Who the South Carolina cottage food law covers
The law covers one person working out of their own dwelling. SCDA's guidance adds that the kitchen must be the family-use kitchen inside the home. A rented commercial kitchen, a shed or a food truck kitchen doesn't count.
SCDA now runs the program, which used to sit with the former Department of Health and Environmental Control. Local ordinances can still set different rules: the state law applies where no local ordinance says otherwise.
Which foods you can sell
The test is whether the food stays safe at room temperature. SCDA's guidance gives long example lists. Some foods SCDA names as allowed:
- Shelf-stable cakes, cupcakes, cookies and brownies, including buttercream icing made from a standard recipe
- Breads like bagels, focaccia (no vegetables on top) and sourdough made with a commercial starter
- Hard candy, fudge, cotton candy, chocolates and popcorn
- Jams and jellies from acidic fruit, made with sugar and pectin from a science-based recipe
- Dried herbs, spices and teas, and coffee roasted in your kitchen
- Granola, trail mix, roasted or candied nuts and high-acid fruit pies
And some it names as not allowed:
- Anything that needs refrigeration, including cheesecake, cream, custard and pumpkin pies
- Bottled drinks such as juice, cold brew, kombucha and smoothie mixes
- Hot sauce, BBQ sauce, salsa, pickles, relish and pepper jelly
- Low-sugar or no-sugar jams, and jams with low-acid ingredients like figs or peppers
- Meat, poultry, seafood and charcuterie boards
- Pet treats, and foods with CBD, Delta 8 or Delta 9
Anything not allowed has to be made in a commercial kitchen under a retail food establishment permit. If a recipe would need lab testing to prove it is shelf-stable, SCDA treats it as a permit product too.
Where and how you can sell
South Carolina gives home producers a wide market, as long as the food stays in the state. Every item is packaged and labeled in your home kitchen before it leaves.
| Way of selling | Allowed? |
|---|---|
| In person: markets, events, your home | Yes |
| Online and mail order | Yes, delivered to South Carolina addresses |
| Retail and grocery stores | Yes, the store posts a sign |
| A food truck | Yes, only if packaged at home first |
| A restaurant serving it or using it as an ingredient | Only with a variance the restaurant gets from SCDA |
| Customers in other states | No, FDA rules apply across state lines |
A store that sells your food must clearly post a sign that home-based food products are not subject to commercial food regulations. SCDA's handout gives the wording: the same all-caps statement that goes on your label.
No slicing or serving on site: you can set out a display, but what you sell must be packaged and labeled at home.
Kitchen rules, without the inspection
Nobody inspects you before you start, but the law spells out how your kitchen must run while you produce food for sale:
- Public water, or a private well tested at least once a year for total coliform bacteria
- A separate storage place for ingredients you use for sales
- Working refrigeration and a sink with enough hot water
- Handwashing facilities separate from the sink for utensils
- A working toilet, approved sewage disposal and no sign of insects or rodents
- No pets in the area and no household activities in the kitchen while you produce
- No one with a disease that spreads through food, an infected wound or an acute respiratory infection handling the food
Selling under $1,500 a year
Very small sellers sit outside the law altogether. If your net earnings stay under $1,500 a year, section 44-1-143 doesn't apply to you. SCDA reads that as: no labeling rules, but you must be there in person and sell straight to the end consumer. Store sales are off the table at that level.
Honey, permits and growing beyond the law
Beekeepers choose one route. You can sell honey under the home-based food law, or keep the SCDA honey exemption or a Registration Verification Certificate (RVC), but not both. Switching to cottage food means emailing SCDA to surrender the exemption. The RVC route lets honey cross state lines.
Want cheesecake, hot sauce or out-of-state customers? Then you need a commercial kitchen and an SCDA retail food establishment permit, and federal labeling applies to anything crossing state lines.
Nutrition Facts Label Requirements →