Last verified 2026-09-15. Regulator: Maryland Department of Health, Office of Food Protection. This page is not legal advice.
What must a cottage food label show in Maryland?
A Maryland cottage food label must show these 8 items:
- The name and address of the cottage food business, or the name, phone number, and identification number assigned to the business by the Department
- The name of the cottage food product
- The ingredients of the cottage food product in descending order of the amount of each ingredient by weight
- The net weight or net volume of the cottage food product
- Allergen information as specified by federal labeling requirements
- Nutritional information as specified by federal labeling requirements, if any nutritional information claim is made
- The statement, printed in 10 point or larger type in a color that provides a clear contrast to the background of the label: "Made by a cottage food business that is not subject to Maryland's food safety regulations."
- For a product sold at a retail food store, the phone number and email address of the business and the date the product was made
What disclaimer must a Maryland cottage food label have?
Yes. A Maryland cottage food label must carry this statement, word for word:
Made by a cottage food business that is not subject to Maryland's food safety regulations.
Does Maryland require a Nutrition Facts panel on cottage food?
Only in some cases. Maryland requires a Nutrition Facts panel when the label makes a nutrient or health claim, such as "low sugar" or "high protein". If you want to add one, the Nutrition Label Maker prints it in the FDA layout for free.
What foods can you sell under the Maryland cottage food law?
Non-potentially hazardous baked goods, non-potentially hazardous candy, and hot-filled canned acid fruit jellies, jams, preserves, and fruit butters made from the fruits listed in the rule (apples, apricots, grapes, peaches, plums, prunes, quince, oranges, nectarines, tangerines, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, boysenberries, cherries, cranberries, strawberries, red currants, or another fruit that produces an acid canned food).
Where can you sell cottage food in Maryland?
Only in Maryland. Directly to a consumer at a farmer's market, a bake sale, a public event, by personal delivery, or by mail order. Also to a retail food store after the Department reviews the label and a food safety course certificate.
Do you need a permit to sell cottage food in Maryland?
No license or permit for direct sales. The business may request an identification number from the Department to use on the label in place of its address. Sales to a retail food store need Department review of the label and proof of an ANSI-approved food safety course completed in the past 3 years.
Is there a sales limit for cottage food in Maryland?
$50,000 in annual revenue from the sale of cottage food products (memory, unverified; the statute page could not be read).
What else should you know about the Maryland rules?
Maryland allows sales only inside the state, so mail-order or delivery customers must be in Maryland. Products must be prepackaged with the label attached. A business that sells to a retail food store must add its phone number, email address, and the date the product was made to the label. The phone number must let the Department reach you within 24 hours, and the email within 48 hours. You must also follow county and municipal rules on preparation, storage, and sale. The Department may inspect your kitchen and collect samples after a complaint or an illness outbreak.
How accurate is this page?
The label items, allowed foods, sales channels, and retail-store rules were read from COMAR 10.15.03.27 on 2026-09-15. The Health-General section 21-330.1 page on the General Assembly site is a JavaScript app and returned no text, so the $50,000 revenue cap is not confirmed. The MDH Office of Food Protection cottage food page is also a JavaScript app; only its section titles could be read. Check the source before you rely on the revenue cap.