Last verified 16 Sep 2026 · Sources
Missouri’s cottage food exemption, RSMo 196.298, lets you sell baked goods, canned jams or jellies, and dried herbs or herb mixes without a license, a kitchen inspection, or a state-set revenue cap. The tradeoff is narrow: sales have to go directly to the end consumer, either at your home or, since 2022, over the internet if both parties are in Missouri. The one label rule that isn’t optional is the disclaimer the statute writes out word for word. None of that touches when a full Nutrition Facts panel kicks in, which turns on what you claim and where you sell, not on your cottage status.
| Quick facts | Missouri |
|---|---|
| Revenue cap | None |
| Permit or registration | None; no license or registration |
| Sales channels | Direct to consumer; in-state internet sales only |
| Online sales | In-state only |
| Required label statement | “The food is not inspected by the department or local health department.” |
| Nutrition Facts panel | Not required unless you make a nutrient claim |
| Administered by | Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) |
| Governing law | RSMo § 196.298 (Cottage Food Production Exemption) |
What Missouri lets you sell from home
RSMo 196.298 defines a cottage food production operation narrowly: an individual working out of their own home who produces “a baked good, a canned jam or jelly, or a dried herb or herb mix” (revisor.mo.gov) and sells only directly to consumers. That’s the whole list: three categories, with no expansion by rule for candy, salsa, dairy-filled baked goods, canned vegetables, or anything else that needs time-and-temperature control for safety. Missouri doesn’t publish a separate “non-potentially-hazardous” test the way some states do; it limits the exemption to product types that are inherently shelf-stable, which is why jams and jellies made the list and cream pies didn’t.
There’s no tiering by revenue or volume. A few jars of jelly and a full-time home bakery both run under the same statute, so long as the products stay within the three allowed types and sales stay direct to consumer.
Permits, registration, and the revenue cap
There’s nothing to file. Subsection 2 of RSMo 196.298 states that a cottage food production operation “is not a food service establishment and shall not be subject to any health or food code laws or regulations of the state or department” beyond this section and its rules: no license application, no fee, no scheduled kitchen inspection. Local health departments keep a record of any complaint filed against an operation, but that’s a reactive log, not a permitting step.
Missouri also doesn’t cap gross sales. States that regulate cottage food this way commonly set a dollar ceiling ($25,000 to $50,000 a year is typical elsewhere), but Missouri’s statute includes none, and nothing in DHSS guidance adds one.
The one substantive recent change is sales channel, not the cap or the food list: House Bill 1697 (2022), effective August 28, 2022, added internet sales as long as both the operation and the purchaser are located in Missouri (documents.house.mo.gov). Before that, RSMo 196.298 sales were understood as in-person only.
Where you can sell
Direct-to-consumer is the boundary, tied to specific channels rather than left open-ended. In person, that means sales at your own home. Online, HB 1697 permits internet sales, but only intrastate: this exemption doesn’t let you sell to a customer in Kansas or ship a jar of jam to Illinois.
What’s not covered: selling through a retail store, a co-packer’s distribution, a wholesale account, or any arrangement where a third party resells the product to the end customer. Once a grocery store or online marketplace becomes the seller of record, your product needs standard food-establishment labeling instead. The statute itself only describes sales from the producer’s home; farmers-market and roadside sales are handled by local health department rules, so check with yours before setting up a booth.
What has to be on the label
RSMo 196.298 keeps the label list short, and every element on it is required:
- The name of the cottage food production operation
- The address of the cottage food production operation
- The required disclaimer, quoted below, verbatim
“The food is not inspected by the department or local health department.” (RSMo 196.298, https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=196.298)
The statute doesn’t prescribe a minimum type size or placement for the disclaimer, and it doesn’t independently require a product name, ingredient list, net weight, or allergen statement. That said, FALCPA still applies to packaged food regardless of a state cottage exemption, so most Missouri producers add an ingredient list in descending order by weight and a “Contains” statement for the major allergens as standard practice, even though 196.298 itself doesn’t spell that out.
When you need a Nutrition Facts panel
Missouri’s cottage food exemption is about licensing and inspection, not FDA nutrition labeling. They’re separate rulebooks. If you sell only under RSMo 196.298, you generally stay outside 21 CFR 101.9’s Nutrition Facts requirement, the same way most small businesses selling directly to consumers do. That exemption doesn’t survive three things: making a nutrient content or health claim (“high protein,” “low sugar”) anywhere your product is marketed, including a farmers-market sign or an Instagram caption; moving into wholesale, retail, or a co-packer’s line; or shipping across state lines, since Missouri’s own internet-sales allowance is intrastate only.
Once any of those apply, your product needs a real Nutrition Facts panel: mandatory nutrients, %DV, and rounding per 21 CFR 101.9, serving size from the RACC tables in 21 CFR 101.12, and an allergen declaration under FALCPA and the FASTER Act. NutriLabels builds that panel from USDA FoodData Central data and your own recipe.
Getting the panel right before your first out-of-state order saves reprinting labels you already paid for. 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, plus the ingredient statement and allergen declaration, ready to print. Start your label whenever a claim, a retailer, or an out-of-state order moves your product past the exemption, or compare Missouri with other states’ cottage food laws.
Sources
Missouri cottage food FAQ
Does Missouri require a cottage food license?
No. RSMo 196.298 says a cottage food production operation is not a food service establishment and is not subject to state or local health or food code rules beyond this section, so there's no license, permit, or kitchen inspection to get first.
Is there a sales cap for Missouri cottage food producers?
The statute sets none. Missouri is one of the few states that doesn't measure your cottage food sales against an annual gross-sales ceiling.
Can I sell my cottage food products online in Missouri?
Yes, but only if both you and the buyer are located in Missouri. RSMo 196.298 bars internet sales to out-of-state purchasers.
What exactly has to be on a Missouri cottage food label?
Your name and address as the producer, plus a statement that the food is not inspected by the department or local health department, quoted verbatim from the statute.
Can I sell cookies or bread I bake at home in Missouri?
Baked goods are one of the three categories the statute allows, along with canned jams or jellies and dried herbs or herb mixes. Other homemade foods, including anything perishable, fall outside this exemption.
Do I need a Nutrition Facts label to sell cottage food in Missouri?
Not for the cottage food exemption itself. A panel becomes necessary once you make a nutrient content claim, sell wholesale or through a retailer, or ship across state lines.
Nearby states
Selling into a neighboring state means that state’s rules apply there: Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska. See the full state-by-state table.