What New York actually decides
The Home Processor Exemption is not a licence you can apply for after the fact. You need it before you sell, it costs nothing, and it is tied to the address you bake at, so moving house means reapplying. The department is currently quoting up to sixteen weeks to process a request. That is the single most important planning fact on this page: if you want to be selling at a spring market, this is a winter job.
There is no sales cap, which makes New York unusually open at the top end. The constraint is the approved list instead, and it is specific. Breads, cookies, cakes, brownies, high-acid fruit jams, dried spices, confections, popcorn and vegetable chips are in. Cream-based frostings, cheesecake, cream and meringue pies are out. So are pickles, sauces, salsas, mustards, pepper jellies, chutneys, nut butters and tempered chocolate used for coating. The registration becomes void the moment you make something off the list.
The kitchen rules are stricter than most states and easy to trip over. You may use only the ordinary kitchen you cook your own dinner in, and commercial equipment is not permitted. Every item has to be packaged at home, so packing boxes at a craft fair breaks the exemption. If your water comes from a private well, it must test clean for total coliform and E. coli at a certified lab before you register.
The exemption does not override local zoning, and the department says so. Check with your zoning officials before you commit, then start with the Agriculture and Markets page below.
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 New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets 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 you can sell in New York
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: breads, rolls, biscuits, bagels, muffins, doughnuts
- Cookies, cakes, cupcakes, brownies, scones
- Fruit jams, jellies and preserves made with high-acid fruits
- Repackaged dried spices, herbs and dried soup mixes
- Dried and dehydrated fruits and vegetables
- Confections: fudge, peanut brittle, toffee, hard candies
- Popcorn, caramel corn, granola and trail mix
- Crackers and pretzels
- Vegetable chips, baked or deep fried
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.
- Cream-based frostings, cheesecake, cream pies and meringue pies
- Pickles, sauces, salsas, marinades, mustards and ketchups
- Pepper jellies, wine jellies and chutneys
- Cooked or canned fruits and vegetables, vegetable oils, salad dressings
- Cheese, dairy, meat, fish and poultry products
- Nut butters, raw nuts, freeze-dried foods and beverages
- Tempered chocolate and candy melts used for coating
- Anything containing alcohol, and anything requiring refrigeration
Where you are allowed to sell it
The researched record lists direct sales, farmers markets, online orders, delivery, in-state shipping, 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 Home Processor Registration (Home Processor Exemption) before you sell; the listed cost is $0. The department charges no fee for a home processor registration.. You must hold the exemption before you start selling. The registration is tied to the address, so reapply if you move. The department currently quotes up to sixteen weeks to process a request because of volume. The registration becomes void if you make a food that is not on the approved list or if you obtain an article 20-C licence.
No training is recorded as universally required. No training or food handler course appears on the home processing page, but the department never states the absence.
Only on a complaint 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.
- You may use only the ordinary kitchen facilities of your home, the same ones you cook for your household with.
- Commercial food equipment is not permitted in a home processor kitchen.
- Every item must be packaged in the home. Packaging at a farmers market or craft fair is not allowed.
- If your home is on a private well, the water must test negative for total coliform and E. coli at a certified lab before you register.
- Check with your local zoning officials before you start, because the exemption does not override local zoning.
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.
- 2018-04-30: The department nearly doubled the approved list, adding nineteen products including repackaged dried soup mixes, dehydrated fruits and vegetables, trail mix and toffee apples, and for the first time allowed home processors to sell online within New York State. No change since 2023 could be confirmed on an official page.
What belongs on a New York label
New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets
checked September 9, 2026
- 01Product name
- 02Ingredients by weight
- 03Allergens
- 04Net weight
- 05Name and street address
- 06Home kitchen statement, exact wording
- No permit number. Required text at least 4.5 point.
Start this weekend
In this order, so the label is the last thing you check and not the first thing you guess.
- Apply now if you plan to sell in the next four months. Sixteen weeks is the department’s own estimate.
- Read the approved list line by line against your actual menu. One off-list product voids the registration.
- Book a certified lab water test first if you are on a private well. It has to be done before you register.
- Plan to package everything at home, including anything you sell at a market or fair.
- Call your local zoning office. The exemption is a food rule and does not touch zoning.
Nearby guides
Neighbouring 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.
Keep going
Frequently asked questions
Is this the whole New York 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. New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets 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.
Sources
Details were checked against public sources on September 9, 2026. Confirm current prices, policies, or provider instructions before relying on them.