. South Carolina calls it a home-based food production operation — the state's term for what most places call cottage food: making non-hazardous food in your own kitchen for sale, and the Department of Agriculture is explicit that such producers are not required to obtain a retail food permit.

South Carolina is also one of the more generous states about where you may sell. Online and mail order are allowed by statute — Act 208 of 2022 put that in the law rather than leaving it to guidance — and a retail store may stock you, and even a restaurant can, with an SCDA-approved variance. All of it stays inside South Carolina.

What you can make

The test is whether the food is non-potentially-hazardous — shelf stable, needing no refrigeration. SCDA names these:

What is out: anything requiring time or temperature control — casseroles, meats, seafood and ice cream. Also excluded: bottled beverages, cheesecake, charcuterie boards, hot sauce and BBQ sauce. Finfish and crustacean shellfish are not allowed.

Two details worth pulling out of that list. Sourdough is allowed only with a commercial starter, which rules out the wild starter most home bakers keep on the counter. And pie fillings have to be high acid — a fruit pie is a different proposition from a custard one. SCDA, Home-Based Food Production

You also may not make health claims about what you sell.

How much can you sell, and where

Annual limit
None. South Carolina sets no general cap on sales.
Retail food permit
Not required.
Direct to customers
Yes.
Online and mail order
Yes, by statute — Act 208 of 2022. Inside South Carolina.
Retail stores
Yes, in your original packaging, with a sign at the point of sale.
Restaurants
Possible, but only with an SCDA-approved variance. Do not assume; apply.
Outside South Carolina
No. The exemption is state law and reaches sales inside the state.

The restaurant route is unusual enough to be worth saying twice: almost every state on this site simply bans it, and Tennessee bans it in terms. South Carolina leaves a door, but it is a door with a form behind it. Act 208 of 2022

The label — and the all-capitals rule

Every package carries your name and address or your SCDA Home-based Food Identification number, the standard name of the food, the ingredients in descending order by weight, the allergens, and this statement in all capital letters in a contrasting color:

PROCESSED AND PREPARED BY A HOME-BASED FOOD PRODUCTION OPERATION THAT IS NOT SUBJECT TO SOUTH CAROLINA’S FOOD SAFETY REGULATIONS.

The ID number option is worth knowing about. Like Maryland and Oregon, South Carolina lets a state-issued number stand in for your home address — so you are not obliged to print where you live on everything you sell. Tennessee offers no such alternative.

And the capitals are the requirement, not a style. All capital letters, in a contrasting color. A faint lowercase line on a kraft label does not satisfy it.

One narrow exemption exists: an operation with net earnings under $1,500 is exempt from the labeling provisions. That is a very small threshold, and it exempts you from the labeling rules rather than from the law — if you are building a business rather than selling a few jars, assume the full label applies.

Permit, registration and inspection

SCDA states it plainly: home-based food producers are not required to obtain a retail food permit from the South Carolina Department of Agriculture. There is no routine inspection of your kitchen as a condition of selling.

The framework around that sits in Regulation 61-25 and S.C. Code § 44-1-143, which is the section Act 208 amended in 2022. The Home-based Food Identification number mentioned in the label section comes from SCDA, so there is an identifier available even though there is no permit — those are different things, and the number is the lighter one.

Food safety training

No course or certificate is stated as a requirement.

We are not going to invent one. But note the contrast with Maryland, which requires an ANSI-approved course within the past three years before a shop may stock you. South Carolina opens the retail and restaurant routes without that gate, which puts more of the responsibility on you — and a buyer at a grocery store may well ask for a certificate even though the state does not.

Is your kitchen inspected?

Not as a condition of selling. The label disclaimer exists precisely to tell your customer that: it says, in capitals, that the operation is not subject to South Carolina's food safety regulations.

That sentence is doing honest work, and it is worth reading as your customer will read it. The trade the state has made is transparency instead of inspection — which is also why the capitals and the contrasting color are specified rather than left to you.

Sales tax and local rules

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

Local rules remain a separate question — your city or county may have zoning rules about running a business from a residence. Ask locally before you start.

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 South Carolina?

No. The Department of Agriculture states that home-based food producers are not required to obtain a retail food permit from SCDA, and there is no routine kitchen inspection as a condition of selling. The framework sits in Regulation 61-25 and S.C. Code § 44-1-143.

How much can I sell in a year in South Carolina?

There is no general cap on sales. The only dollar figure in play is a narrow one: an operation with net earnings under $1,500 is exempt from the labeling provisions. That exempts you from the labeling rules, not from the law, and it is small enough that most people building a business should assume the full label applies.

Can I sell online or ship my products?

Yes, inside South Carolina. Online and mail order sales are allowed by statute — Act 208 of 2022 expanded § 44-1-143 to all non-potentially-hazardous foods and added retail store and online and mail order sales. That makes South Carolina noticeably more open than Minnesota, which requires human food to be handed over in person, or Wisconsin, which bans internet sales of home-canned food outright.

Can a shop or a restaurant sell my food?

A retail store can, in your original packaging and with a sign at the point of sale. A restaurant can too, but only with an SCDA-approved variance — that is an application, not an assumption. Most states on this site close the restaurant door completely, so it is worth knowing the door exists here.

What exactly goes on my label?

Your name and address or your SCDA Home-based Food Identification number, the standard name of the food, the ingredients in descending order by weight, the allergens, and the statement PROCESSED AND PREPARED BY A HOME-BASED FOOD PRODUCTION OPERATION THAT IS NOT SUBJECT TO SOUTH CAROLINA'S FOOD SAFETY REGULATIONS — in all capital letters, in a contrasting color. The capitals and the contrast are requirements, not design choices.

Can I sell my sourdough bread?

Only if it is made with a commercial starter. That is the condition SCDA attaches, and it rules out bread made with the wild starter most home bakers keep going on the counter. Similarly, pie fillings have to be high acid, so a fruit pie and a custard pie are not in the same position.

Does my home address have to be on the package?

No. South Carolina lets an SCDA Home-based Food Identification number stand in for your name and address, the same way Maryland and Oregon allow a state-issued number. It is worth getting if you would rather not print where you live on everything you sell.

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