Idaho replaced its cottage food rule on March 20, 2026 with the Idaho Direct-to-Consumer Commerce Act, Senate Bill 1283, now Idaho Code 37-201 to 37-208. Homemade food and nonalcoholic drinks made at a home kitchen, farm or other unlicensed place can be sold directly to an informed end consumer with no license, permit or inspection. It covers shelf-stable food, baked goods, sealed jams, candy, granola, honey, roasted coffee, dried foods, and also perishable food that needs refrigeration, cheesecake, dairy, eggs, sauces, pickled products, with handling instructions. Sales can run through a designated agent, including a co-op or consignment market, but stay entirely inside Idaho, and meat is limited to a few exceptions. Two things are new: a short label or sign, and records of every sale, kept two years. In the example below, a Latah County producer sorts six products. Below are the rules, the foods, the label, the records, the example, and a free checklist.
The short version
- No license, permit or inspection for homemade food and nonalcoholic drinks sold directly to informed end consumers.
- Shelf-stable and perishable food are both allowed; perishable food is kept cold or hot and carries handling instructions.
- Sell yourself or through a designated agent named in writing, such as a co-op or consignment market.
- Everything stays in Idaho: production, sale and delivery; no interstate commerce.
- Meat only in listed cases: your own poultry up to 1,000 birds a year, rabbit, farm-raised fish other than catfish, USDA-inspected meat, animal shares.
- Not for use as an ingredient in a restaurant or other food establishment.
- Label, sign or card: "This product is not subject to government food safety inspection or licensing requirements. It may contain allergens.", your name and contact, and ingredients.
- Keep records of every sale for two years.
- TaroStack keeps those records from the orders and batches. More below.
The rules
| Rule | What Idaho Code 37-201 to 37-208 says |
|---|---|
| Homemade | Grown, prepared or processed at a private or leased farm, home kitchen or other unlicensed facility; not food cooked and served on site |
| Sales | Between a producer or designated agent and an informed end consumer who doesn't resell |
| Designated agent | Named in writing; may market, transport, store, sell and deliver; never takes ownership |
| Where | Entirely within Idaho |
| Meat | Not sold, except own-raised poultry (1,000 birds a year), live animals and shares before slaughter, rabbit, farm-raised fish other than catfish, and USDA- or state-inspected meat |
| Dairy | Only under Idaho's dairy and raw milk laws |
| Food establishments | Products can't be used as ingredients there, including school kitchens |
| Retail spaces | Products kept physically separate from other food, with signs |
| Local rules | Cities, counties and agencies can't be stricter |
| Records | Kept two years; confidential except in a confirmed foodborne illness investigation; fine of up to $500 if missing |
The Act is Senate Bill 1283, signed March 20, 2026, with an emergency clause that made it effective that day (bill history). It replaced the cottage food rule in IDAPA 16.02.19. This is general information, not legal advice.
Shelf-stable and perishable
| Shelf-stable (no time or temperature control) | Perishable (kept at 41°F or below, or 135°F or above) |
|---|---|
| Hermetically sealed jams, jellies, marmalades, preserves, syrups | Jams and syrups that aren't sealed, sugar-free ones |
| Baked goods without perishable frostings or fillings; fruit pies and turnovers | Baked goods with frostings or fillings from animal products |
| Fermented foods; tallow and lard | Pickled products; condiments and sauces |
| Candy and chocolates that don't need refrigeration | Milk, dairy and eggs |
| Nut mixes, granola, dry soup mixes, popcorn, honey, roasted coffee | Nut, seed and fruit butters; fresh pasta; raw dough |
| Dried, dehydrated and freeze-dried foods | Cooked vegetables; drinks like lemonade and tea |
Perishable food is produced, stored, transported and sold under conditions that keep it safe, and carries handling instructions. Which foods need refrigeration is in TCS foods list.
The label
| Line | What it says |
|---|---|
| Statement | "This product is not subject to government food safety inspection or licensing requirements. It may contain allergens." |
| Producer | Your name and contact information |
| Ingredients | A list, if the product has two or more |
| Perishable food | Handling instructions for storage and preparation |
It can be a sign, a label on the product, or a card handed to the buyer. How to work out the allergens in a recipe is in allergen matrix template.
The records
For every sale, a producer or designated agent keeps the type and quantity of product sold, the date of the sale, the date it was produced, where it was produced, and where each ingredient was produced or acquired, and names the designated agent for any sale the agent made. Records are kept two years. They stay confidential unless there's a confirmed foodborne illness investigation, and missing records then can bring a fine of up to $500.
An example: a Latah County producer
Palouse Pantry, a made-up home producer in Moscow, Idaho, I use in these examples, sells at a farmers market and through a consignment market it has named as its designated agent:
| Product | Allowed? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Huckleberry jam, sealed jars | Yes | Shelf-stable |
| Cheesecake | Yes | Perishable: cold, with handling instructions |
| Pickled asparagus | Yes | Perishable under the Act |
| Chickens from its own flock | Yes | Under 1,000 own-raised birds a year |
| Pies a café uses in its desserts | No | Not as an ingredient in a food establishment |
| Jam shipped to Oregon | No | Everything stays in Idaho |
Before March, the cheesecake wasn't allowed under the old rule; under the Act it sells from a cooler with a card that reads "Keep refrigerated; eat within five days." By September Palouse Pantry had sold $36,200. How a home food business starts is in how to start a cottage food business.
Get the checklist
Download the Idaho direct-to-consumer checklist. Three sheets: the label, each line with a column for yours; products, each with whether it's allowed and why; and sales by month. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.
Where this stops working
Idaho's records rule asks for every sale's product, quantity, date, production date, and where each ingredient came from, for two years, including the consignment market's sales. That's a lot ledger and a sales ledger at once, and it's what an investigator asks for first.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack keeps those records from the orders and batches.
Where ingredients came from. Ingredients are received with their supplier and lot, and each batch records the lots it used, so where each ingredient was acquired is on the batch.
Each batch dated. Each batch gets a lot with its production date, and lot labels print with it.
Every sale recorded. Orders record the product, quantity, date and lots, and every list exports to CSV, so two years of records are an export.
| The job | Notebook | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| Where each ingredient came from | Receipts in a box | Receipts with supplier and lot, linked to batches |
| Production date | Written on the jar | The batch's lot and date |
| Each sale's product, quantity, date | A ledger | Orders, exported to CSV |
Lots, batches, receiving, orders and lot labels 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.