Kansas has no law called a cottage food law. Instead, the Kansas Food Law lets anyone sell foods that don't need temperature control or a special process directly to consumers with no license, made in a clean home kitchen: cookies, breads, cakes, fruit pies, cinnamon rolls, chocolate-dipped treats, dry mixes, popcorn. The same exemption covers online sales shipped to the customer's home or delivered by you. There's no sales cap and no "homemade" statement on the label, though packaged food still names the product, who made it, the ingredients with allergens, and the quantity. What needs a Department of Agriculture license: anything sold to another business, including grocery stores, restaurants, consignment and craft malls; and foods like cheesecake, cream pies and anything with meat, though some of those can be sold without a license on six or fewer days a year. In the example below, a Salina baker sorts six products. Below are the rules, the label, what needs a license, the example, and a free checklist.
The short version
- Shelf-stable foods sold directly to consumers need no license, and can be made in your home kitchen.
- Online sales count, shipped to the customer or delivered by you.
- No sales cap; a retail sales tax certificate is required.
- Packaged food: product name, your name and physical address, ingredients with the nine allergens in plain words, quantity.
- No "homemade" or "not inspected" statement is required.
- Selling to a store, restaurant, co-op, consignment shop or craft mall needs a KDA food processing license.
- Cheesecake, cream fillings, custards and pumpkin pie need a license, unless sold 6 or fewer days a year.
- TaroStack keeps each batch's lot and where it went. More below.
The rules
| Rule | What K-State's guide and KDA say |
|---|---|
| No license | Direct-to-consumer sales of foods that don't need temperature control or a specialized process |
| Where made | A home kitchen that's clean and sanitary; KDA encourages shared kitchens |
| Where sold | Farmers markets, festivals, bazaars, craft shows, CSAs, and online with shipping or your own delivery |
| Wholesale | Any sale to another business for use, resale or distribution needs a KDA food processing license |
| Consignment and craft malls | Not covered by the exemption |
| Sales tax | Every vendor obtains a retail sales tax certificate |
| Hygiene | Protected from contamination, sanitary, pre-packaged and sealed |
K-State Extension's MF3138, revised for 2026, is the most complete guide, and KDA's farmers market page covers the same exemptions. This is general information, not legal advice.
The label
| Line | What it says |
|---|---|
| Product | The common name, such as "apple pie" |
| Who made it | Name and physical address of the person who made or is selling it |
| Ingredients | In descending order by weight, with the nine major allergens named plainly, such as "casein (milk)" |
| Quantity | Net weight, volume or count |
| Homemade statement | Not required; you can add one |
Claims about health or nutrients follow FDA's rules. How to work out the allergens in a recipe is in allergen matrix template.
What needs a license
| Food | Without a license? |
|---|---|
| Cookies, breads, cakes, cinnamon rolls, fruit pies and cobblers | Yes |
| Breads with fruit or vegetables fully baked into the batter | Yes |
| Breads with cheese or jalapeños baked in or on | Test first |
| Icing with more than 65% sugar by weight, cream cheese icing included | Yes; otherwise test first |
| Chocolate-dipped pretzels, strawberries and nuts | Yes |
| Cheesecake, cream-filled cupcakes and donuts, cream or meringue pies, custards, pumpkin pie | Needs a KDA food establishment license, except on 6 or fewer days a year |
| Cooked foods with meat | Needs a license |
Licensed foods can't be made in an ordinary home kitchen. Which foods need refrigeration is in TCS foods list.
An example: a Salina baker
Smoky Hill Bakehouse, a made-up home baker in Salina, Kansas, I use in these examples, sells at a Saturday market and ships online orders:
| Product | Allowed? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Cinnamon rolls with icing | Yes | Icing over 65% sugar |
| Zucchini bread | Yes | Baked into the batter |
| Chocolate-dipped strawberries | Yes | Melting chocolate, no refrigeration |
| Cheesecake | License | Unless sold 6 or fewer days a year |
| Bierocks | License | Cooked food with meat |
| Cookies left at a craft mall | License | That's wholesale |
The baker sells cheesecake only at the holiday market, four days a year, inside the six-day allowance, and turned down the craft mall. By September Smoky Hill had sold $26,600, and Kansas sets no cap. How a home food business starts is in how to start a cottage food business.
Get the checklist
Download the Kansas homemade food 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
Kansas asks little on paper, so the records are up to you. Shipping online orders across the state, a question about one loaf, or a recall of an ingredient, means knowing which batch it was and who got it, and a market notebook doesn't say.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack keeps each batch's lot and where it went.
Each batch dated. A batch of cinnamon rolls gets a lot with its production and best-before dates, and lot labels print with it.
Ingredients by lot. Ingredients are received with their lots, so if a flour or chocolate supplier recalls a lot, the batches that used it show up.
Where it went. Shipped and market orders record the lots each customer got, so one recall report shows where a batch went; TaroStack connects to Square for market sales.
| The job | Notebook | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| A batch's date | Written on the bag | The batch's lot and dates |
| Which batches used a recalled ingredient | Guessed | Traced from the ingredient's lot |
| Who got a batch | Not recorded | One recall report |
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.