Nebraska Cottage Food Label Requirements
Nebraska cottage food label requirements are short. Every package shows your name and the address where customers can reach you. Foods that need refrigeration, like cheesecake or ice cream, also list their ingredients from heaviest to lightest. The well-known home kitchen line is not a label rule in Nebraska: it's a notice you post at your stand, on your website and in your ads.
What goes on a Nebraska home food label
Items 1 and 2 are the Nebraska Pure Food Act rule for home producers. Items 3 and 4 are smart extras that buyers look for, and our tool prints them in one go.
- 1Your name and addressNeb. Rev. Stat. § 81-2,280(6)The producer's name and address, on the package or container label. The Nebraska Department of Agriculture (NDA) says a city alone won't do: use the specific mailing address where customers can contact you.
- 2Ingredients, for refrigerated foodsNeb. Rev. Stat. § 81-2,280(6)Cheesecake, ice cream, pudding and other time/temperature control for safety (TCS) foods also list every ingredient in descending order of predominance, so the heaviest ingredient comes first.
- 3Product nameNot on the state list, but every buyer wants to know what's inside the bag: "Kolaches", "Cinnamon rolls" or "Caramel corn".
- 4AllergensNebraska puts the allergen warning on your sign, not your label. A Contains line naming milk, eggs, wheat or tree nuts still helps a buyer who takes the food home.
- The kitchen notice goes on your signNot the labelThe statute wants a clearly visible notice, not a label line: the food comes from a kitchen nobody regulates or inspects, and it may contain allergens. NDA's suggested wording: "This food was prepared in a kitchen that is not subject to regulation and inspection by the regulatory authority and may contain allergens." Post it at the market table, at your home for pick-up, on your website and in every ad.
Registration, training and where you sell
Where this comes from
- Nebraska Department of Agriculture: Cottage Food RegistrationOfficial state page: registration, label address, the sign wording, Q&A
- Nebraska Revised Statute 81-2,280The law: prohibited foods, training, registration, notice, label and delivery
- NDA: Navigating food regulations as a Cottage Food ProducerNDA handout: one-time registration, no wholesale, labeling
Nebraska label questions
No, the statute puts that notice at the point of sale, on your website and in ads, not on the package. Printing it on the label as well does no harm, and it travels with the food. Nebraska Cottage Food Law →
NDA's Q&A says the label needs the specific mailing address where you can be contacted, and that just a city isn't enough. When in doubt, use your full street address.
Only for foods that need refrigeration to stay safe, like cheesecake or pudding. For cookies, bread or candy the law asks for your name and address only, though an ingredient list helps shoppers with allergies.
No. The cottage food rules don't mention one. You need one under federal rules if you add a nutrition claim like "low fat", or once you grow into a licensed business.
Yes, as long as the food isn't on the prohibited list. NDA confirms pectin jams and jellies are fine, and freeze-dried food is fine when the food itself is allowed.
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