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Selling homemade food in Oregon means your label has to follow the Oregon Cottage Food Exemption — ORS 616.723, rules at OAR 603-025-0311 to 603-025-0335, Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA). It broadened the 2016 “Home Baking Bill” when SB 643 passed in 2023. No licence and no inspection, but the exemption itself requires a food handler card for everyone who prepares the food (ORS 624.570), annual gross sales under the inflation-indexed cap ($52,700 for 2026), and three years of sales records. Here is exactly what that label must show in 2026 — the required fields, the allergen rule, and the verbatim disclaimer and its font size — sourced to the statute and dated.
Print this statement on the label, word for word:
Oregon states the minimum in inches, not in points: all labeling must be conspicuous and easy to read, with a lower-case “o” at least 1/16 inch tall (≈ 1.6 mm, ~4.5 pt), and it may not be obscured by logos or artwork — so no point value is claimed here. Heads-up: the shorter pre-2024 sentence (“This product is homemade and is not prepared in an inspected food establishment.”) is still served by several statute mirrors; the rule was amended on 18 April 2024 and now ends with “…, and must be stored and displayed separately if merchandised by a retailer.” Oregon also asks for a phone number, and — if you have pets at home — a statement naming the species.
Oregon does NOT issue a cottage-food permit at all — ORS 616.723 fully exempts home producers of non-potentially-hazardous packaged foods from licensing and inspection (up to $50,000/yr, CPI-adjusted). Because there is no license, the entire burden of compliance rides on the label: the exemption is legally conditioned on printing one specific verbatim sentence. That sentence is unusual because it also carries the retailer's shelf-separation instruction, so it must be reproduced word-for-word — dropping the 'stored and displayed separately' clause technically voids the exemption.
The mandated statement is a single long sentence ending in '...and must be stored and displayed separately if merchandised by a retailer.' Producers routinely truncate it to just 'not prepared in an inspected food establishment' — that partial statement does not satisfy ORS 616.723 and forfeits the exemption. The full-sentence wording was confirmed exact against the official statute.
Every individual who prepares food under the exemption must have successfully completed a food handler training program and hold a certificate issued under ORS 624.570. It is a condition of the exemption itself, separate from labeling — no card, no exemption, even with a perfect label.
You may sell direct to the end user (home, online, mail, events) or to a retailer that agrees to store/display the food separately — but not to restaurants, caterers, schools, day cares, hospitals, nursing homes, or correctional facilities. Only shelf-stable foods qualify: no items needing refrigeration (cheesecakes, custard/cream pies, meat, fresh-garlic oils, etc.).
All federal major allergens must be declared regardless of quantity, and if pets live in the home the label must disclose their presence and the potential for pet allergens — an Oregon-specific element most templates omit.
Timeline: Immediate — no application, license, or inspection is required to begin. Practical prerequisites: complete a food handler course (available same day online) and print a compliant label. If you prefer not to show your home address, request an ODA Unique Identification Number before printing labels.
Cost: $0 — no permit or license required. Budget roughly $10–30 for the mandatory food handler card per person who prepares food. An optional ODA Unique Identification Number (to keep your home address off the label) may carry a small ODA fee — confirm the exemption UIN fee with ODA Food Safety before assuming a figure.
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Make my Oregon label →Oregon requires this exact statement on a cottage food label: “This product is homemade, is not prepared in an inspected food establishment and must be stored and displayed separately if merchandised by a retailer.” The state sets no minimum point size for it.
No. Oregon does not require a permit or registration number printed on the label.
At minimum: product name — the common name of the food; your business / producer name; the address of the cottage food operation; a complete ingredient list, in descending order by weight (sub-ingredients included); an allergen declaration — the 9 major FDA allergens, in the ingredient list or a “Contains:” line; net weight, in US customary and metric units; the state's required disclaimer (see below); a telephone number for the operation; a statement naming any pets kept in the home, if you have any.
No. CottageCompliance gives general information based on each state's published rules, dated to when we last verified them. Always confirm with your state or local agency before selling.
Source: ORS 616.723 (conditions, sales, label, UIN, records). Authoritative label text: OAR 603-025-0325, as amended DOA 4-2024, eff. 2024-04-18 (Oregon Secretary of State). Cap, allowed products and the $25 UIN: ODA Food Safety Program — “Oregon's Cottage Food Exemption”, March 2026. Verified 2026-08-10. General information, not legal advice — confirm with your state or local agency before selling.