Free tool · Cottage food label rules

Maine cottage food label rules

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

Another state Mostly confirmed. Check the open points below

Your label must include

Common or usual name of the product
Ingredients in order of predominance
Net weight or numerical count
Name and address (with zip code) of the producer, manufacturer or distributor
Allergens (major food allergens, per federal labeling)

Required statement

No exact statement is set by law here.

No ‘home kitchen’ disclaimer statement is required for licensed home food manufacturers. Under the rule, products sold directly to the consumer from the home need no label; products sold anywhere else (including farmers markets) must carry the label.

Brown Butter Toffee Cookies

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.

Net wt. 4 oz (113 g) · 2 cookies

Sunny Crumb Co. · 123 Palm Ave, Your City, ME 00000

Contains: wheat, milk, eggs, tree nuts (almond), soy.

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 Maine

Permit: State Home Food Manufacturing license required, with an initial home kitchen inspection; $20/year.
Training: none
Sales cap: none
Where you can sell: Under the license: direct from home, farmers markets, events, retail stores, restaurants and wholesale are allowed (shelf-stable foods only). Under a local Food Sovereignty ordinance: unlicensed direct-to-consumer sales only, within that town.
Online & shipping: Licensed home processors may take online/phone orders and ship; DACF says the license allows sales throughout Maine and the US. Food Sovereignty sales cannot be online or shipped.
Law: Home Food Manufacturing license, 22 M.R.S. ch. 551 / 01-001 C.M.R. ch. 345 (Home Food Manufacturing rules); separate Maine Food Sovereignty Act (7 M.R.S. §281 et seq.) in towns that adopt an ordinance

What we could not confirm (4)

$20/year fee taken from DACF ‘Home License 101’ PDF (undated)
Allergen labeling not in ch. 345 text; it comes from federal law (FALCPA) — include it to be safe
Could not confirm any 2023-2026 amendment; ch. 345 last amended 2008
Food Sovereignty ordinance details vary by town; farmers market sales under that pathway may be restricted

Check with: Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry (DACF), Quality Assurance & Regulations

Last change to the law:

Sources

Made by BakersKeep

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

BakersKeep builds your Maine 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.

Join the founders list See how it works

This page is general information, not legal advice. Rules change and counties can add their own. Confirm with Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry (DACF), Quality Assurance & Regulations before you print. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.

Maine cottage food label rules

Your label must include

Required statement

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

Other states