Who can run a cottage food operation
A cottage food operation (CFO) is run by the person who lives in the home where the food is made. The kitchen and any storage you use become the registered or permitted area of that home.
You can hire help, but not much: at most one full-time equivalent employee. Family members and people in your household don't count toward that limit.
The Approved Cottage Foods List
CDPH keeps one statewide list of foods that are safe without refrigeration. If a food isn't on it, you can't sell it as cottage food. The list has ten categories:
- Baked goods without cream, custard or meat fillings
- Candy and confections
- Extracts with at least 35% alcohol
- Dried, dehydrated and freeze-dried foods
- Frostings and icings without raw eggs, cream or cream cheese
- Pure honey and sorghum syrup
- Fruit butters, jams and jellies (21 CFR Part 150 fruits)
- Nuts, nut mixes, butters and spreads
- Powdered beverage mixes
- Vinegars and mustards
Some favorites are left off on purpose. CDPH explains each one:
- Salsa: tomatoes vary in pH, and bottling it risks botulism
- Pickles, hot sauce and other canned low-acid or acidified foods
- Pumpkin and sweet potato pie: milk, eggs and moisture let bacteria grow
- Pepper jelly: peppers are low-acid, and only Part 150 fruits are allowed in jams
- Custards and lemon curd, while eggs in a dry baked cookie or cake are fine
CDPH adds and removes foods by posting a notice on its cottage food page. You can also ask CDPH to add a food with form CDPH 8764.
Class A or Class B: where you can sell
Your class decides who you may sell to. Both classes sell only within California.
| Way of selling | Class A | Class B |
|---|---|---|
| Markets, bake sales, farm stands, CSAs, your home | Yes | Yes |
| Orders by phone, website or app | Yes | Yes |
| Delivery in person, by mail or a delivery service | Yes | Yes |
| Through a permitted shop, cafe or restaurant | No | Yes |
| Buyers outside California | No | No |
When a shop or restaurant serves your food unpackaged, or uses it as an ingredient, it must tell its customers the food came from a cottage food home kitchen.
Registration, permits, inspections and training
Class A operations register with the county and fill in a self-certification checklist that confirms they follow the cottage food rules. Class B operations get a permit, and the county may inspect them at most once a year, unless a complaint gives it reason to come back.
Both renew every year. Your local environmental health department has the forms and its fees.
Within three months of approval, you and anyone who prepares or packages your food complete a food processor course. An ANSI-accredited food handler course counts. Keep the certificate and repeat the course every three years.
The six kitchen rules
- No family cooking, dishwashing, laundry or entertaining in the kitchen while you make cottage food
- No infants, small children or pets in the kitchen during production
- Equipment and utensils kept clean and in good repair
- Food contact surfaces washed, rinsed and sanitized before each use
- Prep and storage areas free of vermin
- No smoking where cottage food or its ingredients are handled or stored
When you outgrow cottage food
Past the Class B cap, selling out of state, or adding foods that aren't on the list? Then you move to a licensed food facility, and the full FDA label applies: ingredients, net quantity, allergens and usually a Nutrition Facts panel.
FDA Food Labeling Requirements →