District of Columbia cottage food law (2026): what you can sell and label

What District of Columbia actually decides

DC Health calls this a registration rather than a licence and answers no when asked whether you need a licence. In practice you may not sell without it and its number prints on every label, so treat it as mandatory whatever it is called. It costs $50 for one certificate plus $5 for each additional one, and there is a pre-opening inspection.

The training requirement is at the heavier end. You need a nationally accredited Certified Food Protection Manager course and then a District-issued CFPM certificate, valid three years from the date of the exam. That is a manager-level qualification, not a food handler card.

June 2025 widened the channels usefully. Cottage food businesses may now sell wholesale to licensed food establishments inside the District, and the definition of a cottage food product was rewritten to cover direct, retail, wholesale to licensed food establishments, and online sales. There is no sales cap.

The kitchen rules are specific about who is in the room. Pets are excluded while you prepare, package or handle food, infants and small children may not be in the kitchen, and only the owner or people under the owner's direct supervision may handle the products or be in the kitchen at all.

What you can sell in District of Columbia

Straight from the official record. Read these as categories rather than a menu, because one recipe can cross the line on its own: a filling that needs refrigeration, a pH that needs testing, or a process that needs an authority to sign it off.

• Baked goods without cream, custard, cheese or meat fillings, such as breads, biscuits, churros, muffins, rolls, scones and sweet breads
• Cakes, including celebration cakes for birthdays, anniversaries and weddings
• Pastries, pies, brownies, cookies and tortillas
• Fruit pies, fruit empanadas and fruit tamales
• Unfilled baked donuts, waffle cones and pizzelles
• Candies such as brittles, toffee, chocolates, cotton candy, fudge, truffles and confections
• Snacks such as caramel corn, chocolate-covered nonperishable foods, nuts and dried fruits, crackers, pretzels, seeds, popcorn and popcorn balls
• Cereals, trail mixes and granola
• Jams, jellies, syrups, marmalades and other preserves
• Honey and honeycomb, which need a separate registration with the Department of Energy and Environment under the beekeeping act
• Roasted coffee, whole bean or ground, and dry tea blends
• Dried pasta, dry herbs and herb blends, seasoning blends, dry baking mixes, vinegar and flavoured vinegars

What is outside the rule

If your product is on this list, the answer is not "ask nicely". It is a different licence, a different kitchen, or both.

• Fish or shellfish products, and fresh, dried or dehydrated meat or poultry including jerkies
• Baked goods needing refrigeration: cream, custard or meringue pies and cakes, and pastries with cream cheese icings or fillings
• Milk and dairy products including hard, soft and cottage cheeses and yogurt, and cheese made with unpasteurized milk
• Cut fresh fruits or vegetables and anything made from them or from cooked vegetable products, including focaccia-style breads with vegetables or cheeses
• Canned pickled products such as corn relish, pickles or sauerkraut, and garlic or vegetable in oil mixtures
• Pumpkin or fruit butters, and sugar-free jams, jellies, syrups, marmalades and other preserves
• Raw seed sprouts, raw cookie dough, mushrooms, ice and ice products
• Barbeque sauces, ketchups and mustards, and pet food or treats

Where you are allowed to sell it

The researched record lists direct sales, farmers markets, online orders, retail or wholesale, restaurants.

One channel being open does not open the rest. Shipping, delivery and wholesale each turn on the product and where it is going, so check the route you actually plan to use.

Paperwork, training and inspections

The researched record lists Cottage Food Business Registry Identification Number and Certificate before you sell; the listed cost is $50 for one certificate, plus $5 for each additional certificate. DC Health calls this a registration rather than a licence, and answers "no" when asked whether you need a licence, but you may not sell without it and its number prints on every label. Before applying you need a home occupancy permit, which the regulation and the Code still attribute to DCRA while DC Health now sends applicants to the Department of Buildings, plus proof of a calibrated scale from the Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection. Applications are approved or denied within thirty business days, and the certificate is displayed at each event. The channel answer depends on which document you read: the 2017 regulation says farmers markets and public events only, the 2021 FAQ says no to restaurants and grocery stores, and DC Health's current page follows the 2025 statutory amendment and allows direct, retail, wholesale to licensed food establishments and online sales inside the District. Selling into a restaurant means relying on a statute the enforcing regulation has not caught up with.

Training is required: Nationally accredited Certified Food Protection Manager course, plus a District-issued CFPM certificate. The District-issued certificate is valid three years from the date of the exam.

Before you open is what the record says about inspections. Confirm what that means for your product and your local authority, because the two can differ.

Kitchen rules people miss

None of these fit on a label, which is exactly why they get skipped. Read them before the first batch, not after.

• Pets are excluded from the kitchen, and infants or small children may not be in it, while you prepare, package or handle food.
• Only the owner or people under the owner's direct supervision may handle the products or be in the kitchen while that is happening.
• Cottage food work may not share the kitchen with domestic activity: family meals, dishwashing, clothes washing or ironing, kitchen cleaning, or entertaining.
• Only standard residential, non-commercial kitchen equipment and utensils may be used, and food contact surfaces must be smooth, easily cleanable and washed, rinsed and sanitized before each use.
• Products are prepared, packaged and stored only in the kitchen of your primary residence, never in a shed, garage, rented kitchen or second home, and everyone in the kitchen wears a hair restraint and clean outer garments.

What changed, and when

A dated change means an older checklist can be confidently wrong. Read the instrument itself at the official source before you trust anything written before these dates.

• 2025-06-10: Cottage food businesses may sell wholesale to licensed food establishments inside the District. The definition of a cottage food product now reads "direct, retail, wholesale to licensed food establishments, and online sales" where it previously read "direct, retail, and online sales". The 25-K DCMR chapters have not been amended since 29 December 2017, so the regulation still reflects the pre-2020 statute.

Start this weekend

In this order, so the label is the last thing you check and not the first thing you guess.

• Treat the registration as mandatory. You cannot sell without it and its number goes on every label.
• Budget for the CFPM course and the District-issued certificate. This is manager-level, not a handler card.
• Diarise the certificate expiry. It runs three years from the exam date.
• If a licensed DC food establishment wants to stock you, that has been allowed since June 2025.
• Keep pets, infants and small children out of the kitchen during preparation, packaging and handling.