Cottage food label requirements in Ohio

Cottage Food Production Operations, Ohio Rev. Code §§ 3715.01, 3715.023, 3715.025; Ohio Admin. Code 901:3-20-01 to 901:3-20-05. Regulated by Ohio Department of Agriculture, Division of Food Safety. Checked against state sources on October 18, 2026.

The statement your label needs

This product is home produced.

Type size and placement: ten-point type

What is different in Ohio

Selling cottage food products outside Ohio is prohibited (OAC 901:3-20-05(F))
Home must be the owner's primary residence with only one stove/oven for ordinary home use
Only foods expressly listed in OAC 901:3-20-04 may be produced
Cheesecakes, cream/custard/pumpkin pies need a separate ODA Home Bakery license
Licensed retailers and restaurants may sell or use properly labeled cottage foods

Permit: No permit or registration for most baked goods. Exempt from ODA licensing and inspection; products subject to ODA sampling for misbranding/adulteration. Refrigerated (TCS) baked goods instead need an ODA Home Bakery license. Local health departments may require a temporary/mobile license to sell at events such as craft fairs.
Sales cap: No annual sales cap found in state sources
Where you can sell: Directly to consumers from the home where produced; through licensed grocery stores/retail food establishments, registered farm markets, farmers markets, licensed restaurants; festivals organized by a political subdivision lasting no more than 7 consecutive days. Ohio only.
Online orders: No
Ship in state: Not addressed clearly by state sources
Ship out of state: No
Sell to shops / cafés: Yes
Allowed foods: Only the listed non-potentially hazardous items: bakery products, jams, jellies, candy, fruit chutneys and butters, granola, popcorn, unfilled baked donuts, waffle cones, pizzelles, snack mixes, roasted coffee, dry baking/soup/seasoning/tea mixes, dry herbs, flavored honey and maple sugar from exempt producers. No acidified, low-acid canned or potentially hazardous foods; no reduced oxygen packaging.

What a Ohio cottage food label must show

Name and address of the business of the cottage food production operation
Name of the food product
Ingredients in descending order of predominance by weight
Net weight and volume (ODA: in both U.S. customary and metric units)
The required statement (above) in ten-point type
Major food allergen declaration and other 21 CFR Part 101 labeling requirements (OAC 901:3-20-02); Nutrition Facts if nutrient content or health claims are made

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). Ohio’s rules do not allow online cottage food sales; sales are face to face. Shipping within the state is not clearly addressed, and products may not cross state lines.

Make a Ohio label now

The Ohio 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.

Product name

Net weight

Ingredients, heaviest firstList 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)

MilkEggFishCrustacean shellfishTree nutsPeanutsWheatSoySesame

Business name

Address

Label stock

Labels

Still missing: business name and address.

Print at 100% scale with no margins. Check the result against Ohio’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 is home produced.

True size. Ohio statement at 10 pt minimum.

Ohio cottage food questions

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

Ohio requires: “This product is home produced.” (ten-point type).

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

No permit or registration for most baked goods. Exempt from ODA licensing and inspection; products subject to ODA sampling for misbranding/adulteration. Refrigerated (TCS) baked goods instead need an ODA Home Bakery license. Local health departments may require a temporary/mobile license to sell at events such as craft fairs.

Is there a sales limit for cottage food in Ohio?

No annual cap appears in the state sources we checked. No sales cap in ORC 3715 or OAC 901:3-20.

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

Ohio’s rules do not allow online cottage food sales; sales are face to face. Shipping within the state is not clearly addressed, and products may not cross state lines.

Sources

Checked October 18, 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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