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

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.

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

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.

Start this weekend

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

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