What goes on a home bakery label
| Part | What to print | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| Product name | "Snickerdoodles", "Cinnamon raisin bread" | Plain words, on the front |
| Home-kitchen statement | Your state's exact words | Wording and type size differ by state; never reword it |
| Your name and address | Or a registration number, where allowed | Texas lets registered operators print a number instead of the address |
| Allergens | Wheat, milk, egg, soy, the exact tree nut, peanuts, sesame | Required in Texas and Florida |
| Ingredients | Heaviest first, with sub-ingredients | Required in Florida, not on the Texas list |
| Net weight | Ounces and grams | Required in Florida, not on the Texas list |
| Nutrition Facts | Per cookie, slice or piece | Florida: only with a nutritional claim |
Your state's law decides every row. Read its label section once, line by line, before you print the first batch of stickers.
One bag of cookies, two states
The same bag of snickerdoodles needs a different label in Texas than in Florida. That is why a template from another state's baker is never safe to copy.
| Texas | Florida | |
|---|---|---|
| Statement | THIS PRODUCT WAS PRODUCED IN A PRIVATE RESIDENCE THAT IS NOT SUBJECT TO GOVERNMENTAL LICENSING OR INSPECTION. | Made in a cottage food operation that is not subject to Florida's food safety regulations. (At least 10-point type, in a color that contrasts with the label) |
| Who made it | Name of the operation, plus the address or a registration number from DSHS | Name and address of the operation |
| Ingredients | Not on the state list; allergens are | Required, from most to least by weight |
| Allergens | Every major food allergen used | Per federal labeling rules |
| Net weight | Not on the state list | Net weight or net volume |
| Nutrition | Not on the state list | Only when the label makes a nutritional claim |
Bakes that need the fridge
Cookies, breads and most cakes keep at room temperature. Cream pies, custards and cheesecake are a different matter: they usually count as foods that need time and temperature control for safety (TCS foods). Some states keep them out of cottage food; in Ohio, for example, they need a licensed Home Bakery. Where they are allowed, the label gets longer.
- Texas allows TCS foods from a home kitchen, but only after you register with DSHS
- Texas then adds a safe handling statement, starting "SAFE HANDLING INSTRUCTIONS:", in at least 12-point type, on the label or the invoice
- Texas also asks for the date the food was made on TCS foods
- Check your own state's list of allowed foods before you bake a cream pie for sale
Allergens: the line home bakers miss
Flour means wheat, butter means milk, and almost every recipe has eggs. The trap is in the names: butter, cream and whey don't say milk, so a list that only reads "butter" hides the allergen. A Contains line fixes it in one place.
- Name the nut: Contains pecans, not Contains tree nuts
- Chocolate chips often carry soy lecithin; read the bag
- Sesame on rolls and bagels is a major allergen too
- Bought sprinkles, fillings and frostings bring their own ingredient lists and allergens
Do home-baked goods need Nutrition Facts?
Texas doesn't list them, Florida asks only when the label makes a nutritional claim, and the federal rules exempt small sellers who make no nutrition claim. The catch is the claim. Write "low sugar", "only 150 calories" or "high protein" on the bag, your menu board or your Instagram and the full panel is required.
Some bakers add a panel anyway, because a café or a customer asks. Here is what one looks like for a sweet quick bread: the reference amount is 55 g, so a 60 g slice is labeled as 1 slice.
Ingredients: Sugar, enriched bleached flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), whole milk, butter (cream), eggs, lemon juice, poppy seeds, lemon peel, baking powder (sodium bicarbonate, sodium aluminum sulfate, cornstarch, monocalcium phosphate), salt. Contains: Milk, Egg, Wheat.
- Recipe: 1 1/2 cups flour, 1 cup sugar, 1/2 cup unsalted butter, 2 eggs, 1/2 cup whole milk, 2 tbsp lemon juice, 1 tbsp lemon zest, 1 tbsp poppy seeds, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp salt
- Sugar leads the list: 1 cup weighs 7.1 oz, the flour about 6.6 oz
- The loaf weighs 25.4 oz after baking, so the values are per 60 g of baked loaf
When your bakery outgrows the cottage food label
Cottage food laws come with limits: a sales cap, sales channels, the foods you may make. Florida, for example, caps cottage food sales at $250,000 a year in gross sales and allows sales online and by mail order. Once you sell through stores or move to a licensed kitchen, the home-kitchen statement goes and the full federal label rules take over.
Find your state's cottage bakery rules
Our state pages copy each required statement word for word from the official source, with the sales cap, registration and training rules next to it.
Food Label Requirements by State →Cottage Food Label Template →