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Rules for Washington · Last updated September 9, 2026

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

Washington is the most expensive cottage food permit in the country at $355, with two inspections a year. The cap is $35,000 and it counts per household, not per person.

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Key takeaways
  • $355 for the permit: $75 public health review, $125 for each of two annual inspections, $30 processing.
  • $35,000 a year, counted per residence rather than per person.
  • Direct sales and farmers markets only. No online orders, no shipping.

What Washington actually decides

Washington treats this as a licensed food operation and prices it accordingly. The permit is $355, made up of a $75 public health review, $125 for each of two annual inspections, and $30 processing. It must be issued before you sell anything, it covers at most fifty master products, and it has to be displayed at every direct sales venue. WSDA averages six to eight weeks.

The channel restriction is the one that changes plans. This tier is direct sales and farmers markets. Not online orders, not shipping, not wholesale. If your plan involves an order form and a mailing label, this is not the permit for it.

The cap is $35,000 of gross sales per calendar year, and the detail people miss is that it counts per domestic residence rather than per person. Two people baking in the same house share one ceiling. It was raised from $25,000, and the law requires an inflation adjustment by expedited rulemaking every four years against the Seattle-area CPI-W, so check the current figure rather than trusting a number from a forum.

Everyone involved needs a valid food worker card from the county health department before the permit issues, and you need a Washington Master Business License on top. Budget for a failed inspection too: a redo is another $125, and amending the permit outside renewal is $105.

One caveat on the sourcing. The agency's own page did not spell out the date a recent change took effect, so those came from the statute and secondary sources rather than from Washington State Department of Agriculture 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 operation
when an inspector comesRoutine
annual sales limit35,000 USD

What you can sell in Washington

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.

  • Loaf breads, rolls, biscuits, quick breads and muffins
  • Cakes including celebration cakes such as birthday, anniversary and wedding cakes
  • Pastries and scones
  • Cookies and bars
  • Crackers
  • Cereals, trail mixes and granola
  • Pies, except custard style pies, pies with unbaked fresh fruit, or pies needing refrigeration after baking
  • Nuts, nut mixes and snack mixes
  • Donuts, tortillas, pizelles, krumkake, kale chips and similar products
  • Molded candies and chocolates, fudge, caramels, nut brittles, taffy and marshmallow-like candies
  • Jams, jellies, preserves and fruit butters under 21 CFR 150
  • Recombined or repackaged dry herbs, seasoning and mixtures, including teas, bread mixes, soup mixes and dip mixes

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.

  • Fresh or dried meat or meat products including jerky
  • Fish or shellfish products
  • Milk and dairy products including hard, soft and cottage cheeses and yogurt
  • Bakery goods which require any type of refrigeration such as cream, custard or meringue pies
  • Canned fruits, vegetables, vegetable butters and salsas
  • Canned pickled products such as corn relish, pickles and sauerkraut
  • Cut fresh fruits or vegetables, raw seed sprouts, and garlic in oil mixtures
  • Beverages, juices made from fresh fruits or vegetables, and ice or ice products
Up nextWhere you are allowed to sell it

Where you are allowed to sell it

The researched record lists direct sales, farmers markets.

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 WSDA Cottage Food Operation Permit before you sell; the listed cost is $355, made up of a $75 public health review, $125 for each of the two annual inspections, and $30 processing. The permit must be issued before you sell anything, covers at most fifty master products, and has to be displayed at every direct sales venue. WSDA says the process averages six to eight weeks. A failed inspection costs another $125 to redo, and amending a permit outside renewal is $105.

Training is required: Food worker card from your county health department. Every operator and any authorized person must hold a valid food worker card before the permit issues. A Washington Master Business License is also required.

Routine 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.

  • Infants, children and pets must be kept out of the kitchen during production.
  • No other domestic activity such as family meals, laundry, cleaning or entertaining may happen while cottage food is being made.
  • Private water supplies must be tested every year for bacteria.
  • All food contact surfaces must be washed, rinsed and sanitized before use.
  • Litter boxes are not allowed anywhere in the permitted operation areas.

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.

  • 2024-01-11: Rules implementing the higher $35,000 sales cap and the current $355 two-year permit fee structure took effect.
  • 2023-07-23: Statutory cap on annual gross sales raised from $25,000 to $35,000 and a four-yearly CPI adjustment added. The effective date and the bill number are not published on the pages that could be read.

What belongs on a Washington label

Washington State Department of Agriculture, checked September 9, 2026

  1. 01Product name
  2. 02Ingredients by weight
  3. 03Allergens
  4. 04Net weight
  5. 05Business name
  6. 06Home kitchen statement, exact wording
  7. 07Permit number
  8. Required text at least 11 point.
Make a Washington label

Start this weekend

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

  1. Budget $355 before anything else, and add $125 in case an inspection needs redoing.
  2. Check the sales route. Direct and farmers markets only, so online and shipping plans need a different permit.
  3. Get the food worker card from your county health department first. The permit will not issue without it.
  4. Add up the whole household against the $35,000 ceiling, not just your own sales.
  5. List your products carefully. The permit covers fifty master products and amending it later costs $105.

Nearby places

Nearby guides

Neighboring states and provinces look similar until the one difference that matters. Worth a read if you sell across a border, or if someone on the other side 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 Washington 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. Washington State Department of Agriculture 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.

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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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