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

Last verified 16 Sep 2026 · Sources

New Hampshire’s homestead food operation law exempts non-potentially-hazardous foods sold from home, a farm stand, a farmers market, or a retail food store from any license or inspection and, since 2023, from any revenue cap at all. Sell through a restaurant, another food establishment, online, by mail order, or to a wholesaler, and a $150 Class H homestead license kicks in instead. The one label rule that matters most: exempt products need an exact disclosure sentence in 10-point type or larger. A full Nutrition Facts panel only enters the picture once a nutrient or health claim gets made, or once your business grows past the homestead exemption’s sales channels.

Quick facts	New Hampshire
Revenue cap	None
Permit or registration	None for direct sales; Class H license, $150, otherwise
Sales channels	Home, farm stand, farmers market, retail store
Online sales	With permit
Required label statement	“This product is exempt from New Hampshire licensing and inspection.”
Nutrition Facts panel	Not required unless you make a nutrient claim
Administered by	NH Department of Health and Human Services, Food Protection Section
Governing law	N.H. Rev. Stat. § 143-A:12 (Homestead Food Operation Law)

What New Hampshire lets you sell from home

New Hampshire’s homestead food rules, administered by the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Food Protection Section, cover only non-potentially-hazardous foods: items that don’t need refrigeration or time-and-temperature control to stay safe (RSA 143-A:12, I). The state’s rule, He-P 2310.01, lists exactly what an exempt homestead operation may produce: baked items (breads, rolls, muffins, cookies, brownies, cakes), double-crusted fruit pies, candy and fudge, packaged dry products such as spice and herb blends, acid foods including vinegars and mustards, and jams and jellies (He-P 2310.01, Cornell LII). That same rule bars potentially hazardous foods outright, including anything requiring refrigeration and any processed acidified or low-acid canned food, so no cheesecakes, custards, canned salsas, or fermented pickles under this exemption. Freeze-dried fruit, vegetable, and dairy products sit outside the homestead rule entirely and need a separate license under RSA 143-A:4, even when sold from home or a farmers market.

Permits, registration, and the revenue cap

There’s no license, registration, or fee for selling homestead food directly from a residence, an owner’s own farm stand, a farmers market, or a retail food store (RSA 143-A:12, II). That’s a real recent change: New Hampshire used to cap this exemption by gross sales (the threshold had climbed from $20,000 to $35,000 in prior years), but House Bill 119 (Chapter 180) struck that threshold out entirely, effective 3 Oct 2023 (HB 119, LegiScan). As of this writing, your eligibility turns entirely on where you sell, not how much you earn. Step outside those direct channels (selling to restaurants, other retail food establishments, over the internet, by mail order, or to wholesalers, brokers, or distributors) and RSA 143-A:12, III requires a Class H homestead food license instead, which carries a $150 fee.

Where you can sell

The exempt tier covers sales “from the homestead residence, at the owner’s own farm stand, at farmers’ markets, or at retail food stores” (RSA 143-A:12, II). Retail-store placement without a license is unusual among states and worth knowing if a local shop offers shelf space. What the exempt tier doesn’t cover: restaurants and other food establishments, the internet, mail order, and wholesale or distributor sales all require the Class H license under RSA 143-A:12, III. There’s no interstate carve-out either way: the homestead exemption and the Class H license both govern in-state New Hampshire sales, and selling across state lines moves a product outside this framework altogether.

What has to be on the label

Every homestead food package needs, per RSA 143-A:12, V and He-P 2310.01/He-P 2311.04:

Name, physical or e-mail address, and phone number of the homestead food operation
Name of the homestead food product
Ingredients in descending order of predominance by weight or, for exempt direct sales only, a QR code or website listing them, paired with a physical ingredient sign at the point of sale (added by House Bill 304, Chapter 28, effective 13 Jul 2025)
The name of each major food allergen, unless it already appears in the ingredient statement
For licensed operations: net weight, volume, or count in both U.S. customary and metric units, plus a product code with manufacture date, container size, and lot or batch number
The required disclosure statement, verbatim, in at least 10-point type in a color that clearly contrasts the label background

“This product is exempt from New Hampshire licensing and inspection.”

That’s the exact wording for exempt sales (RSA 143-A:12, V; He-P 2310.01). A licensed homestead operation instead prints: “This product is made in a residential food production area licensed by the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services” (RSA 143-A:12, V).

When you need a Nutrition Facts panel

A few things move you onto a standard Nutrition Facts label built to 21 CFR 101.9:

You make a claim. A package or an ad that says “low sugar,” “high fiber,” or any other nutrient content or health claim needs a compliant panel behind it, regardless of sales channel. The homestead exemption doesn’t cover claims, and the exemption ends the moment one appears, including in a farmers-market sign or an Instagram caption.
You move to wholesale, retail-establishment, or online sales. Once a Class H license is in play, or once your product ships to another state, the food falls under standard labeling rather than the homestead exemption’s simplified label.
A co-packer or retail buyer asks for one. Scaling past a home kitchen usually means a contract manufacturer that won’t run a job without a panel already built.

A panel ready before a co-packer or retail buyer asks keeps the conversation on your product, not your paperwork. Enter your recipe, then see your label: the calorie count, the nutrient content claims you qualify for and your allergen line show free, no card required, while 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, with 12 months of edits included and downloads that never expire; or send us the recipe and we build it (done-for-you, $249, within 5 business days). Start your label, or see how other states set their limits on the cottage food laws hub.

New Hampshire cottage food FAQ

Is there a sales cap for New Hampshire homestead food operations?

No. House Bill 119 (Chapter 180) struck New Hampshire's gross-sales threshold entirely, effective 3 Oct 2023. A homestead food operation today qualifies for the exemption based on where it sells, not how much it makes.

Do I need a license to sell homemade food in New Hampshire?

Not for selling from home, your own farm stand, a farmers market, or a retail food store. RSA 143-A:12, II exempts that from licensure and inspection. Selling to restaurants, other food establishments, online, by mail order, or to wholesalers requires a Class H homestead license ($150) instead.

What exact label statement does an exempt NH homestead product need?

\"This product is exempt from New Hampshire licensing and inspection,\" in at least 10-point font in a color that clearly contrasts the background (RSA 143-A:12, V; He-P 2310.01).

Can I sell my New Hampshire homestead food products online?

Only with a Class H homestead license. RSA 143-A:12, III lists internet and mail-order sales among the channels that require licensure, alongside restaurants, other retail food establishments, and wholesalers or distributors.

Can I use a QR code instead of printing my ingredient list in New Hampshire?

Yes, for direct sales from home, a farm stand, or a farmers market. House Bill 304 (Chapter 28), effective 13 Jul 2025, lets an exempt operation post a QR code or web address for the ingredient statement instead of printing it, as long as allergens still appear on the package and a physical sign at the sales table shows the same ingredient list.

When does a New Hampshire homestead maker need a real Nutrition Facts panel?

Once a package or an ad makes a nutrient content or health claim, or once your business moves into wholesale, retail-establishment, or interstate sales that fall outside the homestead exemption, standard 21 CFR 101.9 labeling applies.

Nearby states

Selling into a neighboring state means that state’s rules apply there: Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts. See the full state-by-state table.

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