Jam is the classic cottage food, with one condition that catches people: the standard. Michigan excludes canned foods other than standardized jams, jellies and preserves, and California's approved list names jams, jellies, preserves and fruit butter that meet FDA's standard in 21 CFR part 150, the recipe with enough sugar and fruit to keep safely on a shelf. Minnesota covers food that isn't potentially hazardous and home-canned fruits at pH 4.6 or lower, and North Dakota covers almost anything sold straight to the customer. So a classic strawberry jam is fine everywhere here. A low-sugar or no-sugar jam that misses the standard is out in Michigan and California, and pepper jelly, made from a low-acid vegetable, is a different food, an acidified one, which Michigan excludes.
The short version
- Standard jams, jellies and preserves fit cottage food laws.
- Michigan and California require the FDA standard: enough sugar and fruit.
- Low-sugar jams that miss the standard are out in Michigan and California.
- Pepper jelly is an acidified food; Michigan excludes it.
- Minnesota: home-canned fruit products at pH 4.6 or lower.
- Label each jar as your state requires.
- TaroStack keeps each batch's lot and what each jar costs. More below.
Jam, state by state
| Product | Michigan | Minnesota | North Dakota | California |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strawberry jam, standard recipe | Yes | Yes, registered | Yes | Yes, on the list |
| Apple butter | No: canned foods other than jams are excluded | Only at pH 4.6 or lower | Yes | Yes, on the list |
| Low-sugar peach jam, below the standard | No: canned foods other than jams are excluded | Only at pH 4.6 or lower | Yes | No: not on the list |
| Hot pepper jelly | No: canned foods other than jams are excluded | Only at pH 4.6 or lower | Yes | No: not on the list |
The standard itself is in jam labeling requirements, and pricing a jar in how to price jam.
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) |
This is general information, not legal advice.
An example: a Minnesota jam table
Lake Pepin Preserves, a made-up home jam maker in Red Wing, Minnesota, registered as a cottage food producer and took its jams to a Saturday market. Strawberry and raspberry jam, made to the standard, went on the table; so did apple butter, tested at pH 3.6. A low-sugar peach jam was the question: Minnesota's law covers home-canned fruit products at pH 4.6 or lower, and the jam tested at 3.8, so it stayed, labeled as a fruit spread rather than jam. A customer from Michigan asked about mail order; under Michigan's law the same low-sugar jar wouldn't be a cottage food. Starting out is in starting a jam business.
Get the checker
Download the home jam 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 summer of jam is a dozen fruits in three months, each batch with its own date and pH. When a jar comes back cloudy, finding its batch takes the date on the lid, if it's there.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack keeps each customer's order and each batch's lot, and what each jar costs.
Orders. Each customer's order goes in for its pickup or market day, with a picking list.
Each batch a lot. A batch of jars is a batch from its recipe, with its date and lot, and the lot goes on each order it fills.
True cost. Each jar is costed from its recipe and the batch, at what the ingredients actually cost.
| The job | Paper | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| Who gets what on market day | Order sheets | Orders by day |
| Which batch went to which customer | Not recorded | Lots on each order |
| What a jar costs | A guess | True cost from the recipe and batch |
Orders, recipes and batches 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.