Do I need a nutrition label for my cottage food business?

Often, federally, the answer is no — but the exemption is conditional, and the condition is the part people miss. Here is what it actually says, what voids it, and what still has to be on your package either way.

1. The federal exemption, in its own words

From 21 CFR 101.9(j)(1)(i):

Four things to take from that sentence:

1. It has to be a direct sale to a consumer. A farmers' market stall, a farm stand, a CSA box, an online order shipped to the customer — that is the shape of sale the paragraph is describing. Selling to a shop that resells it is not.
2. Two alternative thresholds. Not more than $500,000 in annual gross sales to consumers, or not more than $50,000 in annual gross sales of food to consumers. A business that sells $300,000 of unrelated goods and $20,000 of jam qualifies on the second limb even though it is well under the first.
3. It is measured on a 2-year average. Paragraph (j)(1)(ii) says the calculation is based on the most recent 2-year average of business activity, and that a firm in business for less than 2 years must have reasonable estimates showing annual sales will not exceed the amounts.
4. The condition is absolute. "No nutrition claims or other nutrition information in any context on the label or in labeling or advertising."

2. What voids it — the list is longer than you think

The exemption does not survive contact with a nutrition claim, and "nutrition information" is read broadly. Any one of the following ends it:

• A nutrient content claim. "Low sodium", "reduced sugar", "excellent source of fiber", "high protein", "a good source of calcium". These are defined terms with thresholds, and using one brings the food within the requirement.
• A health claim. Anything linking the food to a disease or health-related condition.
• A nutrition panel published anywhere. Printing a Nutrition Facts panel on a website product page, in a marketplace listing, or on a printed menu is nutrition information in advertising. Ironically, publishing a panel is one of the most reliable ways to make the panel mandatory.
• Nutrition numbers in ad copy. "Only 90 calories" is a nutrient content claim about calories.
• Voluntary nutrition statements. An ingredient-level nutrition callout, a "per serving" figure, a per-100 g table.

The practical rule: if it looks like nutrition information to a shopper, the agency will treat it as nutrition information. The exemption is a narrow carve-out for unlabeled, unbranded, directly sold food — not a general exemption for small businesses that market actively.

3. If you sell food for immediate consumption

There is a separate exemption at 21 CFR 101.9(j)(2) for food served in restaurants and in other establishments where food is served for immediate human consumption — the paragraph lists institutional food service, transportation carriers, bakeries and delicatessens with on-premises consumption facilities, food service vendors, carts and vending machines. It applies on the same condition: no nutrition claims or nutrition information in any context.

The line that matters for a small producer is between serving food and packaging food. A slice of cake eaten at your counter is served food. The same cake sealed in a clamshell for a customer to take home is packaged food. Selling take-away jars, boxes or bags moves you toward the labeling rules, not away from them.

4. What changes when you sell through a retailer

Two things change at once, and only one of them is legal.

Legally, the (j)(1) exemption is written around direct sales to consumers. Selling wholesale to a shop that resells to the public is a different channel. The regulation also places responsibility on the manufacturer of a product where there is a reasonable possibility that it will be purchased directly by consumers — see 21 CFR 101.9(j)(2)(v)(B) for how that is worded in the food-service context. If you want to sell wholesale, get advice specific to your situation.

Commercially, most retailers simply will not stock an unlabeled product. Their buying forms ask for a Nutrition Facts panel, and their own liability posture pushes them to require one. In practice the market enforces the label before the regulation does.

5. What has to be on the package even if you are exempt

Being exempt from Nutrition Facts is not the same as being exempt from labeling. A packaged food still generally needs:

• The common or usual name of the food, on the principal display panel.
• A net quantity of contents — the weight, in both metric and US customary units.
• An ingredient list, in descending order by weight, headed "Ingredients".
• Allergen declaration for the nine major food allergens: milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans and sesame. Sesame was added by the FASTER Act and has been subject to the allergen labeling requirements since January 1, 2023.
• The name and place of business of the manufacturer, packer or distributor.

The allergen requirement is the one to take most seriously. It is separate from the nutrition rules, and it is the most common cause of the recalls that hit small producers.

6. State cottage food law is a second layer

Cottage food operations are regulated by states as well, and state rules are generally more prescriptive about the package than the federal exception is. Requirements vary considerably, so this is a checklist of the things you need to look up in your own state's rule rather than a set of numbers to rely on:

• Which products are permitted at all, and which are excluded (anything requiring refrigeration or containing meat, for instance, is commonly excluded).
• Whether sales are limited to direct-to-consumer, and whether they must occur within the state.
• Whether a revenue cap applies, and whether it is higher or lower than the federal thresholds.
• What the required label statement is. Many states require a specific sentence identifying the product as made in a home kitchen that has not been inspected.
• Whether an ingredient list and allergen statement are mandatory regardless of the federal exemption — in many states they are.
• Whether the product requires a permit, registration or a food handler certificate.

Your state's department of agriculture or health publishes the cottage food rule; it is usually a short document and it is worth reading end to end once.

7. Reasons to get a label anyway

Plenty of producers who do not have to produce a Nutrition Facts panel choose to. The reasons are usually these:

• You want to make a claim. A sugar, sodium or protein claim is a real marketing lever, and it requires the panel.
• You want to sell wholesale, or into a shop, a market or an online marketplace that asks for one.
• Customers ask. "How much sugar is in this?" is a question you can answer with a number or with a shrug, and the number sells better.
• It costs almost nothing to have one. The reason labels used to be reserved for larger producers was the cost of analysis and consultants. Calculating from documented ingredient data changes that arithmetic.