Louisiana Cottage Food Laws

Louisiana Cottage Food Law: Comprehensive Guide for Home-Based Food Entrepreneurs

This guide provides a detailed overview of Louisiana’s cottage food law, including allowed products, revenue caps, registration requirements, labeling rules, and where you can sell. It’s based strictly on official legislative sources and reputable nonprofit summaries, ensuring accuracy and actionable insights for entrepreneurs.

Quick Facts

1. Overview / Introduction

Louisiana’s cottage food law, established by Act 542 of the 2014 Regular Session, created an exemption allowing home-based producers to prepare and sell certain low‑risk foods from their private kitchens without complying with commercial food establishment regulations. This law, codified at La. R.S. 40:4.9, was amended by HB 1270 (2014) and later by HB 828 (Act 357 of 2022), which raised the annual sales threshold for qualifying operations (legis.la.gov).

2. Sales Limits

Louisiana implements a two-tier revenue system:

• General cottage foods (e.g., jams, candies, pickles, honey, sauces): $30,000/year gross sales cap, as increased by HB 828 effective August 1, 2022 (cottagecms.com).
• Traditional baked items—breads, cakes, cookies, and pies: no sales cap, unlimited revenue permitted (cottagecms.com).

3. Licensing & Registration

No state or health‑department license or permit is required under Louisiana’s cottage food law (ij.org).

However, you must obtain:

• A general sales tax certificate from the Louisiana Department of Revenue;
• A local parish or municipal sales tax certificate where you intend to sell (ij.org).

4. Training Requirements

No food safety training or certification is required by Louisiana law for cottage food producers (ij.org).

Some operators may choose to pursue voluntary training—for example, relying on FDA safe‑handling guidelines (foodsafepal.com).

5. Home Kitchen Inspection

There is no requirement for home kitchen inspection under current law (ij.org).

While inspections aren’t mandatory, health departments retain authority to investigate complaints or take action if food safety issues arise (legalclarity.org).

6. Allowed Foods

Allowed low‑risk foods under Louisiana cottage food law include (subject to caps noted earlier):

• Breads, cakes, cookies, pies (uncapped income; direct‑to‑consumer only) (cottagecms.com).
• Cream‑filled and custard‑filled pastries/pies, only if made with pasteurized milk products and proper temperature control procedures (foodsafepal.com).
• Other permitted foods (under $30K cap): candies, cane syrup, dried mixes, jams/jellies/preserves, pickles/acidified foods, honey/honeycomb, sauces/syrups, spices (foodsafepal.com).

7. Prohibited Foods

Foods that cannot be sold under the cottage law include:

• Any meat, poultry, seafood, or other animal muscle protein (foodsafepal.com).
• Low‑acid canned goods and fermented foods, due to safety concerns (foodsafepal.com).
• Raw doughs, juices, or foods requiring time/temperature control (i.e., potentially hazardous) (cottagecms.com).
• Dairy products like yogurt, cheese, butter or ice cream, unless processed under separate commercial licensing—not allowed under cottage law (standscout.com).
• CBD‑infused products or cannabis‐infused items absent FDA authorization (foodsafepal.com).

8. Labeling Requirements

Labels must include a clear statement indicating that the food was not produced in a licensed or regulated facility (the “cottage food disclaimer”) (foodsafepal.com).

Additional recommended (though not explicitly required) items include:

• Producer name or business name
• Product name
• Ingredient list (descending order by weight)
• Allergen information (if applicable)
• Net weight or quantity (cottagecms.com)

Note: Raw honey is exempt from the disclaimer requirement (foodsafepal.com).

9. Where You Can Sell

Louisiana offers flexible sales venue options:

• Direct-to-consumer: home sales, farmers’ markets, roadside stands, special events—permitted for all cottage foods (ij.org).
• Retail and restaurants: allowed for most cottage foods (e.g., jams, honey, pickles), but not allowed for breads, cakes, cookies, pies (cottagecms.com).
• Online and mail-order: permitted for intrastate direct DTC sales, but shipping or mail delivery is not allowed—all transactions must occur in-person (cottagecms.com).

10. Sales Tax

Although no cottage food license fee applies, you must obtain a general sales tax certificate from the Louisiana Department of Revenue, plus any required local parish or city sales tax certificates (ij.org).

Sales are subject to state and local sales tax just like other retail goods—rates vary by location.

11. Special Exemptions

Two notable Louisiana-specific advantages:

• Unlimited revenue for breads, cakes, cookies, pies, as long as sales remain direct-to-consumer (cottagecms.com).
• Cream-/custard-filled pastry exception—allowed if made with pasteurized milk products and handled using safe temperature-control practices (foodsafepal.com).

12. Getting Started

Practical startup steps:

1. Decide product mix: consider focusing on uncapped baked goods (breads, cakes, cookies, pies) for maximum revenue, or include capped items like jams, pickles as complementary lines.
2. Obtain sales tax certificates: register with state and local taxing authorities before selling (ij.org).
3. Prepare proper labels with the required disclaimer and recommended product info.
4. Plan sales venues—direct retail, farmers markets, roadside stands; remember that breads/cakes/cookies/pies must be sold direct only.
5. Track revenues separately for capped vs. uncapped items to ensure compliance.
6. Optionally pursue food safety training to build customer trust—even though not required.

Once registered, no inspection or permit fees are needed—sales can begin immediately (ij.org).

13. Official Resources

• Act 542 (2014): legal foundation – La. R.S. 40:4.9 (legis.la.gov)
• HB 1270 / Act 542 amended: legislative text (legis.la.gov)
• HB 828 / Act 357 (2022): raises cap to $30,000 (legis.la.gov)
• Louisiana Department of Revenue: for obtaining sales tax certificates (via state website)

Official Sources

This guide was compiled from the following official sources:

• legis.la.gov
• legis.la.gov
• cottagecms.com
• standscout.com
• ij.org
• foodsafepal.com
• goairmart.com
• legalclarity.org
• app.legiplex.com
• legalclarity.org