Cottage Food Compliance
The Cottage Food Compliance add-on helps home-based food producers stay compliant with their state's cottage food law and understand the path toward full commercial licensure.
Cottage food laws allow you to produce and sell certain low-risk foods (baked goods, jams and jellies, candies, dried herbs, and more) from your home kitchen without a commercial food facility license. Every US state has its own rules — what you can sell, where you can sell it, how much revenue you can generate, and what your labels must say.
Activating the add-on
Cottage Food Compliance is available on all plan tiers, including Starter. Go to Settings → Add-ons and activate Cottage Food Compliance.
Once active, a Compliance section appears in the left navigation.
Setting up your compliance profile
Your compliance profile tells Iraca which state's rules apply to you.
- Go to Compliance → Cottage Food.
- Click the Dashboard tab if it isn't already selected.
- Enter your home state, estimated annual revenue from cottage food sales, and the sales channels you use (farmers market, roadside stand, online, wholesale).
- Save the profile.
Iraca computes your compliance status based on this information:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Compliant | You appear to be within your state's limits. |
| Review Needed | You are approaching a revenue cap or using a channel that may not be permitted. Review the flagged items. |
| Likely Exempt Expired | Your revenue or channels indicate you may have outgrown the cottage food exemption. |
Iraca refreshes your status each time you update the profile. The status is informational — consult your state's department of agriculture for definitive guidance.
The compliance roadmap
The Roadmap tab shows a stage-by-stage path from your current cottage food status to full commercial licensure. It is state-aware — the stages and action items reflect your state's specific licensing pathway.
Stages typically include:
- Cottage Food — operating under your state's exemption
- Review Needed — approaching a threshold that requires attention
- Home Processor License — an intermediate permit available in some states
- Commercial Kitchen Rental — producing in a licensed shared-use facility
- Licensed Commercial Producer — operating from a licensed food facility; FDA/state registration required
- FDA Registered Facility — required above the FDA's annual sales threshold
Each stage explains what it means, what you need to do to comply now, and what the next stage requires. Future stages are greyed out but visible so you can plan ahead.
Tagging your products
The Products tab lets you categorize each product by its cottage food type (baked goods, jams and jellies, candy, etc.). Iraca compares your category against your state's allowed and prohibited product list and shows an Allowed or Prohibited badge.
- Go to Compliance → Cottage Food → Products.
- Click a product to set its product category.
- Iraca immediately shows whether that category is allowed under your state's law.
If a product is marked Prohibited, it means that product type is not allowed under your state's cottage food exemption — you would need a commercial license to sell it legally.
Generating cottage food labels
The Labels tab generates a print-ready PDF label for cottage food products. Unlike the full FDA Nutrition Facts label builder, cottage food labels are simplified and focused on the fields your state legally requires.
- Click Generate Label.
- Fill in:
- Producer name
- City and state (full address is optional in some states)
- Product name
- Ingredients list
- Allergen statement
- Net weight
- Iraca pre-fills the legally required cottage food statement for your state (e.g. "Made in a home kitchen that is not inspected by the state or local health department").
- If any required fields are missing, Iraca flags them before generating.
- Click Generate — a PDF label opens for printing.
Previously generated labels appear in the Labels tab with a download link.
State rules panel
The State Rules panel (available as a sidebar on any Cottage Food Compliance page) shows the full rule set for your state:
- Annual revenue cap
- Allowed and prohibited product categories
- Allowed sales channels
- All required label fields
- The official cottage food statement for your state
- A link to your state's official guidance page
- The date Iraca last verified this data (data older than one year shows a freshness warning — check the official source before relying on it)
Marketplace connection
If you have an active membership on an Iraca Marketplace storefront, listings you mark as Cottage Food Compliant display a badge on the storefront, giving buyers — particularly those shopping at farmers market storefronts — confidence about how the product was made.
Important disclaimer
Iraca provides this tool to help you organize your compliance information. It is not legal advice. Cottage food laws change frequently, and state-specific rules have nuances that Iraca's data may not capture in full. Always verify requirements with your state's department of agriculture or a qualified food safety professional before making compliance decisions.
Frequently asked questions
Does this add-on cover HACCP or FDA Preventive Controls? No. Those are covered by the HACCP Plans add-on (for commercial producers under 21 CFR Part 117) and the FDA Acidified Foods Compliance add-on (for acidified products under 21 CFR Part 114). Cottage Food Compliance is for home-based producers operating under their state's cottage food exemption.
Does Iraca cover states outside the US? Not in the current version. Coverage is US-only. Canadian and international cottage food regulations are planned for a future release.
My state has an "intermediate" home processor license. Does Iraca show that step? Yes, if your state has an intermediate licensing step, the Roadmap shows it as a distinct stage with the applicable requirements.
What happens when I outgrow the cottage food exemption? Iraca flags your status as Likely Exempt Expired and the Roadmap highlights the next stage — typically a commercial kitchen rental or a licensed facility. At that stage, you would also want to look at the FDA Acidified Foods Compliance add-on if you produce hot sauces, pickles, or other acidified products.