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Virginia home food processing exemptions: 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 Virginia asks for no permit, no inspection and no fee. Section § 3.2-5130 exempts home food processing operations making certain low-risk foods, acidified vegetables and honey from the Food Safety Program's "inspection, permit, and annual inspection fee requirements".

You may also sell the way most people want to. A producer "can sell their exempt food products directly to an individual for his own consumption by phone, through the internet, or at any location", and may deliver them "in person, by mail, or by delivery service". Two hard edges: everything stays inside the Commonwealth, and it goes to individuals for their own consumption — never for resale.

Where and how you may sell

How you may sell
"by phone, through the internet, or at any location" — directly to an individual for his own consumption.
How you may deliver
"in person, by mail, or by delivery service".
Where
Within the Commonwealth only. "Exempt food products can only be sold and delivered within the Commonwealth to individuals for their own consumption."
What is out
"Exempt food products cannot be sold for resale, for consignment, for use or consumption in retail food establishments, to other businesses, or across state lines."
Cap on low-risk foods
None stated. The caps below belong to acidified vegetables and honey, and the three are easy to confuse.

So an order page with pickup and local delivery fits Virginia, and so does posting a box to a customer in Richmond. What does not fit is a wholesale account, a shelf in a shop, or a customer over the state line.

If you want to go beyond that — sell products that are not on the exemption list, supply a business, or ship out of state — the route is a permit: "You need to apply for a permit from the VDACS Food Safety Program." VDACS Food Safety Program

What you can make without inspection

The low-risk list, in full:

With one condition over all of it: "these food products cannot require time or temperature control for safety after preparation" — nothing that needs refrigeration to stay safe.

That condition does real work on baked goods, and the FAQ is unusually specific. Allowed examples include breads or cakes that are not filled or topped with fresh fruit, fruit curd, custard, whipped cream, mousse or cream cheese; cookies; fruit pies; muffins; sourdough. Not allowed: breads with fresh toppings such as cheese, herbs or vegetables; cakes that are filled or topped with those ingredients; cheesecakes; cream pies; custards; meringues. Buttercream frosting may fall either side depending on the recipe.

Jams follow the same pattern: blueberry, grape, peach and strawberry are given as examples that may qualify; apple butter, banana jam, fig jam, lavender jelly, pepper jelly and zucchini or carrot cake jam as examples that may not. In every case the FAQ is clear that the recipe decides, not the category. VDACS, Home Food Processing Exemptions FAQ (July 2026)

No permit, no inspection, no $40 fee

Manufactured food establishments in Virginia are normally inspected, permitted, and pay an annual inspection fee of $40. The exemption lifts all three.

"No. Although you are still required to comply with all applicable laws and regulations, exempt home food processing operations are exempt from the Food Safety Program's inspection, permit, and annual inspection fee requirements."

Everything is made in the producer's own private home — not a garage, not a rented space.

Pickles and acidified vegetables — pH 4.6, and a $9,000 cap

Acidified vegetables have their own exemption, their own list and their own limit. Allowed: pickles and acidified vegetables "that have a finished equilibrium pH of 4.6 or below", and the same non-TCS condition applies.

The cap: "Exempt producers must not exceed $9,000 in total annual gross sales for all acidified vegetable products produced." VDACS asks producers to document sales as they go, so the figure is available for review.

Examples that may qualify: pickled vegetables, relishes, chow-chow, acidified salsa. Examples that may not: barbecue sauces, canned acid foods, canned fermented foods, canned foods that require refrigeration, canned fruits, fresh salsa, hot sauces, low-acid canned vegetables, pepper jelly and salad dressings.

On measuring pH, the FAQ is practical: electronic meters are accurate and pocket units run around $100, while "Paper strips are NOT accurate enough". A separate pH test is required for each different product you offer, and for a product canned less than two months ago the sample must be finely ground rather than tested as brine alone.

Honey — 250 gallons, and no restriction on where you sell it

Pure honey from the producer's own hives has a third exemption, and it is the most relaxed of the three.

What qualifies
"Pure honey produced by the producer's own hives."
What does not
Anything that is not pure honey — infused honey, hot honey, honey ice cream, mead.
Cap
"Exempt honey producers must not exceed 250 gallons in total annual honey sales."
Where you may sell it
"Currently, there are no restrictions regarding where or how exempt honey products can be sold."

Honey carries its own label statement, and it is not the same as the one on everything else: PROCESSED AND PREPARED WITHOUT STATE INSPECTION. WARNING: Do Not Feed Honey to Infants Under One Year Old.

What has to be on the label

For low-risk foods and acidified vegetables, on the principal display panel — the front of the package:

NOT FOR RESALE — PROCESSED AND PREPARED WITHOUT STATE INSPECTION

A post office box is explicitly acceptable in place of a street address, which matters if you would rather not print where you live on every jar.

If the product is too small to carry a readable label, or is sold to be eaten on site, a physical sign at the point of sale is an acceptable alternative — provided it has all the required information.

Standard labeling applies on top: product name, net weight statement, the manufacturer's name and address, the ingredients and sub-ingredients, and possibly nutritional information. Honey uses the different statement shown above.

Food safety training

The FAQ names no required course for the exemptions.

What it does point you to, where it matters, is a food processing authority — for laboratory testing to settle whether a product is TCS or non-TCS, and for acidified products generally. It also lists Better Process Control School information in its resources. If your product sits near the line, that is the help to go and find rather than a certificate to collect.

Is your kitchen inspected?

No — the exemption removes the inspection, the permit and the annual fee together. That is why the label has to tell the customer the product was "PROCESSED AND PREPARED WITHOUT STATE INSPECTION".

If you want to sell beyond what the exemption allows, inspection is the door rather than an obstacle: apply to the VDACS Food Safety Program for a permit, and the restrictions above stop applying to you. VDACS, Food Safety Program

Sales tax

No permit and no inspection fee says nothing about tax. Whether what you sell is taxable, and whether you must register to collect, is for Virginia Tax.

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

Can I sell my baked goods online in Virginia?

Yes. The current VDACS FAQ says a producer can sell exempt food products directly to an individual for his own consumption by phone, through the internet, or at any location, and can deliver them in person, by mail, or by delivery service. The sale must stay within the Commonwealth and must be to an individual for their own consumption. Older guidance said online selling was prohibited; the July 2026 revision supersedes it.

Do I need a permit or an inspection in Virginia?

Not under the exemption. Exempt home food processing operations are exempt from the Food Safety Program’s inspection, permit and annual inspection fee requirements — so the $40 annual fee that applies to inspected establishments does not apply to you.

Is there a sales cap?

Not for low-risk foods. There are two other caps that are easy to confuse with a general limit: acidified vegetable producers must not exceed $9,000 in total annual gross sales for all acidified vegetable products, and exempt honey producers must not exceed 250 gallons in total annual honey sales.

Can I ship to a customer in another state?

No. Exempt products can only be sold and delivered within the Commonwealth, and the FAQ lists sales across state lines among the things that are not allowed — along with resale, consignment, use or consumption in retail food establishments, and sales to other businesses. If you need to go further, apply to the VDACS Food Safety Program for a permit.

Can I sell a cheesecake or a cream-filled cake?

No. Exempt products cannot require time or temperature control for safety after preparation, and the FAQ names cheesecakes, cream pies, custards and meringues as examples that may not qualify, along with cakes filled or topped with fresh fruit, fruit curd, custard, whipped cream, mousse or cream cheese. Buttercream frosting can fall either side depending on the recipe, which is what a food processing authority is for.

What about hot sauce and fresh salsa?

Both are given as examples that may not qualify under the acidified vegetable exemption, along with barbecue sauces, pepper jelly, salad dressings and canned fruits. Acidified salsa, pickled vegetables, relishes and chow-chow are the examples on the other side. The recipe and the finished equilibrium pH decide, not the name of the product.

Can I put a PO box on the label instead of my home address?

Yes. The label requires the name, physical address or post office box number, and telephone number of the person preparing the food — a PO box is explicitly an alternative, which is worth knowing if you would rather not print your street address on every package.

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