Kentucky Cottage Food Law: Labels, Limits & When You Need Nutrition Facts

Last verified 16 Sep 2026 · Sources

Kentucky runs two home-kitchen tiers under KRS 217.136–217.139 and 902 KAR 45:090: a home-based processor registration for shelf-stable, non-potentially-hazardous foods like jams, baked goods, and candy, and a home-based microprocessor certification for acidified and low-acid canned foods like salsa or pickles. Both are capped at $60,000 a year in gross income from the products sold, both cost $50 to get into, and both are administered by the Cabinet for Health and Family Services’ Food Safety Branch. The one label line that matters most is a specific sentence the statute puts in quotes: “This product is home-produced and processed,” in 10-point type or larger. And for the Nutrition Facts panel, the short version is that Kentucky’s cottage food rules don’t require one. The trigger is federal, and it’s the first nutrient or health claim you make, not your sales volume.

Quick facts	Kentucky
Revenue cap	$60,000/yr gross income
Permit or registration	Registration $50/yr; microprocessor cert. $50 + training
Sales channels	Direct, online (in-state); microprocessor: farmers market/on-farm only
Online sales	In-state only
Required label statement	“This product is home-produced and processed”
Nutrition Facts panel	Not required unless you make a nutrient claim
Administered by	Cabinet for Health and Family Services, Department for Public Health, Food Safety Branch
Governing law	KRS 217.136 (Home-Based Processor)

What Kentucky lets you sell from home

A home-based processor may produce “nonpotentially hazardous foods.” KRS 217.015(56) names examples: dried herbs, spices, and nuts, candy, dried grains, whole fruits and vegetables, mixed greens, jams, jellies, sweet sorghum syrup, preserves, fruit butter, bread, fruit pies, cakes, and cookies, plus pork lard or tallow-based cosmetic products. KRS 217.136(2) draws a hard line around the second tier: a home-based processor “shall not produce or process for sale acid foods, acidified food products, formulated acid food products, or low-acid canned foods.” Those go to the microprocessor track instead, defined at KRS 217.015(57) to cover salsas, relishes, pickled vegetables, and other canned goods that need pH control to stay shelf-stable.

Permits, registration, and the revenue cap

A home-based processor registers with the Food Safety Branch (business name, physical production address, product list) and pays a $50 annual fee that runs April 1 to March 31 with no partial-year refund (Form DFS-250, chfs.ky.gov). A home-based microprocessor certification (Form DFS-251) costs $50 too, but adds real prerequisites: the applicant must be a farmer, must complete an approved processing school administered through the Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service (KRS 217.138–217.139), and must have each recipe reviewed and verified by a processing authority before selling it. Both tiers share the same $60,000-a-year gross income ceiling, written into the statutory definitions themselves (KRS 217.015(56), (57)) rather than a separate cap section. Cross it and the exemption from Kentucky’s food permit and packaging-and-labeling laws stops applying. The Food Safety Branch may inspect a home-based processor’s kitchen once a year (KRS 217.136(7)) and can pull a product for sampling if it’s suspected of being misbranded, adulterated, or the subject of a complaint.

Where you can sell

For a home-based processor, KRS 217.136(5) allows sale “directly to consumers within this state,” listing the ways: from the processor’s own home by pickup or delivery, at a market, at a roadside stand, at a community event, or online. That last word matters (it legalized taking and paying for orders over the internet), but it comes with a boundary the Food Safety Branch spells out in its own guidance: home-based processors are not permitted to ship products, so an online order still has to end in an in-person pickup or delivery inside Kentucky (chfs.ky.gov). There’s no wholesale, no retail-store consignment, and no selling across state lines under this exemption. A home-based microprocessor’s channels are narrower: KRS 217.137(1) limits compliant products to sale “by farmers markets, certified roadside stands, or on the processor’s farm”: no home pickup, no online orders, no community events.

What has to be on the label

KRS 217.136(3) spells out what a compliant label needs, and a product missing any of it is “deemed misbranded” under KRS 217.136(4):

The common or usual name of the food product
The name and address (street, city, state, ZIP) of the home-based processing operation
Ingredients, listed in descending order of predominance by weight
Net weight or volume, by standard measure or count
The date the product was processed
The required disclaimer, in type at least 10 points

“This product is home-produced and processed” Source: KRS 217.136(3)(e)

The statute adds no inspection or allergen clause to that sentence: it’s the exact wording above, nothing more. Kentucky’s cottage food law doesn’t layer on its own allergen rule, but a packaged food sold to consumers still falls under federal misbranding rules for the nine major allergens (FALCPA and the FASTER Act), so a “Contains” statement belongs alongside the ingredient list regardless of which state exemption applies.

When you need a Nutrition Facts panel

Kentucky’s home-based processor and microprocessor statutes don’t require a Nutrition Facts panel, and neither does the exemption in 21 CFR 101.9(j)(1) that most cottage food businesses fall under at the federal level. What ends that exemption isn’t revenue. It’s language. The moment a label, a farmers-market sign, or an Instagram caption makes a nutrient content claim (“low sugar,” “high protein”) or a health claim, FDA’s small-business exemption no longer covers your product, and a full panel is expected. The same is true the day your product moves past direct-to-consumer sales in Kentucky and into wholesale, retail, or interstate commerce. The cottage food exemption itself stops applying at that point, panel or no panel.

That’s where NutriLabels fits before either of those happens: if you’re weighing a claim or a jump to a grocery shelf, seeing the real panel first keeps that decision on solid numbers. 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. A one-time $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, or compare Kentucky with other states’ cottage food laws.

Kentucky cottage food FAQ

Is Kentucky's home-based processor registration free?

No. Registration with the Food Safety Branch runs $50 a year, valid April 1 through March 31 with no proration (Form DFS-250, chfs.ky.gov). Home-based microprocessor certification for acidified and canned foods carries its own $50 fee on top of a required training course.

How much can I sell before I need a commercial permit in Kentucky?

Both home-based processors and home-based microprocessors are defined, in statute, as having gross income of no more than $60,000 a year from the sale of these products (KRS 217.015(56) and (57)). Cross that and the state exemption no longer applies.

Can I ship my Kentucky cottage food products or sell them out of state?

You can take and pay for orders online, but the Food Safety Branch's own guidance says home-based processors are not permitted to ship products; delivery has to happen in person, inside Kentucky (chfs.ky.gov).

Can I sell salsa, pickles, or canned goods as a home-based processor?

No. KRS 217.136(2) bars a home-based processor from making acid foods, acidified food products, formulated acid food products, or low-acid canned foods. Those require certifying as a home-based microprocessor instead, which adds an approved processing course and a recipe review.

What exact wording does Kentucky require on a cottage food label?

"This product is home-produced and processed," printed in at least 10-point type, per KRS 217.136(3)(e). Skip it, or any of the other required label elements, and the product is legally misbranded under the same statute.

Do I need a Nutrition Facts panel to sell cottage food in Kentucky?

Generally no. Kentucky's cottage food statute doesn't require one, and FDA's small-business nutrition-labeling exemption (21 CFR 101.9) typically covers a home operation this size. That exemption disappears the moment you make a nutrient content or health claim on the package or in your marketing.

Nearby states

Selling into a neighboring state means that state’s rules apply there: Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri. See the full state-by-state table.

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