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Cottage food laws · UT

Selling homemade food in Utah

Utah runs two frameworks. The registered Cottage Food Act covers shelf-stable foods (baked goods, candy, jams, honey) sold direct or through retail stores. A separate no-permit Food Freedom (Home Consumption and Homemade Food) path allows a broader list including perishables like cheesecake but only in-person, direct to an informed consumer - no retail resale, mailing, or shipping. Neither path caps Food Freedom sales; a Cottage Food Act cap could not be confirmed officially. Utah's required label wording is the phrase "Home Produced" in bold 12-point type, not a full disclosure sentence.

Program
Utah Cottage Food Act / Food Freedom Path
Registration
Two paths. Cottage Food Act: register with UDAF (application with recipes, labels, storage plan, and sale locations), hold a valid Food Handler's Permit, and pass a UDAF kitchen consultation; a nonrefundable registration fee applies. Food Freedom (Home Consumption and Homemade Food Act): no UDAF registration, license, or inspection - only a local business license if the municipality requires one.
Annual sales cap
No statewide cap under the Food Freedom Act. Any cap on the Cottage Food Act path could not be confirmed from an official UDAF source.
Online sales
Allowed (see notes)

You can sell

  • Cottage Food Act (shelf-stable only): breads, cakes, cupcakes, cookies, fruit pies, candy/chocolates, honey, popcorn, dry mixes, jams/jellies/preserves
  • Food Freedom Act path: broader, including perishable/refrigerated items such as cheesecake

You can't sell

  • Cottage Food Act: meat, poultry, fish (including jerky), refrigerated/frozen products, low-acid or acidified canned foods
  • Food Freedom Act: raw (unpasteurized) dairy; meat/poultry generally prohibited (narrow poultry/rabbit exemptions)

Where you can sell

  • Cottage Food Act: direct to consumer and to stores for retail resale
  • Food Freedom Act: in-person only - farm, ranch, home, office, farmers market, or an agreed location with the informed final consumer; no retail resale or restaurants

Selling online

Online ordering with an in-person handoff in Utah (pickup or direct delivery) is consistent with the Food Freedom Act's 'in-person at a prearranged location' language, but Utah does not state this explicitly for either path - treat it as inferred, and mailing/shipping is not an authorized Food Freedom channel. Confirm specifics with UDAF.

What your labels must include

  • Statement of identity (product name)
  • The words "Home Produced" in bold, conspicuous 12-point type on the principal display panel (Utah rule R70-560-6)
  • Net quantity
  • Ingredient statement
  • Business name, address, and phone
  • Nutrition facts (with standard exemptions)