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Alaska Cottage Food Label Requirements

Alaska cottage food label requirements now come from the state's homemade food law, and they are short. A package sold on its own shows your name, current address and phone number, your business license number if you have one, and this sentence word for word: "This food was made in a home kitchen, is not regulated or inspected, except for meat and meat products, and may contain allergens." That's it for state rules. Selling unpackaged? Then you tell the buyer instead.

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Alaska cottage food label requirements: map of the United States with Alaska highlighted
Homemade food label

Required on every packaged Alaska homemade food

Sell a jar, bag or box on its own? Print these five parts on it, clear and easy to spot.

Example Alaska homemade food label for blueberry jam with the producer's name, current address, phone number, business license number and the home kitchen statement
  1. 1
    Your nameAS 17.20.332(e)(1)
    The producer: the person who made and packaged the food.
  2. 2
    Current addressAS 17.20.332(e)(1)
    Where you can be reached now. Moved? Update your labels.
  3. 3
    Telephone numberAS 17.20.332(e)(1)
    So a buyer can call you with a question about ingredients or allergens.
  4. 4
    Business license number, if applicableAS 17.20.332(e)(1)
    If you hold a business license, its number goes on the label too.
  5. 5
    The home kitchen statementAS 17.20.332(e)(2)
    Word for word: "This food was made in a home kitchen, is not regulated or inspected, except for meat and meat products, and may contain allergens."
  6. No ingredient list requiredGood practiceAlaska's homemade food law doesn't ask for ingredients, allergens, net weight or a product name. Buyers with allergies look for them anyway, so adding the product name and an ingredient list with a Contains line is a smart move.
Alaska at a glance

Permits, sales cap and where you sell

State permitNoneHomemade food sold under the exemption is free of state labeling, licensing, packaging, permitting and inspection requirements beyond the law itself.AS 17.20.332(a)
Sales capNot in the lawNo dollar limit appears in the statute, and DEC lists no limit on sales.
Where you sellInside AlaskaFarmers markets, fairs, farms, your home or office, third-party stores, or a place you agree on with the buyer. Never across state lines.
Perishable foodsAllowedFoods that need refrigeration are covered, but you sell them yourself. Only eggs and shelf-stable foods can go through a store.AS 17.20.332(f)
Selling unpackaged foodTell the buyerCookies from an open tray need no label, but the buyer still gets the facts before paying: that the food falls under Alaska's homemade food law (AS 17.20.332 to 17.20.338) and skips some state requirements, plus your name, current address, phone number and any business license number.AS 17.20.332(g)
Selling through a storeYour label stays the same in a shop. The shop adds its own sign about home kitchen food, allergens and no inspection, and gives your products a shelf apart from inspected food.AS 17.20.332(d)
Selling beyond the homemade food law?Seafood, restaurant sales and shipping out of state fall outside the exemption. Then the federal label rules apply: ingredients, net quantity, allergens and usually a Nutrition Facts panel.Nutrition Facts Label Requirements →
Sources

Where this comes from

Questions

Alaska label questions

Alaska now uses a homemade food exemption in its food statutes. It covers more foods than a classic cottage food law, including perishable ones, and it has its own label statement. Alaska Cottage Food Law →

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