Last verified 16 Sep 2026 · Sources
Kansas has no separate “cottage food” statute by that name, but K.S.A. 65-689(d)(4) does the same job: if you sell food directly to the end consumer, you skip the food establishment license, provided the food doesn’t need time-and-temperature control for safety or specialized processing. There’s no fee, no registration, and no revenue cap. The label the Kansas Department of Agriculture (KDA) checks for is short (product name, your name and address), but it’s not optional. None of that touches whether a Nutrition Facts panel is needed, which turns on what you claim and where you sell, not on your exempt status.
| Quick facts | Kansas |
|---|---|
| Revenue cap | None |
| Permit or registration | None; no license, registration, or inspection |
| Sales channels | Direct to consumer, in person and online/shipping |
| Online sales | Yes |
| Required label statement | None required |
| Nutrition Facts panel | Not required unless you make a nutrient claim |
| Administered by | Kansas Department of Agriculture (KDA), Food Safety and Lodging Program |
| Governing law | K.S.A. 65-689(d)(4) (food code exemption) |
What Kansas lets you sell from home
Kansas doesn’t publish a fixed list of approved cottage-food categories the way some states do. Instead, K.S.A. 65-689(d)(4) uses a functional test: food is exempt from licensing if it “does not require time and temperature control for safety or specialized processing, as determined by the secretary” (ksrevisor.gov). KDA’s guidance for farmers’ market vendors gives the everyday examples that pass: cookies, breads, cakes, cinnamon rolls, fruit pies and cobblers, fresh or dried whole fruits, vegetables and herbs, nuts, honey, and traditional home-canned jams and jellies (agriculture.ks.gov). Hard candy and other shelf-stable confections generally fit the same non-hazardous test, though KDA’s published examples don’t name candy specifically.
What doesn’t pass: cream pies, cheesecake, most dairy-filled items, cut produce, low-acid canned vegetables, meats, and (with one exception) home-canned goods other than traditional jams and jellies. Salsa, pickles, and other acidified or low-acid canned products need a licensed facility plus a process authority’s recipe review and Better Process Control School training, because botulism risk in improperly acidified canned food is real in a way a loaf of bread isn’t (extension.k-state.edu).
Permits, registration, and the revenue cap
There’s nothing to file. K.S.A. 65-689(d)(4) removes the license requirement outright for direct-to-consumer sales of non-hazardous food, and KDA doesn’t layer a separate cottage-food registration or fee on top. The statute does require basic sanitation (a clean prep area protected from pests, sanitized food-contact surfaces, proper hand washing, potable water) under Kan. Admin. Regs. 4-28-33, but that’s a standard to meet, not a form to submit (law.cornell.edu).
Kansas also sets no revenue cap. States that regulate cottage food commonly cap gross sales at $25,000 to $50,000 a year; Kansas’s statute and KDA’s guidance include no comparable figure for home-produced, non-hazardous food. The one dollar figure in KDA materials, a $10,000 threshold for live-plant dealers, is a different license category and doesn’t apply to baked goods, jams, or other exempt food sales.
Where you can sell
The exemption is written around the buyer, not the venue: the sale has to go directly to the end consumer. That covers home sales, farmers’ markets, craft fairs, bazaars, and similar events, plus online orders shipped to the customer or delivered directly by you (agriculture.ks.gov). It doesn’t cover consignment or any setup where you hand the product to someone else (a booth attendant, a shop, a distributor) who then resells it; KDA’s guidance rules out arrangements where you give up physical control before the end sale. That also means no wholesale accounts and no retail-shelf placement; a store buying product to resell needs it from a licensed source. Selling online to a buyer in another state stays legal under Kansas’s exemption, but the receiving state’s own food laws still apply (agriculture.ks.gov).
What has to be on the label
KDA’s guidance for exempt food sales lists four elements, and all four apply to packaged product:
- The common name of the product (KDA’s own example: “apple pie”)
- The name and physical address of the person who made or is selling the product
- Product ingredients listed in descending order of predominance
- Quantity: net weight, volume, or count, depending on the product
(agriculture.ks.gov; extension.k-state.edu)
Kansas doesn’t require a “not inspected” or similar disclaimer on this label. That placard rule sits under a different regulation, KAR 4-28-34, covering nonprofit and community-event food sales, not the direct-to-consumer exemption you’d sell baked goods or jam under. Neither KDA’s guidance nor K.S.A. 65-689 sets a minimum type size or placement for the four elements above, and neither independently requires an allergen statement. FALCPA’s “Contains” statement for the nine major allergens is a federal requirement on any packaged food regardless of state cottage-food status, so most Kansas producers add one as standard practice even though the state’s own list doesn’t spell it out.
When you need a Nutrition Facts panel
Kansas’s licensing exemption is about inspection and permitting, not FDA nutrition labeling. These are separate tracks. If you sell only exempt, non-hazardous food directly to consumers, you generally stay outside 21 CFR 101.9’s Nutrition Facts requirement, the same way most small direct-to-consumer sellers do. That exemption doesn’t survive three things: a nutrient content or health claim (“high protein,” “low sugar,” “keto-friendly”) anywhere your product is marketed, including a farmers-market sign or an Instagram caption; moving into a retail store, a co-packer’s line, or a wholesale account, since that falls outside the direct-to-end-consumer exemption entirely; or shipping in a way that puts the product into ordinary interstate commerce as a packaged retail food.
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.
With the panel done, a store buyer’s first question about your jam or bread already has an answer. Enter your recipe, then see your label: free with no card required, you see your calories, the claims you qualify for, your allergen line and the nutrient to watch, 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 a wholesale order moves your product past the exemption, or compare Kansas with other states’ cottage food laws.
Sources
Kansas cottage food FAQ
Does Kansas require a cottage food license?
No. K.S.A. 65-689(d)(4) exempts anyone producing food for sale directly to the end consumer from the food establishment license, as long as the food doesn't require time-and-temperature control for safety or specialized processing.
Is there a sales cap for Kansas home food producers?
The statute and KDA's published guidance set none. Kansas doesn't measure your home sales against an annual dollar ceiling the way many other states do.
Can I sell home-canned salsa or pickles in Kansas without a license?
Generally no. KDA treats most home-canned goods other than traditional jams and jellies as requiring a food establishment or processing license plus a process authority's recipe review, because acidified and low-acid canned foods carry a botulism risk that baked goods and jams don't.
Can I sell my Kansas home-baked goods online?
Yes. KDA's guidance says the same licensing exemption covers exempt foods sold online and shipped to the buyer, but if you're shipping to another state, that state's own food laws also apply.
What has to be on a Kansas home food producer's label?
The common name of the product, and the name and physical address of the person who made or is selling it, plus ingredients in descending order and the net weight, volume, or count.
Do I need a Nutrition Facts label to sell cottage food in Kansas?
Not for the licensing exemption itself. A panel becomes necessary once you make a nutrient content claim, move into wholesale or retail, or ship in a way that triggers standard FDA labeling.
Nearby states
Selling into a neighboring state means that state’s rules apply there: Missouri, Nebraska, Colorado, Oklahoma. See the full state-by-state table.
Sources
- ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch65/065_006_0089.html
- agriculture.ks.gov/divisions-programs/food-saf…rs-markets-similar-locations
- agriculture.ks.gov/divisions-programs/food-safety-and-lodging/faq-food-safety
- law.cornell.edu/regulations/kansas/K-A-R-4-28-33
- extension.k-state.edu/kvafl/doc/MF3138_rev_2024.pdf