Last verified 16 Sep 2026 · Sources
Illinois’s Home-to-Market Act (410 ILCS 625/4) lets you register with your local health department and sell directly to consumers with no revenue cap, but the registration fee is capped at $50 a year and whoever makes or packages the food needs a Certified Food Protection Manager (CFPM) certificate. The label rule that matters most is the statute’s own disclaimer sentence about the home kitchen and allergens, printed word for word. A Nutrition Facts panel isn’t required under this exemption unless your product carries a nutrient claim or moves into a wholesale, retail, or out-of-state channel the law doesn’t cover.
| Quick facts | Illinois |
|---|---|
| Revenue cap | None |
| Permit or registration | Registration with local health dept, fee capped at $50/yr |
| Sales channels | Direct, farmers markets, online/delivery within IL |
| Online sales | In-state only |
| Required label statement | “This product was produced in a home kitchen not inspected by a health department that may also process common food allergens. If you have safety concerns, contact your local health department.” |
| Nutrition Facts panel | Not required unless you make a nutrient claim |
| Administered by | Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), via local health departments |
| Governing law | Illinois Home-to-Market Act (410 ILCS 625/4) |
What Illinois lets you sell from home
The Home-to-Market Act covers most non-potentially-hazardous foods (baked goods, candy, jams and jellies, dried goods) plus categories the 2022 rewrite added with conditions: acidified and fermented foods (pH 4.6 or below, with a safety plan or verified recipe), canned tomatoes (pH test or approved recipe), salad dressings, vinegars and infused oils, dairy in baked goods where water activity stays at or below 0.85, and unpasteurized fresh-pressed juice sold with a warning label (410 ILCS 625/4(b), https://ilga.gov/Documents/legislation/ilcs/documents/041006250K4.htm). Prohibited: meat, poultry, fish, seafood, and shellfish; most raw dairy and raw eggs outside limited baked-goods exceptions; custard, cream, and cheesecake-style pies; garlic-in-oil unless acidified; low-acid canned foods; sprouts; most cut leafy greens; cut or puréed fresh tomato or melon; wild-harvested mushrooms; alcoholic beverages; and kombucha. A narrower category (potentially hazardous items like hummus or cut vegetables that aren’t outright banned) must be held, transported, and sold at 41°F or below, or backed by testing proving shelf stability (Illinois Extension Cottage Food Guide, https://extension.illinois.edu/media/9376/download?inline=).
Permits, registration, and the revenue cap
There’s no state-issued license for cottage food in Illinois. Instead, you register with the local health department for the county where you live, submitting a product list, label samples, a CFPM certificate, and (for private-well kitchens) a water test, along with the fee. The statute caps that fee at $50 a year (410 ILCS 625/4(c), https://ilga.gov/Documents/legislation/ilcs/documents/041006250K4.htm); registration doesn’t trigger routine inspection, only a cause-based one if a complaint or illness report comes in. The biggest recent change is Public Act 102-0633, effective 2022, which replaced the old, narrower cottage food law: it removed the $25,000 annual gross-receipts cap, dropped the “farmers’ market only” restriction, expanded allowed foods to include acidified and fermented products, and added the CFPM requirement in place of a simple food handler card. There’s currently no statutory revenue cap on an Illinois cottage food operation.
Where you can sell
An Illinois cottage food operation sells directly to the end consumer: you, a family member, or an employee can make the sale, but your product can’t go to a retailer, restaurant, distributor, or anyone else for resale (410 ILCS 625/4(b), https://ilga.gov/Documents/legislation/ilcs/documents/041006250K4.htm). Allowed venues: your own home or farm, farmers’ markets and mobile farmers’ markets, fairs, festivals, and public events, online orders with pickup or delivery, and shipping within Illinois using tamper-evident packaging. Not allowed: selling to any business for resale, shipping or selling to a buyer outside Illinois, unattended vending, and any pop-up or retail-space appearance where you, the registered operator, aren’t personally present. Once you’re registered with one county’s health department, you can sell anywhere in the state.
What has to be on the label
Every package needs:
- The cottage food operation’s name and the municipality or county where it’s registered
- The registration number and the local health department that issued it
- The product’s common or usual name
- A full ingredient list in descending order by weight, including sub-ingredients, colors, and preservatives
- Allergen labeling for milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts (by type), wheat, peanuts, soybeans, and sesame, in the ingredient list or a separate “Contains” statement
- Net weight
- The date the food was prepared
- The required disclaimer statement (below)
“This product was produced in a home kitchen not inspected by a health department that may also process common food allergens. If you have safety concerns, contact your local health department.”
(410 ILCS 625/4(b)(7), https://ilga.gov/Documents/legislation/ilcs/documents/041006250K4.htm)
At the point of sale (a farmers’ market table, a pop-up, a pickup counter), the statute requires the same disclaimer on a placard, though the point-of-sale version stops after “common food allergens” and drops the sentence about contacting the health department (410 ILCS 625/4(b)(10)). The statute doesn’t set a minimum sign size; check with your local health department before printing one.
When you need a Nutrition Facts panel
Cottage food sold under Illinois’s Home-to-Market Act is exempt from FDA nutrition labeling; the statute’s disclaimer sentence handles the state’s own disclosure requirement and isn’t a substitute for a Nutrition Facts panel once one becomes necessary. The exemption ends the moment a nutrient content or health claim appears anywhere (“low sugar,” “high protein,” “a good source of fiber”) on the package, a farmers’-market sign, or an Instagram caption; that claim triggers a compliant panel under 21 CFR 101.9 regardless of how small your operation is. It also ends once your product moves past what the statute allows: wholesale accounts, retail-shelf placement, a co-packer relationship, or sales to a buyer outside Illinois all require commercial licensing this exemption doesn’t cover, and a licensed product needs standard nutrition labeling. Illinois’s cottage food rules don’t add a separate state-level nutrition-panel requirement beyond that.
Once a panel is needed, NutriLabels builds it to the same regulation, so the “good source of fiber” on your market sign has the numbers to back it. Enter your recipe, then see your label: your calories, the claims you qualify for and your allergen line are free, no card required, and every other value and %DV stays hidden until you unlock it. $29 unlocks every other nutrient value and %DV, every FDA format your product qualifies for, the ingredient statement and the allergen declaration, ready to print, or send us the recipe and we build it (done-for-you, $249, within 5 business days). Start your label, or compare Illinois with other states on the cottage food laws hub.
Illinois cottage food FAQ
Do I need a license to sell homemade food in Illinois?
No license, but you do need to register with the local health department where you live under the Home-to-Market Act (410 ILCS 625/4). The fee is capped at $50 a year, and there's no inspection unless a complaint comes in.
What's the sales limit for Illinois cottage food operations?
There isn't one. The 2022 rewrite of the law (Public Act 102-0633) removed the old $25,000 gross-receipts cap; Illinois now sets no statutory revenue limit on your cottage food sales.
Can I sell cottage food online in Illinois?
Yes, but only to buyers inside Illinois. The statute allows online orders with pickup, delivery, or shipping to an in-state customer; it doesn't cover out-of-state sales or wholesale accounts.
Do I need a food handler card to sell cottage food in Illinois?
You need more than the basic food handler card: the person preparing or packaging the product must hold a Department-approved Certified Food Protection Manager (CFPM) certificate.
What does the Illinois cottage food label have to say?
The statute requires an exact sentence about the home kitchen and allergens, plus your operation's name, registration number and location, the product name, a full ingredient list, allergens, net weight, and the processing date.
Does Illinois require a Nutrition Facts label on cottage food?
No, not under the Home-to-Market Act exemption. A Nutrition Facts panel becomes necessary once your product carries a nutrient content or health claim, or once it moves into wholesale, retail, or interstate sales the exemption doesn't cover.
Nearby states
Selling into a neighboring state means that state’s rules apply there: Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, Kentucky. See the full state-by-state table.