Last verified 16 Sep 2026 · Sources
Idaho lets almost anyone sell homemade food directly to another person in the state, with no license, no inspection, and no revenue cap, under the Idaho Direct-to-Consumer Commerce Act (Idaho Code Title 37, Chapter 2). The one label rule that matters most: every product needs your name and contact information, an ingredient list once you’re past a single ingredient, and one required sentence, worded exactly as the statute states it, disclosing that the product isn’t government-inspected. A Nutrition Facts panel isn’t part of that requirement. It only becomes necessary if you make a nutrient claim, sell wholesale, or ship product across state lines.
| Quick facts | Idaho |
|---|---|
| Revenue cap | None |
| Permit or registration | None; no license or registration |
| Sales channels | Direct + online/mail within Idaho only |
| Online sales | In-state only |
| Required label statement | “This product is not subject to government food safety inspection or licensing requirements. It may contain allergens.” |
| Nutrition Facts panel | Not required unless you make a nutrient claim, sell wholesale, or ship out of state |
| Administered by | Idaho Department of Health and Welfare |
| Governing law | Idaho Direct-to-Consumer Commerce Act (Idaho Code Title 37, Ch. 2) |
What Idaho lets you sell from home
Idaho’s rules changed substantially in 2026. The old cottage food exemption in the Idaho Food Code (IDAPA 16.02.19) only covered non-time/temperature-control-for-safety (non-TCS) items: baked goods, jams, dried goods, and the like. The Direct-to-Consumer Commerce Act replaced that framework and covers a much wider range: both “shelf-stable” homemade food (items that don’t need temperature control, including fermented and pickled products) and “perishable” homemade food (items that do need hot or cold holding, including dairy, eggs, cut produce, and cooked or pickled items), per the definitions at Idaho Code 37-203 (https://legislature.idaho.gov/statutesrules/idstat/Title37/T37CH2/).
Meat is the main carve-out: most meat products are excluded unless they fall into a specific list: poultry you raised yourself (up to 1,000 birds a year), live animals, domestic rabbit, farm-raised fish other than catfish, or USDA-inspected cattle, sheep, swine, or goat meat (37-204). Milk and dairy still have to meet Idaho’s separate dairy and raw-milk chapters (Title 37, Chapters 3, 4, 5, 11, and 12). Ready-to-eat food made for on-the-spot consumption, and ingredients supplied to a licensed food establishment or school kitchen, are also outside the act’s scope (37-204(3)). The statute sets no separate process-filing or pH/water-activity testing step for acidified or pickled products the way many other states’ cottage food laws do. It’s worth confirming your process with a process authority anyway, since food-safety risk doesn’t disappear with the permit.
Permits, registration, and the revenue cap
There’s no license, no registration, and no fee. Idaho Code 37-205(3)(a) states plainly that a producer or designated agent doesn’t need to inform anyone but the end consumer, and isn’t subject to inspection or licensing for these transactions. There’s also no revenue cap: nothing in Chapter 2 limits how much you can sell or earn.
This is a real shift from the prior rule. Senate Bill 1283, effective March 20, 2026, created the Direct-to-Consumer Commerce Act and, per the Department of Health and Welfare’s own food-safety page, “replaces and supersedes the cottage food rule that was defined previously in IDAPA 16.02.19” (healthandwelfare.idaho.gov/health-wellness/community-health/food-safety). Older guidance (a local health-district fact sheet, a blog post, an aggregator) may still describe the non-TCS-only limitation and health-district sign-off process the old rule used; check the date before relying on it.
Where you can sell
Direct sales to an “informed end consumer” are allowed anywhere inside Idaho: from your home, a farm stand, a farmers market, or online and mail order, as long as the buyer and the transaction are within the state (37-205). You can also sell through a “designated agent”: a co-op, consignment stand, or similar arrangement that facilitates the sale without taking ownership of the product (37-203).
What’s not allowed: selling to anyone outside Idaho (37-204(2) confines the act to transactions entirely within the state; cross the border and you’re back under FDA and destination-state rules), and wholesale distribution, where a retailer or distributor buys your product to resell. The act does not exempt wholesale operations from ordinary food-establishment licensing.
What has to be on the label
Every product needs, per Idaho Code 37-205(3)(b):
- Producer name and contact information
- A list of ingredients, if the product has 2 or more ingredients
- The exact disclosure sentence below, on a label affixed to the product, a conspicuously displayed sign, or a card handed to the buyer
- Allergen mention (folded into the same disclosure sentence, not a separate FALCPA-style “Contains” statement)
The statute doesn’t add a net-weight requirement or a type-size rule of its own, so use ordinary package-labeling practice (name, then ingredients in descending order by weight, then the required statement) if you’re printing a label rather than posting a sign.
“This product is not subject to government food safety inspection or licensing requirements. It may contain allergens.”
(Idaho Code 37-205(3)(b)(i), https://legislature.idaho.gov/statutesrules/idstat/Title37/T37CH2/)
When you need a Nutrition Facts panel
None of this touches federal law. FDA’s own small-business and home-processor exemption (21 CFR 101.9(j)) is what keeps a Nutrition Facts panel off your homemade product in the first place. Idaho’s direct-to-consumer rule doesn’t add or remove that. The exemption ends the moment you make a nutrient content or health claim anywhere (“high protein,” “low sugar,” even in an Instagram caption for the same product), because a claim triggers the labeling rule regardless of how the product was made or sold (21 CFR 101.9). It also ends once your product leaves the direct-to-consumer channel: sell to a store, a distributor, or a customer out of state, and you’re a food establishment subject to ordinary FDA nutrition labeling, not a homemade-food producer under Title 37, Chapter 2.
Seeing your calories, the claims you qualify for and your allergen line before a wholesale order or an out-of-state shipment helps you judge whether the label work is worth it before you commit. 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 Idaho with other states on the cottage food laws hub.
Sources
Idaho cottage food FAQ
Do I need a permit to sell homemade food in Idaho?
No. Idaho Code 37-205(3)(a) says that when you sell under the Direct-to-Consumer Commerce Act, no license or inspection is needed, as long as your sales are direct to an informed end consumer inside Idaho.
Is there a sales cap for Idaho cottage food producers?
No. Idaho Code Title 37, Chapter 2 sets no revenue limit for direct-to-consumer producers.
Can I ship my homemade food to another state from Idaho?
No. The Direct-to-Consumer Commerce Act only covers transactions that happen entirely within Idaho (Idaho Code 37-204(2)); selling across state lines puts you under FDA and possibly the destination state's rules.
Can I sell homemade jam or baked goods at an Idaho farmers market?
Yes. Farmers markets, farm stands, and consignment through a "designated agent" like a co-op are allowed sales channels under 37-205.
What has to be on the label of homemade food sold in Idaho?
Your name and contact information, an ingredient list if the product has 2 or more ingredients, and the exact disclosure sentence required by 37-205(3)(b).
Does Idaho's new law replace the old cottage food rule?
Yes. Senate Bill 1283 created the Direct-to-Consumer Commerce Act, effective March 20, 2026, and it replaces the cottage food exemption that used to live in IDAPA 16.02.19, the Idaho Food Code.
Nearby states
Selling into a neighboring state means that state’s rules apply there: Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Montana. See the full state-by-state table.
Sources
- legislature.idaho.gov/statutesrules/idstat/Title37/T37CH2
- legislature.idaho.gov/wp-content/uploads/sessioninfo/2026/legislation/S1283.pdf
- legislature.idaho.gov/sessioninfo/2026/legislation/S1283
- healthandwelfare.idaho.gov/health-wellness/community-health/food-safety
- files.dfm.idaho.gov/dfm-admin-website/rules/current/16/160219.pdf