Proofsheet

Cottage food label requirements in Georgia

Cottage Food (HB 398, 2025), O.C.G.A. §§ 26-2-470 to 26-2-478 (HB 398, eff. July 1, 2025); O.C.G.A. § 36-60-33; Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 40-7-19 (under revision). Regulated by Georgia Department of Agriculture. Checked against state sources on .

The statement your label needs

This product was produced at a residential property that is exempt from state inspection. This product may contain allergens.

Type size and placement: Statement in at least 10 point font

What is different in Georgia

  • Sales to grocery stores and restaurants allowed; vendors must use separate labeled display
  • Counties/cities may opt out of third-party vendor sales by ordinance
  • Online listings must show the disclosure; phone/custom orders may disclose verbally
  • Pet treats excluded (separate feed license)
Permit
No permit or registration for most baked goods. State license and fee removed by HB 398 (eff. July 1, 2025); no pre-licensing inspection. Optional GDA Identification Number can replace address on labels. GDA page still lists ANSI-accredited food safety training. Inspections only for complaints, illness or emergencies.
Sales cap
No annual sales cap found in state sources
Where you can sell
Directly to a person, including online and by mail order, or to retail food sales establishments (grocery stores, restaurants); nonprofit and for-profit events.
Online orders
Yes
Ship in state
Yes
Ship out of state
Not addressed clearly by state sources
Sell to shops / cafés
Yes
Allowed foods
Non-potentially hazardous foods and nonalcoholic beverages: breads, cakes (no refrigerated/high-moisture fillings), cookies, jams/jellies, dried fruit, herbs, granola, nuts, vinegars, dill pickles, fudge, dry soup mixes, roasted coffee, dry pasta, popcorn, cotton candy. No alcohol, cannabis foods or raw milk.

What a Georgia cottage food label must show

  1. Business name of the cottage food operator
  2. Address of the operator, or a GDA-issued identification number in lieu of address
  3. Telephone number of the operator
  4. The required statement (above)
  5. Common or usual name of the product (GDA general food labeling)
  6. Net quantity in standard and metric units (GDA general food labeling)
  7. Ingredients in descending order of predominance by weight, with major allergens (GDA general food labeling)

Federal rules still apply on top: ingredients in descending order by weight (21 CFR 101.4), the nine major allergens declared by name (FALCPA and the FASTER Act), and net quantity in ounces and grams (21 CFR 101.7). Georgia allows cottage food orders online or by phone. Shipping within the state is allowed, and shipping to other states is not addressed (selling across state lines also brings in federal rules).

Make a Georgia label now

The Georgia statement is already on it. Type your ingredients, tick the allergens and print on Avery sheets or a thermal roll. To have the ingredient order and allergens worked out from a costed recipe, use the workbench.

List by weight in the recipe, largest first, with sub-ingredients in parentheses. The workbench does this ordering for you from a recipe.
Contains (major food allergens)

Still missing: business name and address.

Print at 100% scale with no margins. Check the result against Georgia’s rules above before selling.

Chocolate chip cookies
Ingredients: Enriched flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), semisweet chocolate (sugar, chocolate, cocoa butter, soy lecithin), butter (cream), brown sugar, eggs, sugar, vanilla extract, baking soda, salt.
Contains: Milk, Egg, Wheat, Soy.
Net Wt 3 oz (85 g)
This product was produced at a residential property that is exempt from state inspection. This product may contain allergens.

True size. Georgia statement at 10 pt minimum.

Georgia cottage food questions

What statement has to be on a Georgia cottage food label?

Georgia requires: “This product was produced at a residential property that is exempt from state inspection. This product may contain allergens.” (Statement in at least 10 point font).

Do I need a permit to sell baked goods from home in Georgia?

No permit or registration for most baked goods. State license and fee removed by HB 398 (eff. July 1, 2025); no pre-licensing inspection. Optional GDA Identification Number can replace address on labels. GDA page still lists ANSI-accredited food safety training. Inspections only for complaints, illness or emergencies.

Is there a sales limit for cottage food in Georgia?

No annual cap appears in the state sources we checked. No gross sales cap in HB 398.

Can I sell cottage food online or ship it in Georgia?

Georgia allows cottage food orders online or by phone. Shipping within the state is allowed, and shipping to other states is not addressed (selling across state lines also brings in federal rules).

Sources

  1. HB 398 (As Passed House and Senate), O.C.G.A. 26-2-470 et seq. - GDA copy (statute)
  2. Georgia Dept of Agriculture: Cottage Food (agency)
  3. GDA: Cottage Food Update HB 398 FAQ (agency)
  4. Permit or registration page (agency)

Checked October 17, 2026. This is a checklist built from the sources above, not legal advice. Rules change; your county or the agency has the final word. Spotted something out of date? The about page explains how we check.

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