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How we source and date every rule

Selling the food you make at home is a real business, and one wrong line on a label can fail an inspection or stall a market application. The internet is full of generic, undated cottage-food advice that doesn't match your state's statute. We built CottageCompliance the opposite way, around one promise: every requirement you see is pulled from your state's own law or agency, dated to when we last checked it, and honest about what the official text doesn't pin down.

Our method, in plain terms

• Straight from your state's rule. The exact disclaimer wording, its legally required font size, how ingredients and allergens must be declared, whether a permit or registration number belongs on the label, and where you're allowed to sell all come from your state's cottage-food statute or its Department of Agriculture or Health — not a national average and not a blog's paraphrase.
• Dated, so you can judge freshness. Every state entry carries the date we last verified it. Cottage-food laws change often — several states rewrote theirs in 2025 — and a dated rule tells you exactly how current it is.
• Flagged when unsure — never invented. When the official text isn't specific about a figure (an exact font size, a sales cap, a fee), we mark it “to confirm” and point you to the agency, instead of guessing a number that could fail you at inspection.
• Sourced, so you can verify. Each state links back to the statute or agency page it came from. You never have to take our word for it.

What we are — and what we are not

CottageCompliance is a labeling and preparation tool for home food entrepreneurs. It turns your state's scattered rules into one correct label and a clear checklist, so nothing catches you by surprise at inspection or on a market application.

It is not legal advice, and it is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or produced by any state agency. Rules can vary by county and by what you make and where you sell it. Always confirm current requirements directly with your state or local agency before you sell — and because every rule here is dated and sourced, you can do exactly that in a couple of clicks.

Why the state-by-state detail matters

The most common mistake home food sellers make is assuming the rules are national. They aren't. The verbatim disclaimer, the minimum font size, whether you may ship across state lines, whether there's an annual sales cap, and which foods are prohibited as “potentially hazardous” all change at the state line. A generic label template can't warn you about the trap that actually catches people in your state. That state-specific accuracy is the whole point of what we do.

Build your label — free

Pick your state and get a compliant label: the exact required disclaimer at the legal font size, ingredients in the right order, and allergens auto-declared. Free watermarked preview; clean printable PDF on the paid plan.

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