Can I sell cheesecake or kuchen from home in South Dakota?

Yes, after you complete the approved food safety training. Keep them at 41°F or below and put a keep-refrigerated line on the label.

Can I take orders online and deliver them?

You can deliver the order yourself, or have someone who lives with you deliver it. Shipping by mail or a carrier is not allowed under the exemption.

Is there a limit on how much I can sell?

The South Dakota home food statutes don't set a sales cap. Sales tax still applies to what you sell.

Do I need training to sell cookies and bread?

No. Training is only required for canned goods and for the refrigerated or frozen foods the law allows. Canners can use a processing authority's recipe review instead.

6 min read

South Dakota Cottage Food Law

South Dakota cottage food law lets you sell food made in your own home with no license, no license fee and no sales cap in the statute. You sell in person, at your home, a farmers market, a roadside stand or another temporary venue, and every package carries a label with a set disclaimer. Baked goods and dry foods need no training. Canned goods and a few refrigerated or frozen foods do.

Make a South Dakota label South Dakota label rules

South Dakota cottage food law: map of the United States with South Dakota highlighted

License or feeNoneHome-prepared food that meets the rules is exempt from the licensing and license fee provisions.SDCL 34-18-38

Sales capNone in the lawThe home food sections of South Dakota law set no dollar limit on your sales.

TrainingOnly sometimesRequired for canned goods and for the refrigerated or frozen foods the law allows. Every five years.SDCL 34-18-36

Where you sellIn personAt home, a farmers market, a roadside stand or another temporary venue, handed over by you. No shipping.

Which foods you can sell

SDCL 34-18-35The licensing rules don't apply to a person selling non-temperature-controlled food prepared at a residence, home-processed canned goods, baked goods prepared at a residence, or food allowed under the training rules.

So the base list is wide: cookies, breads, rolls, cakes, lefse, muffins, hard candy, nuts, seeds, granola and dry mixes like spice blends, baking mixes and drink powders. You can sell all of these without any training.

Canned goods are allowed when the pH is 4.6 or less or the water activity is 0.85 or less. Pickles, salsa and jams can qualify when they meet that limit.

Meat jerky and honey don't need refrigeration, but SDSU Extension points out that other state agencies regulate them. Ask before you sell those.

Refrigerated and frozen foods, with training

South Dakota goes further than most states. After the food safety training, you may also sell foods that need to stay cold:

Food	Keep it at
Fermented food that isn't heat processed, like sauerkraut or kimchi	41°F or below
Kuchen, soft pies, cheesecake, custard or cream-filled baked goods	41°F or below
Sauces and pesto that need time and temperature control	41°F or below
Home-processed frozen fruit and produce	0°F or below

SDCL 34-18-36.1The food must be consistently maintained at that temperature. The label tells the buyer to keep it refrigerated or frozen.

The food safety training

Anyone selling canned goods, or the refrigerated and frozen foods above, completes food safety training approved by the South Dakota Department of Health every five years. The law requires it to be available online, and you keep proof that you finished it.

SDSU Extension runs the approved online course for a $40 registration fee, with a certificate at the end. Each person involved in production takes it individually. Its Master Food Preserver or Home Food Preservation course may count as equivalent training.

SDCL 34-18-36For canned goods, instead of the training, you may keep written verification of each recipe from a third-party processing authority that checked the processing method and the pH or water activity.

Process Authority →

SDSU Extension Food Safety acts as a processing authority and reviews canned products for free.

Where and how you can sell

To stay exempt, the sale happens in your physical presence and you, or someone who lives with you, hands the food to the buyer when the sale is done.

Way of selling	Allowed?
At your primary residence	Yes
Farmers markets	Yes
Roadside stands	Yes
Other temporary sale venues, like a craft fair	Yes
Driving the order to the buyer yourself	Yes
Shipping by mail or carrier	No
Stores, restaurants or wholesale	No, that takes a license

SDCL 34-18-38The food is sold in the seller's physical presence at the seller's primary residence, a farmer's market, a roadside stand or other temporary sale venue, and the seller or a person residing there personally delivers it.

When you outgrow the home food exemption

Want your granola on a grocery shelf, or to ship orders? Then you need a state license and a full federal label: ingredients, net quantity, allergens and, for most packaged food, a Nutrition Facts panel. Items you sell are also subject to sales tax, so talk to the Department of Revenue early.

Packaged Food Label Maker →

The label

What your South Dakota label must say

Food prepared at a residence can't be sold without a label. The law lists nine items, and the last one is a disclaimer in fixed wording.

Make my South Dakota label South Dakota label rules

1
Product name
Like "Rhubarb kuchen" or "Dill pickles".
2
Producer name
The name of the person who made the food.
3
Physical address of production
Where you made the food.
4
Mailing address
Where the producer receives mail.
5
Telephone number
A number buyers can call.
6
Date made or processed
The day you baked, canned or froze it.
7
Ingredients
Every ingredient in the food.
8
Keep refrigerated or frozen
Only for the refrigerated and frozen foods allowed with training.
9
The disclaimer
Word for word, on every package.
Required statement, word for wordCopy exactlyThis product was not produced in a commercial kitchen. It has been home-processed in a kitchen that may also process common food allergens such as tree nuts, peanuts, eggs, soy, wheat, milk, fish, and crustacean shellfish.

Sources

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