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Wyoming Food Freedom Act: 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. Wyoming was the first food freedom state, in 2015, and it still has one of the widest exemptions in the country. Homemade food produced, sold and consumed in compliance with the Act is exempt from state licensure, permitting, inspection, packaging and labeling requirements. No permit, no registration, no label.

There is a limit, and it is in an unexpected place. Wyoming does not write a cap into the rules about selling. It writes it into the definition of "producer": you must not produce more than 250,000 individual food or drink products a year, and must not exceed $250,000 in gross revenue a year. Pass either and you stop being a producer, which means the exemption stops applying to you.

What the Act removes

The Wyoming Food Freedom Act sits at W.S. 11-49-101 through 11-49-104. Its stated purpose is to allow a producer's production and sale of homemade food for an informed end consumer, and to encourage agricultural sales at farmers markets, ranches, farms and producers' homes — by facilitating the purchase of fresh and local products, enhancing the agricultural economy, and "providing Wyoming citizens with unimpeded access to healthy food from known sources."

License and permit
Exempt.
Inspection
Exempt — though an agency may inspect at your request.
Packaging and labeling
Exempt, with one retail exception below.
Product limit
250,000 individual food or drink products a year.
Revenue limit
$250,000 gross a year.
Eggs and dairy
Allowed, added by SF 102 in 2023.

Two savings clauses are worth knowing. Nothing in the Act impedes the Wyoming Department of Health in any investigation of foodborne illness. And nothing precludes an agency from providing assistance, consultation or inspection at the request of the producer — help is available if you want it.

There is also a ceiling on the regulator: under subsection (m), the Department of Agriculture shall not promulgate any food and health inspection standard applicable to the Act that is more stringent than a USDA standard, and nothing in the article is to be construed as more restrictive than applicable federal requirements.

Wyoming Statutes, title 11 — chapter 49, Marketing Homemade Foods (PDF) · Food safety, Wyoming Department of Agriculture

The limit is in the definition, and that matters

Most states put their cap in a sentence about sales. Wyoming puts it in W.S. 11-49-102(a)(vi), the definition of "producer":

A producer is a person who grows, harvests, prepares or processes food or drink products on property they own or lease, "does not produce more than two hundred fifty thousand (250,000) individual food or drink products annually and does not exceed two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000.00) in gross revenue annually" from those products.

Why the placement matters. The exemption in 11-49-103(b) protects "homemade food products produced, sold and consumed in compliance with the Wyoming Food Freedom Act." If you are over either limit you are not a producer, so your food is not covered — not because a rule forbids the sale, but because you have fallen outside the definition the whole Act is built on.

Note it is "and", not "or". Both conditions have to hold. 250,000 individual products is a large number for a home baker but not an impossible one if your product is a cookie or a jar; $250,000 in gross revenue is the one most people will meet first.

If you have read elsewhere that Alaska caps you at 250,000 products and $250,000, that is this clause, misfiled. Alaska has no cap at all.

What counts, and the two categories the Act defines

The Act splits food into two defined categories, and almost every rule in it turns on which side your product falls.

Non-potentially hazardous food — food not requiring time or temperature control for safety — "includes, but is not limited to": jams, uncut fruits and vegetables, pickled vegetables, hard candies, fudge, nut mixes, granola, dry soup mixes excluding meat based soup mixes, coffee beans, popcorn, and baked goods that do not include dairy or meat frosting or filling or other potentially hazardous frosting or filling.

Potentially hazardous food — requiring time or temperature control — "includes, but is not limited to": foods requiring refrigeration, dairy products, quiches, pizzas, frozen doughs, meat, and cooked vegetables and beans.

Both are sellable under the Act. Unlike most states in this guide, Wyoming does not confine you to shelf-stable products. What the category changes is who may sell — see the next section.

Meat is mostly out, with six exceptions. Transactions may not involve the sale of meat products, except:

Animal shares, at W.S. 11-49-104, let an informed end consumer acquire meat through an ownership interest in an animal or herd. Ownership must be established before slaughter, under a written contract that includes a bill of sale, a boarding provision and your entitlement to a share of the meat. A prominent warning that the meat has not been inspected goes with it, along with information on herd health and processing standards. Meat received this way may not be sold, donated or commercially redistributed, and no farmer or rancher may publish anything implying the Department of Agriculture endorses it.

The red meat route that is written but not switched on

This section exists because the statute contains a provision that reads like permission and is not yet permission. If you find subsection (n) on its own, you would reasonably conclude you can sell beef.

Subsection (n) says a producer may sell meat products from cattle, sheep, swine or goats they raised, slaughtered on their own premises or at a custom slaughter facility, if the animals are raised, slaughtered, processed and sold in Wyoming, the meat is sold directly to an informed end consumer in Wyoming, and a prominent written warning is delivered at the time of sale or on the package stating that the meat has not been inspected and is not regulated, that the consumer agrees not to sell, donate or commercially redistribute it, and describing the producer's animal health and processing standards.

Subsection (o) is the switch, and it is off. Subsection (n) takes effect only on the date the governor, on the advice of the attorney general, certifies to the secretary of state that such sales have been legalized under federal law — meaning either Congress passes a law allowing direct-to-consumer sales of uninspected meat, or a federal court with jurisdiction over Wyoming issues a final decision declaring the federal prohibition unconstitutional or otherwise invalid.

Neither has happened. So subsection (n) is dormant. The poultry, rabbit, farm-raised fish, live animal and animal share routes above are the ones actually available today.

Who may sell it, and where

Transactions must be directly between the producer and the informed end consumer, must occur only in Wyoming, and must not involve interstate commerce. An informed end consumer is the last person to purchase, who does not resell, and who has been informed the product is not licensed, regulated or inspected.

But "directly" has more room in Wyoming than the word suggests, in two ways.

A designated agent may facilitate the transaction. The Act defines one as a person, a consignment model market, or a food freedom store, designated by the producer to handle marketing, transport, storage and delivery. The agent must be named in writing and shall not take ownership of any product.

And a shop can sell some of it. The seller of eggs, dairy products, or non-potentially hazardous food may be the producer, a designated agent, or a third party vendor including a retail shop or grocery store. The seller of potentially hazardous food, except eggs and dairy, must be the producer or a designated agent.

Venues: farmers markets, farms, ranches, producers' homes or offices, the retail location of a third party seller of non-potentially hazardous foods, eggs and dairy products, or any location the producer and the informed end consumer agree to.

Restaurants are out. Except for raw, unprocessed fruits and vegetables, "homemade or uninspected food shall not be served or utilized as an ingredient in a commercial food establishment."

A retail space selling your food must inform the end consumer that the food has not been inspected and display a sign saying so. And if a retail space selling potentially hazardous food — other than eggs and dairy — is in any way associated with a commercial food establishment or offers any inspected product, it must comply with Department of Agriculture rules requiring a separate door and separate cash register or point of sale, signs marking which spaces are inspected and which are not, and separate coolers, freezers and storage so inspected and uninspected products cannot intermingle.

No label — unless your food is on a shop shelf

The exemption covers packaging and labeling, so for a direct sale there is no required label. What there is instead is a duty to inform: the producer "shall inform the end consumer that any food product or food sold at a farmers market or through ranch, farm or home based sales pursuant to this act is not certified, labeled, licensed, packaged, regulated or inspected." A third party seller offering non-potentially hazardous food, eggs or dairy must give the same information.

The one place a printed label is required is retail. Under subsection (k), for sales of non-potentially hazardous food and dairy products at a retail location or grocery store, the food:

this food was made in a home kitchen, is not regulated or inspected and may contain allergens

So the practical rule is: selling it yourself, you say it. Putting it on a shop shelf, you print it.

Tax and local rules

Wyoming has a state sales tax with county add-ons, and food for home consumption is treated differently from prepared food. Which side your product falls on is a question for the Department of Revenue and your accountant.

On the food safety side, the Act is unusually protective of the exemption, including the clause barring the Department of Agriculture from setting standards more stringent than USDA's. Even so, zoning for running a business from a residence is a separate matter and a local one — ask your city or county before you start.

And if you are approaching either limit in the producer definition, that is the moment to talk to the Department of Agriculture about what a licensed operation would involve, rather than the moment after you have crossed it.

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 Wyoming?

No. Homemade food products produced, sold and consumed in compliance with the Wyoming Food Freedom Act are exempt from state licensure, permitting, inspection, packaging and labeling requirements. An agency may still provide assistance, consultation or an inspection if you request one, and the Department of Health can investigate foodborne illness.

How much can I sell in a year in Wyoming?

Up to 250,000 individual food or drink products and up to $250,000 in gross revenue a year — and both conditions must hold. The limits are written into the definition of "producer" at W.S. 11-49-102(a)(vi) rather than into the rules about selling, which is why they are easy to miss. Exceed either and you are no longer a producer, so the Act stops covering you.

Can a shop or a restaurant sell my food?

A shop, often yes. The seller of eggs, dairy products or non-potentially hazardous food may be the producer, a designated agent, or a third party vendor including a retail shop or grocery store. Potentially hazardous food other than eggs and dairy must be sold by the producer or a designated agent. A restaurant, no: except for raw unprocessed fruits and vegetables, homemade or uninspected food may not be served or used as an ingredient in a commercial food establishment.

Can I sell beef from my own cattle?

Not yet. The statute contains a route for cattle, sheep, swine and goats at subsection (n), but subsection (o) makes it effective only when the governor, on the advice of the attorney general, certifies to the secretary of state that such sales have been legalized under federal law — by an act of Congress or a final federal court decision. That has not happened, so (n) is dormant. What is available today is poultry under 1,000 birds of your own raising, domestic rabbit, farm-raised fish other than catfish, live animals, and animal shares.

Do I need a label?

Not for a direct sale — the exemption covers packaging and labeling. Instead you must inform the end consumer that the food is not certified, labeled, licensed, packaged, regulated or inspected. The exception is retail: non-potentially hazardous food and dairy products sold at a retail location or grocery store must be clearly and prominently labeled "this food was made in a home kitchen, is not regulated or inspected and may contain allergens", and may not sit on the same shelf as food from a licensed establishment.

What is a designated agent?

Someone who can handle the selling side for you without buying your product. The Act defines a designated agent as a person, a consignment model market or a food freedom store, designated by the producer to facilitate producer-to-consumer transactions including marketing, transport, storage and delivery. The agent must be named in writing by the producer and shall not take ownership of any food or drink product.

Can I sell eggs and milk?

Yes — SF 102 in 2023 added eggs and dairy products to what may be sold, and they get special treatment: although dairy is a potentially hazardous food, eggs and dairy may be sold by a designated agent or a third party vendor rather than only by you. Transactions still have to be direct to an informed end consumer, inside Wyoming, with no interstate commerce.

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