Cheese is the food that surprises people by sitting outside cottage food laws. It's a dairy product, and dairy has its own licensing, inspection and milk rules. Michigan's cottage food law excludes milk products by name; Minnesota's covers only food that isn't potentially hazardous; California's approved list doesn't include cheese; and in North Dakota, where cottage food covers almost anything, dairy still has its own state rules to check first. Federal law adds a line of its own: milk products sold across state lines for people to eat have to be pasteurized, with an exception for certain cheeses cured under FDA's cheese standards. So selling cheese means a licensed dairy plant: your own small one, a creamery that rents time, or a cheesemaker who makes it for you.
The short version
- Cheese is a dairy product; dairy has its own licenses and inspections.
- Michigan excludes milk products; Minnesota and California don't cover cheese.
- North Dakota: check the state's dairy rules first.
- Federal law: milk products across state lines are pasteurized, with exceptions for certain cured cheeses.
- Selling cheese means a licensed dairy plant.
- Cheese-making classes and gifts aren't sales.
- TaroStack keeps each vat as a batch with its milk lot. More below.
Cheese, state by state
| Product | Michigan | Minnesota | North Dakota | California |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fresh chèvre | No: milk products are excluded | No: potentially hazardous | Dairy has its own rules | No: not on the list |
| Aged cheddar | No: milk products are excluded | No: potentially hazardous | Dairy has its own rules | No: not on the list |
| Cheese straws, baked | Yes | Yes, registered | Yes | Yes, on the list |
Starting a licensed cheese business is in cheese making business plan, and the label in cheese labeling requirements.
The rules
| State | Rule |
|---|---|
| Michigan | Food that isn't time/temperature control for safety, including jams, candy, dried fruit, granola, dry mixes, vinegar, dried herbs and baked goods; not meat or poultry, milk products, beverages, salsa, or canned foods other than standardized jams (MCL 289.1105(k)); prepackaged, labeled with the home kitchen statement, sold straight to the consumer (MCL 289.4102) |
| Minnesota | Food that isn't potentially hazardous, and home-canned pickles, vegetables or fruits at pH 4.6 or lower or water activity 0.85 or less; registration every year and approved food safety training (Minn. Stat. 28A.152) |
| North Dakota | No state license for cottage food sold directly to an informed end consumer; foods that need refrigeration labeled with safe handling instructions and as transported and maintained frozen; no uninspected meat, poultry only from the seller's own birds (N.D.C.C. 23-09.5-02) |
| California | Cottage foods are nonpotentially hazardous foods on the approved list, among them baked goods without cream, custard or meat fillings, candy, chocolate-covered nonperishables, dried fruit, dried pasta, granola, herb blends, honey, standardized jams, nut butters, popcorn, vinegar and mustard, roasted coffee and dried tea (HSC 114365.5); Class A sells directly, Class B also through shops and restaurants (HSC 113758) |
| Federal | Milk products sold across state lines for direct consumption are pasteurized, with alternatives such as curing certain cheeses under part 133 (21 CFR 1240.61) |
This is general information, not legal advice.
An example: a home cheesemaker in Minnesota
Cannon Falls Curds, a made-up home cheesemaker in Minnesota, makes chèvre from a neighbor's goat milk and was asked to sell it at a Saturday market. Minnesota's cottage food law doesn't cover it, so the market table got cheese straws instead, baked crackers made with aged cheddar from a licensed creamery, which are a baked good that keeps on the shelf. For the chèvre, the cheesemaker priced renting time at a licensed creamery an hour away, with the milk bought from a Grade A dairy. Minnesota's cottage food rules in full are in Minnesota cottage food law.
Get the checker
Download the home cheese checker. Two sheets: your products, whether each needs refrigeration, is meat or poultry, a milk product, a canned food other than jam, or a drink, and whether it's on California's list; how Michigan's, Minnesota's, North Dakota's and California's cottage food laws treat it fill in; and each state's rules as read for this article. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.
Where this stops working
A cheesemaker's records are milk lots, vat dates, aging days and pH, for every wheel. On paper, which milk went into which wheel is the first thing a dairy inspector asks and the last thing anyone can find.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack keeps each vat as a batch with its milk lot, and each wheel as a lot with its make date.
Milk by lot. Each delivery of milk is received with its supplier and lot.
Vats as batches. Each vat is a batch recording which milk lots it used and how many wheels it made.
Wheels as lots. Each wheel carries its make date, so the aging shelf shows what's ready.
| The job | Paper | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| Which milk went into a wheel | The make sheet | Batches by lot |
| Which wheels are ready | Counted on the shelf | Lots by make date |
| Who got a wheel from a recalled lot | Invoices | One recall report |
Lots, batches and recalls are on every plan, from $49 a month. The first 30 days are free, with no credit card. If you'd like a hand setting up, ask, and we'll do it with you.