Three ways to sell homemade food in Utah
Utah law has three separate programs for food made in a home kitchen. Pick the one that matches what you make and who buys it.
| Route | Cottage food | Homemade food act | Microenterprise home kitchen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who signs you up | UDAF registration | No license (business license still applies) | Local health department permit |
| Foods | Approved shelf-stable list | Most homemade food, not raw dairy or most meat | Meals, including refrigerated food |
| Buyers | Consumers and stores | Informed final consumer only | Consumers only |
| Inspection | Before registration | None | Initial inspection before opening |
| Label | "Home Produced" plus the federal label | Name, address, disclosure, allergens | Consumer notice |
Foods allowed under Utah cottage food registration
A cottage food is a nonpotentially hazardous baked good, jam, jelly or other nonpotentially hazardous food made in a home kitchen. UDAF turns that into a list of permitted products:
- Shelf-stable baked goods: breads, cookies, cakes, pastries and fruit pies
- Cereals, trail mixes and granola, including cereal-marshmallow treats
- Dried fruits made from acidic fruits, and chocolate-covered dried fruits
- Dry herbs and seasoning mixes
- Hard candies, freeze-dried candies and cotton candy
- Jams, jellies and preserves from the fruits in 21 CFR Part 150
- Nuts, nut mixes and nut brittles, including candied and chocolate-covered nuts
- Popcorn and popcorn balls
- Raw honey and creamed honey
- Roasted coffee beans, vanilla extract, vinegar and strained flavored vinegar
- Repackaged foods that need no time or temperature control
Baked goods must be cooked with dry heat, in an oven or on a hot skillet. Frying and steaming are out, and so are cream-based frostings, cream cheese fillings, buttercream with egg, custards, pumpkin or pecan pie fillings and fresh fruit toppings. Refrigerated or frozen food, meat and poultry, cheesecakes, fruit butter and sugar-free jams are not allowed.
Where you can sell Utah cottage food
| Way of selling | Allowed? |
|---|---|
| Direct to consumers, like at your home or a farmers market | Yes |
| Stores that resell your packaged food | Yes, inside Utah |
| Restaurants using it as an ingredient | No |
| Customers outside Utah | No |
Your local health department has no say over your home production as long as nobody eats the food at your home, but it can still investigate a foodborne illness outbreak.
Registration, inspection and kitchen rules
Fill out the Cottage Food Establishment Application, attach a recipe with ingredients, amounts and steps for every product, and email it to UDAF. You get an invoice for the registration fee, then a UDAF inspector visits for the pre-operational inspection. Sourdough made with a homemade starter needs a lab pH result of 4.0 or less.
At the inspection, be ready to show:
- A current food handler permit for everyone working with the food
- Gloves, hair restraints, sanitizer and matching test strips
- Sample labels that meet 21 CFR 101 and R70-560-6
- Food-grade packaging
- A separate business-only refrigerator at 41°F or less, and separate dry storage
- Your warewashing steps and a written plan for vomiting or diarrheal events
While you produce, pets stay out of the kitchen, household cooking waits, and family members and visitors keep out. Store business ingredients and finished products apart from your household food.
The Home Consumption and Homemade Food Act
This law exempts a producer from state, county and city licensing, permits, inspection, packaging and labeling rules, except the ones it sets itself. It applies when the food is made and sold in Utah, sold directly to an informed final consumer, and meant for personal or home consumption. You still need a city or county business license.
- An informed final consumer buys from you or your designated representative, doesn't resell, and knows the food is not certified, licensed, regulated or inspected by the state
- You may sell at a farm, ranch, direct-to-sale farmers market, home, office or any place you and the buyer agree on
- Restaurants and other commercial establishments may not buy or use the food, except raw, unprocessed fruits and vegetables
- Raw dairy is excluded, and so are meat products, apart from narrow exceptions such as poultry under the USDA 1,000 bird exemption
A direct-to-sale farmers market linked to a regular farmers market keeps its own area, separated and marked with signs.
Microenterprise home kitchen permits
Want to sell plated meals or food that needs refrigeration? A microenterprise home kitchen permit comes from the local health department where you live. It costs what the department charges to cover its regulating costs, renews every year, and is tied to your address and the hours on the permit.
- Initial inspection no more than one week before you open
- Written standard operating procedures and consent for the health department to enter
- Refrigerated food cooked and served the same day, or within 72 hours with temperature logs
- Food goes directly to the consumer: no eating on site, no wholesalers, no retailers
- No molluscan shellfish, raw milk products or processes that need a HACCP plan
When you outgrow the Utah cottage food law
Foods off the UDAF list, sales to other states or a product you want in restaurant dishes take a licensed food establishment. From there, federal labeling applies in full, and a Nutrition Facts panel is often part of it.
Nutrition Facts Label Requirements →