Missouri's cottage food law, RSMo 196.298, is short and strict about what it covers: baked goods, canned jams or jellies, and dried herbs or herb mixes, made in your home kitchen and sold directly to consumers. There's no license, no inspection and, since August 28, 2022, no sales cap; the old $50,000 limit is gone, and online sales are allowed as long as you and the buyer are both in Missouri. Anything outside the three categories isn't cottage food, and the Department of Health and Senior Services names some surprises: hot pepper and sugar-free jams, baked goods with fresh fruit on top, freeze-dried foods, pickles and salsa. Every product carries a label with your name and address, ingredients, net weight, allergens, and a statement that the kitchen isn't inspected. In the example below, a Hermann baker sorts six products. Below are the rules, what's excluded, the label, the example, and a free checklist.
The short version
- Only baked goods, canned jams or jellies, and dried herbs or herb mixes, none potentially hazardous.
- Made in your primary residence's kitchen, with ordinary household appliances.
- No license or inspection from the state or your local health department.
- No sales cap since August 28, 2022.
- Sold directly to consumers by you or a knowledgeable member of your household; no wholesale.
- Online sales only when you and the buyer are both in Missouri.
- Label: name and address, product name, ingredients, net weight, allergens, and the not-inspected statement.
- TaroStack keeps each batch's lot and where it went. More below.
The rules
| Rule | What RSMo 196.298 and DHSS say |
|---|---|
| Foods | Baked goods prepared in an oven, canned jams or jellies, dried herbs and herb mixes; none potentially hazardous |
| Home | A primary residence with a kitchen and appliances designed for common residential use |
| Regulation | Not a food service establishment; no state or local food code rules apply, and local health departments can't regulate the production |
| Sales | Directly to consumers; DHSS adds that the seller is the maker or a household member who knows the product |
| Online | Only if both you and the buyer are located in Missouri |
| Cap | None since 2022 |
| Wholesale | Not covered; a wholesaler goes to DHSS's Manufactured Food program |
| Complaints | Recorded by DHSS and local health departments; outbreaks can still be investigated |
The law is RSMo 196.298, amended in 2022 by HB 1697. DHSS's Home-Based Kitchen Food Production Guidance explains the categories and the label. This is general information, not legal advice.
What's excluded
| Not cottage food | Why, per DHSS |
|---|---|
| Hot pepper, sugar-free and no-sugar-added jams and jellies | The pH or water activity can change, so they aren't treated as non-hazardous |
| Baked goods garnished with fresh fruit | Potentially hazardous |
| Freeze-dried foods | Not one of the three categories |
| Pickles, salsa, sauces such as barbecue or hot sauce | Not one of the three categories |
| Cut produce, sprouts, wild mushrooms | Potentially hazardous or not covered |
| Meat, dairy, eggs, pet food | Not covered |
Some other low-risk foods, such as fruit butters, sorghum, cracked nuts, spice mixes and dry soup mixes, may be sold from a stand directly to consumers under a separate exemption in the Missouri Food Code, where your local health agency's rules allow. Which foods count as potentially hazardous is in TCS foods list.
The label
| Line | What it says |
|---|---|
| Operation | Full name and address of the cottage food production operation |
| Product | The common name of the food |
| Ingredients | All of them, in descending order by weight |
| Net weight | The net weight of the food |
| Allergens | A list of any allergens in the food |
| Statement | That the product is prepared in a kitchen not subject to inspection by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services |
How to work out the allergens in a recipe is in allergen matrix template.
An example: a Hermann baker
Gasconade Bakehouse, a made-up home baker in Hermann, Missouri, I use in these examples, sells at a Saturday market and takes online orders from around the state:
| Product | Allowed? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Sourdough bread | Yes | A baked good |
| Blackberry jam | Yes | A canned jam |
| Italian herb mix | Yes | A dried herb mix |
| Hot pepper jelly | No | Excluded by DHSS |
| Strawberry shortcake | No | Fresh fruit garnish |
| Freeze-dried candy | No | Freeze-dried foods are excluded |
An order from Illinois came through the website; Missouri's law allows online sales only within the state, so it was refunded. By September Gasconade had sold $26,300, and with no cap, the year's total matters only for taxes. How a home food business starts is in how to start a cottage food business.
Get the checklist
Download the Missouri cottage 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, with no cap set. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.
Where this stops working
DHSS and local health departments keep a record of complaints, and either can investigate an outbreak. When a customer calls about a jar of jam, which batch it was and who else bought that batch is the answer they'll want, and a market cash box doesn't keep it.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack keeps each batch's lot and where it went.
Each batch dated. A batch of jam gets a lot with its production and best-before dates, and lot labels print with it.
Where it went. Online 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 year's sales. With no cap, sales still matter for taxes; they come from the orders, and every list exports to CSV.
| The job | Notebook | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| A batch's date | Written on the jar | The batch's lot and dates |
| Who got a batch | Not recorded | One recall report |
| The year's sales | Added up in April | From the orders, exported to CSV |
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.