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Rules for Missouri · Last updated September 9, 2026

Missouri cottage food law (2026): what you can sell and label

Missouri removed its sales cap in 2022, so there is no ceiling and no permit. The catch is the list: baked goods, canned jams and jellies, and dried herbs. DHSS is emphatic that it is closed.

Make a Missouri label 
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Key takeaways
  • No permit, no licence, no inspection, and no sales cap since 28 August 2022.
  • Three categories only: baked goods, canned jams or jellies, dried herbs and herb mixes.
  • Direct sales and online orders. The food is sold by the person who made it.

What Missouri actually decides

Missouri is generous at one end and strict at the other, and people usually discover it in the wrong order. There is no food permit or licence for a cottage food production operation, DHSS says so in those words, a local health department may not regulate production, and the $50,000 annual gross income limit was removed on 28 August 2022. No ceiling at all.

Then there is the list. Baked goods, canned jams or jellies, and dried herbs and dried herb mixes. That is it. DHSS is emphatic that those three are the whole Cottage Law list and that it is closed, which is unusual: most states leave themselves room. Fruit butters, sorghum and cracked nuts exist under a separate local-option route, not under the Cottage Law itself.

The exclusions follow from that narrowness and catch specific things. No sugar added, sugar free and hot pepper jams and jellies are out. So are cut produce and baked goods garnished with fresh fruit, freeze-dried foods, salsa, pickles and sauces. If you were planning to grow into sauces or freeze-dried candy, this is not the route.

One more structural point. A cottage food production operation is not a food service establishment, and no state or local health or food code applies to it. DHSS and your local health department still record every complaint made against you and may investigate a foodborne illness outbreak.

One caveat on the sourcing. The agency's own page did not spell out the training requirement, so those came from the statute and secondary sources rather than from Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services directly. Everything else on this page was read off an official source on September 9, 2026. If one of those points decides your case, ask them.

The short version

what the rule is calledCottage food production operation
when an inspector comesNo inspection
annual sales limitNo cap

What you can sell in Missouri

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: cookies, cakes, breads, danish, donuts, pastries, pies and other items baked in an oven
  • Canned jams or jellies
  • Dried herbs and dried herb mixes. DHSS is emphatic that those three are the whole Cottage Law list and that it is closed
  • Fruit butters, under a separate local-option route, not the Cottage Law
  • Sorghum, under the same local-option route
  • Cracked nuts, under the same local-option route
  • Packaged spices and spice mixes, under the same local-option route
  • Dry soup mixes, under the same local-option route. That route is the Missouri Food Code definition of a food establishment, it depends on your local agency allowing it, and it is not statewide
Up nextWhat is outside the rule

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.

  • Anything potentially hazardous
  • "No sugar added", "sugar free" and hot pepper jams and jellies
  • Cut produce, and baked goods garnished with fresh fruit
  • Freeze-dried foods
  • Salsa, pickles and sauces such as barbecue and hot sauce
  • Sprouts and wild mushrooms
  • Meats, dairy and eggs
  • Pet foods

Where you are allowed to sell it

The researched record lists direct sales, online orders.

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 does not list a general permit for this tier. DHSS: "There is no food permit or license for cottage food production operations." A local health department may not regulate production, and the operation is not a food service establishment. There is also no sales cap any more: Missouri removed the $50,000 annual gross income limit on 28 August 2022, and DHSS says so in terms.

No training is recorded as universally required. No training requirement appears in section 196.298 or in the DHSS guidance, and DHSS never states the absence.

No inspection 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.

  • Food is made in your home: a primary residence with a kitchen and appliances designed for common residential use.
  • A cottage food production operation is not a food service establishment, and no state or local health or food code applies to it.
  • DHSS and your local health department keep a record of every complaint made against you, and may investigate a foodborne illness outbreak.
  • The food is sold by the person who made it, or by a household member with extensive knowledge of the product.
  • Missouri sets no home kitchen hygiene rules: no pets rule, no separate-storage rule, no water test.

What belongs on a Missouri label

Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, checked September 9, 2026

  1. 01Product name
  2. 02Ingredients by weight
  3. 03Allergens
  4. 04Net weight
  5. 05Name and street address
  6. 06Home kitchen statement, exact wording
  7. No permit number. No state size rule; the federal 1/16 inch minimum applies.
Make a Missouri label

Start this weekend

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

  1. Check your product against three categories, not a long list. Baked goods, canned jams or jellies, dried herbs.
  2. Do not assume the cap still exists. It was removed in August 2022 and people still quote $50,000.
  3. Avoid the near-misses: sugar-free and hot pepper jellies, fresh fruit garnish, freeze-dried anything.
  4. Sell it yourself. The food is sold by the person who made it, direct or online.
  5. Ask about the local-option route separately if you want fruit butters, sorghum or cracked nuts.

Nearby places

Nearby guides

Neighboring states look similar until the one difference that matters. Worth a read if you sell across a border, or if someone in the next state over gave you advice.

Pairs well with

Keep going

ToolCottage food label makerTurn your recipe, allergens and required statement into a printable label.GuideCottage food business guideThe wider framework: product, kitchen, sales channel, label and local checks.GuideCottage food label requirementsEvery field a cottage food label needs, in the order to check them before you print.

Questions, answered

Frequently asked questions

Sources

Details were checked against public sources on September 9, 2026. Confirm current prices, policies, or provider instructions before relying on them.

Is this the whole Missouri rule?

No, and you should not treat it as one. This is the official source read carefully on September 9, 2026 and put in one place. Your city, your county, the market you sell at and your own product can each add a layer this page does not know about. Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services is the authority, not us.

Can I just use the label maker and skip this?

The label maker opens with the fields this jurisdiction requires, so it will get the sticker right. What it cannot do is tell you whether the recipe is allowed, whether your kitchen qualifies, or whether you can sell through the channel you had in mind. A correct label on a product you are not allowed to sell is still a problem.

Does the right label make me compliant?

No. The label is the last step and the most visible one, which is why it gets all the attention. The recipe, the kitchen, the training, the registration and the sales route all sit upstream of it, and any one of them can be the thing that is actually wrong.

More cottage food laws

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Selling somewhere else too?

The rule changes with the kitchen, the product and the sales route. Pick another place to compare.

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Rule in front of you? Make the label.

The label maker opens with these requirements already loaded. Build it, then read the finished sticker back against the official source before you print a full sheet.

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