Massachusetts doesn't exempt home food businesses; it permits and inspects them. A home baker who sells directly to consumers, at farmers markets, craft fairs, online or by mail, needs a Retail Residential Kitchen permit from the local board of health in their city or town, which permits it as a Cottage Food Operation under the Retail Food Code, 105 CMR 590. Selling to stores and restaurants takes a separate Wholesale Residential Kitchen license from the Department of Public Health. Either way, only foods that hold safely at room temperature qualify: baked goods, jams and jellies, candy. Pickles, relishes, barbecue sauce and cream-filled pastries are out, and so is acidifying anything. Fees and forms come from your town. In the example below, a Berkshire County baker sorts six products. Below are the two permits, the foods, the kitchen rules, the label, the example, and a free checklist.
The short version
- Selling direct to consumers, including online and by mail: a Retail Residential Kitchen permit from your local board of health, with an inspection.
- Selling to stores or restaurants for resale: a Wholesale Residential Kitchen license from DPH's Food Protection Program.
- Only foods that are safe at room temperature; ingredients like milk and eggs are fine if the finished food isn't TCS.
- No pickling or acidification, hot fill, vacuum packaging, curing or smoking; jams and jellies are the one canning exception.
- The board of health may ask for lab tests of pH or water activity.
- No small children or pets in the kitchen while you work; a private well tested every year.
- Label: name and address, product, ingredients by weight, net weight, allergens.
- TaroStack keeps each batch's lot and which customers it went to. More below.
The two permits
| Retail Residential Kitchen | Wholesale Residential Kitchen | |
|---|---|---|
| Who it's for | Selling direct to the consumer: farmers markets, craft fairs, internet, mail | Selling to stores, grocery stores and restaurants that resell |
| Issued by | Your local board of health, as a Cottage Food Operation | The Department of Public Health's Food Protection Program |
| Rules | The Retail Food Code, 105 CMR 590 | Good manufacturing practices, 105 CMR 500 |
| Inspection | Yes, by the board of health | Yes, by DPH |
| Foods | Cottage food products that are safe at room temperature | Foods that are safe at room temperature and need no refrigeration |
DPH's Residential Kitchen Questions and Answers explains the two permits, and its standards for permitted residential kitchens list the kitchen rules and the label. Selling into another state means checking federal law and that state's rules too. This is general information, not legal advice.
What you can make
| Allowed | Not allowed |
|---|---|
| Baked goods that aren't TCS | Cream-filled pastries, cheesecake, custard |
| Jams and jellies, including in sealed, heat-processed jars | Pickled products, relishes |
| Candy and other foods that hold at room temperature | Tomato and barbecue sauce, salad dressings |
| Products made with milk, cream or eggs, if the finished food isn't TCS | Cut fruit and vegetables; raw or cooked meat and fish |
Because each recipe carries different risks, DPH suggests one standardized recipe per product, tested by a food lab if the board of health asks. Which foods need refrigeration is in TCS foods list.
The kitchen rules
| Rule | What DPH's standards say |
|---|---|
| Water | Public water, or a private well tested before the permit and every year |
| Sinks | Handwashing at the kitchen sink with soap and towels, plus a sink in the toilet room |
| Dishwasher | A home dishwasher reaching 150°F after the final rinse and dry |
| Who works | Only you and people you supervise |
| Children and pets | No infants or small children in the kitchen while you work; pets kept out |
| Other activity | No family cooking, laundry or entertaining at the same time |
| Hygiene | Surfaces sanitized before each use; no bare-hand contact with ready-to-eat food; no working while ill |
The label
| Line | What it says |
|---|---|
| Operation | Name and address of the cottage food operation |
| Product | The name of the product |
| Ingredients | In descending order by weight, with sub-ingredients of prepared ingredients |
| Net quantity | Net weight or net volume |
| Allergens | As federal labeling requires |
| Nutrition | Only with a nutrient content or health claim |
Products are sold prepackaged, with the label in English. How to work out the allergens in a recipe is in allergen matrix template.
An example: a Berkshire County baker
Berkshire Hearth, a made-up cottage food operation in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, I use in these examples, sells at a farmers market and ships online orders:
| Product | Allowed? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Cranberry bread | Yes | A non-TCS baked good |
| Beach plum jelly | Yes | Jams and jellies |
| Maple walnut fudge | Yes | Safe at room temperature |
| Boston cream pie | No | Cream filling |
| Bread-and-butter pickles | No | Pickled products aren't allowed |
| Cookies for a grocery | Wholesale license | Stores need the DPH license |
The town's board of health inspected the kitchen before issuing the permit, and asked for a water activity test on the fudge. When a grocery in town asked for cookies, the baker applied to DPH for the wholesale license as well. By September Berkshire Hearth had sold $28,100. How a home food business starts is in how to start a cottage food business.
Get the checklist
Download the Massachusetts residential kitchen 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
Two permits mean two inspectors and two sets of customers: the market and online buyers under the town's permit, the grocery under DPH's license. Each can ask which batch went where.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack keeps each batch's lot and which customers it went to.
Each batch dated. A batch of fudge gets a lot with its production and best-before dates, and lot labels print with it; fields of your own on the batch record hold a lab result if the board asks.
Customers and orders. The grocery and each online buyer are customers with orders, and each order records the lots it got, so one recall report shows where a batch went.
Market sales too. TaroStack connects to Square for market sales, so retail and wholesale sit in one set of records.
| The job | Notebook | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| A batch's date | Written on the box | The batch's lot and dates |
| A lab result | A folder | A field on the batch record |
| Who got a batch | Not recorded | One recall report |
Lots, batches, 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.