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

Last verified 16 Sep 2026 · Sources

Massachusetts lets you sell shelf-stable “cottage food products” (baked goods, jams, jellies, and similar items) directly to consumers once your kitchen is inspected and permitted by the local board of health as a Cottage Food Operation. There’s no state revenue cap, but the permit is required, fees run roughly $50 to $100 a year, and sales stay direct-to-consumer unless you get a separate wholesale license. The label needs a name and address, an ingredient list in descending order by weight, net weight, and federal allergen disclosure, but no special “home kitchen” warning. A full Nutrition Facts panel only becomes necessary once you make a nutrient or health claim, or sell wholesale.

Quick facts	Massachusetts
Revenue cap	None
Permit or registration	Permit + inspection by local board of health, roughly $50-$100/yr
Sales channels	Direct to consumer only; wholesale needs a separate MDPH license
Online sales	Yes
Required label statement	None required
Nutrition Facts panel	Not required unless you make a nutrient or health claim
Administered by	Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Food Protection Program (permits issued by the local board of health)
Governing law	105 CMR 590 (State Sanitary Code Ch. X)

What Massachusetts lets you sell from home

A Cottage Food Operation is defined as someone who produces cottage food products “only in the home kitchen of that person’s primary domestic residence and only for sale directly to the consumer” (105 CMR 590.001(C)). Cottage food products are limited to non-time/temperature-control-for-safety (non-TCS) items: baked goods, jams, jellies, and other foods safe to hold at room temperature (mass.gov). Potentially hazardous ingredients like milk, cream, or eggs are fine as long as the finished product itself isn’t TCS: a buttercream-frosted cake works; a cream pie generally doesn’t.

Off the list: cream-filled pastries, cheesecake, custard, raw or heat-treated meat and fish, cut produce (melon, leafy greens, tomatoes), and pickled products, relishes, or salad dressings. Acidification, hot-fill, thermal processing in sealed containers, vacuum packaging, and curing or smoking (other than for jams and jellies) are also off-limits (mass.gov guidance). Food can’t be made in living or sleeping quarters, or alongside family meal prep or hosting guests.

Permits, registration, and the revenue cap

There’s no self-certification option here: the local board of health inspects the kitchen and issues the Cottage Food Operation permit before you can sell (105 CMR 590.001(C)). Fees are set town by town and typically land in the $50-to-$100-a-year range (mass.gov); your board of health can confirm the exact number and any renewal or plan-review paperwork it wants.

The regulation sets no gross-sales or revenue cap on cottage food operations, unlike states that cap output at $25,000 or $50,000 a year. Some boards of health add local conditions on top of the state minimum, so it’s worth asking before assuming the state rule is the whole picture. The current cottage food and residential-kitchen provisions have been part of 105 CMR 590 and 105 CMR 500 since a food code update effective October 2018, with no more recent bill changing the framework as of this writing.

Where you can sell

The permit covers direct-to-consumer sales: farmers markets, craft fairs, at your door, and by internet or mail order (mass.gov). Shipping within the state, and generally out of state, is allowed under the cottage food rule itself, though an order shipped across state lines still has to satisfy the destination state’s own rules for incoming home-produced food, which vary.

What the permit does not cover is wholesale: selling to a retail store, grocery store, or restaurant requires a separate Wholesale Food Processor license for residential kitchens, licensed by MDPH rather than the local board of health (105 CMR 500.015; Cornell LII). That track allows non-TCS foods held safely at room temperature but carries its own, stricter list of prohibited processes: reduced-oxygen packaging, molluscan shellfish, animal slaughter, and canning low-acid foods among them.

What has to be on the label

Every cottage food product has to be prepackaged with a label, printed in English, that includes (105 CMR 590.003; mass.gov):

The name and address of the Cottage Food Operation
The name of the cottage food product
The ingredients of the product, in descending order of predominance by weight
The net weight or net volume of the product
Allergen information as specified by federal labeling requirements
Nutritional labeling as specified by federal labeling requirements, if any nutrient content claim, health claim, or other nutritional information is provided

Massachusetts doesn’t add a mandatory “made in a home kitchen” disclaimer to that list for permitted cottage food products. That kind of notice exists elsewhere in the regulation, but for informal bake sales run without a permit, not for your packaged product:

“the consumer is informed by a clearly visible placard at the sales or service location that the food is prepared in a kitchen that is not subject to regulation and inspection by the regulatory authority” (105 CMR 590.001(C); mass.gov FAQ)

With an actual Cottage Food Operation permit, that placard doesn’t apply to you. Your obligations are the six label elements above, plus federal allergen rules (the eight major allergens under FALCPA plus sesame under the FASTER Act).

When you need a Nutrition Facts panel

Cottage food products are exempt from FDA nutrition labeling the same way any small-business food is, until something changes that. The exemption ends the moment you make a nutrient content or health claim (“high fiber,” “low sugar,” “good source of protein”) anywhere your product is marketed, including a farmers-market sign or an Instagram caption, not just the label. It also ends once you move into wholesale under the separate MDPH residential-kitchen license, since that’s no longer a direct-to-consumer cottage food sale. Massachusetts doesn’t layer an additional state-specific nutrition-panel mandate on top of that federal exemption.

That’s where NutriLabels fits once you’re ready, and a panel done before the wholesale license comes through means your first store order ships with a finished label. 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, or compare Massachusetts with other states’ cottage food laws.

Massachusetts cottage food FAQ

Do I need a permit to sell baked goods from home in Massachusetts?

Yes. Massachusetts calls this a Cottage Food Operation, and your local board of health inspects the kitchen and issues the permit before you sell anything (105 CMR 590.001(C)).

Is there a sales cap for Massachusetts cottage food operations?

No. The regulation doesn't set a gross-revenue limit for cottage food operations; check with your local board of health, since some towns add their own conditions.

Can I sell my cottage food products online or ship them?

Yes, direct-to-consumer sales by internet or mail are allowed alongside farmers markets and craft fairs, as long as the sale is still directly to the end buyer.

Can I sell my cottage food products to a store or restaurant?

Not under the cottage food (retail) permit. Selling to retailers, restaurants, or other food establishments requires a separate Wholesale Food Processor license for residential kitchens, inspected by MDPH under 105 CMR 500.015.

Does my label need a "made in a home kitchen" disclaimer?

No. That notice only applies to informal bake sales run without a permit; a permitted Cottage Food Operation's packaged label doesn't need home-kitchen disclosure language.

What foods can't be made in a Massachusetts residential kitchen?

Anything that needs time or temperature control for safety: cream-filled pastries, cheesecake, custard, cut produce, raw or heat-treated meat and fish, and pickled or fermented products are all off the list.

Nearby states

Selling into a neighboring state means that state’s rules apply there: Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire. See the full state-by-state table.

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