Free tool · Cottage food label rules

Arkansas cottage food label rules

What has to be on the label when you sell homemade baked goods in Arkansas, and the limits that matter at a market. Checked September 2026.

Another state Confirmed in official sources

Your label must include

Date the food was made
Producer name, address and telephone number (or Arkansas Dept. of Agriculture ID number instead)
Common or usual name of the food
Ingredients in descending order of predominance
Required disclosure statement

Required statement

“This product was produced in a private residence that is exempt from state licensing and inspection. This product may contain allergens.”

Label must be affixed to the package; for bulk/unpackaged sales a separate written disclosure at point of sale is allowed. No font size specified.

Brown Butter Toffee Cookies

Baked on 10/03/2026

Sunny Crumb Co. · 123 Palm Ave, Your City, AR 00000 · (305) 555-0188

Ingredients: enriched flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), butter (cream, salt), brown sugar, toffee bits (sugar, butter, almonds, soy lecithin), eggs, vanilla extract, baking soda, sea salt.

This product was produced in a private residence that is exempt from state licensing and inspection. This product may contain allergens.

Sample label for illustration, made from the checklist above. Your own label has to match your recipe and your state’s exact rules.

Key limits in Arkansas

Permit: none for non-TCS homemade foods like cookies (optional free Dept. of Agriculture ID number can replace contact info on label).
Training: none
Sales cap: none
Where you can sell: Direct to informed end consumers in person (home, farm, office, farmers markets, events) and through third-party retail locations (kept separate from inspected foods); not to restaurants for use in the restaurant.
Online & shipping: Online and phone sales allowed; delivery in person or by mail/commercial carrier; out-of-state sales allowed only if the seller complies with all applicable federal laws; online sales need the disclosure on the website plus the package label.
Law: Arkansas Food Freedom Act, Act 1040 of 2021 (Ark. Code Ann. § 20-57-501 et seq.); amended by Act 698 of 2025 (dairy)

What we could not confirm (1)

Exact first section number of the codified Food Freedom Act (§ 20-57-501 et seq.) not verified against statute text

Check with: Arkansas Department of Health (homemade food guidance); Arkansas Department of Agriculture issues optional producer ID numbers

Last change to the law: 2025 (Act 698 of 2025, dairy prohibition); main law 2021

Sources

Made by BakersKeep

Set up this label once. Print it for every cookie.

BakersKeep builds your Arkansas label from each recipe: ingredients in order, allergens and the required statement. Change a recipe and every label updates. It also prices your cookies, takes pre-orders and writes the week’s posts.

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This page is general information, not legal advice. Rules change and counties can add their own. Confirm with Arkansas Department of Health (homemade food guidance); Arkansas Department of Agriculture issues optional producer ID numbers before you print. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.

Arkansas cottage food label rules

Your label must include

Required statement

Set up this label once. Print it for every cookie.

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