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Massachusetts cottage food label rules

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

Another state Mostly confirmed. Check the open points below

Your label must include

Name and address of the cottage food operation
Product name
Ingredients in descending order of predominance by weight
Net weight or net volume
Allergens (as specified by federal labeling: milk, eggs, wheat, peanuts, soybeans, fish, shellfish, tree nuts)
Nutrition labeling only if a nutrient content or health claim is made

Required statement

No exact statement is set by law here.

State residential kitchen standards do not require a ‘home kitchen’ disclaimer on the label. Your local Board of Health may add its own label rules — check your permit conditions. (Separately, unpermitted bake sales/charitable events need a visible placard saying the food was prepared in a kitchen not subject to regulation and inspection.)

Brown Butter Toffee Cookies

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

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

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 Massachusetts

Permit: Permit/license required: a Retail Residential Kitchen (Cottage Food Operation) permit from your local Board of Health, with inspection; fee set by each town.
Training: none required by the state; some local boards of health may require food safety/allergen training
Sales cap: none
Where you can sell: Retail residential kitchen permit allows direct-to-consumer sales (farmers markets, craft fairs, from home). Selling to stores/restaurants for resale requires a separate Wholesale Residential Kitchen license from MDPH.
Online & shipping: MDPH says direct-to-consumer includes sales by internet or mail; in-state OK. Out-of-state sales must also comply with federal and the other state’s law.
Law: Residential Kitchen / Cottage Food Operation under the State Sanitary Code, 105 CMR 590.000 (Retail Food Code) and MDPH ‘Retail Food Code Standards for Permitted Residential Kitchens’

What we could not confirm (4)

Secondary site (findhomegrown) claims an exact ‘Made in a Home Kitchen’ statement is required — not found in any official MDPH source
Permit fees, training and extra label rules vary across 351 local boards of health
Could not confirm whether 105 CMR 590 was revised again in 2023-2026
Out-of-state shipping not explicitly prohibited by MDPH

Check with: Local (city/town) Board of Health for retail residential kitchens; MDPH Food Protection Program for wholesale residential kitchens

Last change to the law: State residential kitchen standards dated April 2019 (105 CMR 590 revised 2018)

Sources

Made by BakersKeep

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

BakersKeep builds your Massachusetts 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 Local (city/town) Board of Health for retail residential kitchens; MDPH Food Protection Program for wholesale residential kitchens before you print. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.

Massachusetts cottage food label rules

Your label must include

Required statement

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

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