Ohio's cottage food rules are a list: twenty kinds of food a home kitchen can make and sell, from non-potentially hazardous baked goods, jams, jellies and candy to granola, popcorn, roasted coffee and dry mixes. Anything not on the list isn't cottage food. There's no license and no inspection, but the kitchen is the owner's own home with one ordinary stove, and every product carries a label with the business's name and address, ingredients, net weight, and the sentence "This product is home produced." in ten-point type, alongside the federal label rules. Labeled cottage food can be sold to licensed grocery stores and restaurants, not only at markets. And it can't be sold outside Ohio. In the example below, a central Ohio baker sorts six products, including two that surprise. Below are the list, the label, where to sell, the example, and a free checklist.
The short version
- Only foods on Ohio's list of twenty: baked goods that don't need refrigeration, jams, jellies, candy, granola, popcorn, unfilled baked donuts, roasted coffee, dry mixes and more.
- No license, and no inspection by the Department of Agriculture; it can still take samples.
- Made in the owner's primary residence, in an ordinary kitchen with one household stove or oven.
- No potentially hazardous foods, acidified or low-acid canned foods, or reduced-oxygen packaging.
- Candy can't include fresh fruit dipped or covered; donuts must be unfilled and baked.
- Label: name and address, product name, ingredients, net weight, "This product is home produced." in 10-point type, plus federal label rules.
- Sell from home, at farmers markets and registered farm markets, and to licensed grocery stores and restaurants.
- No sales outside Ohio.
- TaroStack keeps each batch's lot and which shops it went to. More below.
The list
| Allowed | Notes |
|---|---|
| Non-potentially hazardous bakery products | Cookies, breads, brownies, cakes, fruit pies |
| Jams, jellies, fruit butters, fruit chutneys | |
| Candy | Not with fresh fruit dipped, covered or incorporated |
| Flavored honey, maple sugar | From exempt beekeepers and maple producers |
| Granola and granola bars | Fruit commercially dried |
| Popcorn, kettle corn, popcorn balls, caramel corn | Not unpopped corn |
| Unfilled baked donuts, waffle cones, pizzelles | |
| Dry cereal and nut snack mixes | |
| Roasted coffee | Whole beans or ground |
| Dry baking mixes, herbs, seasoning blends, soup mixes, tea blends |
The list is Ohio Administrative Code 901:3-20-04, which also bars reduced-oxygen packaging. The prohibitions, including potentially hazardous, acidified and low-acid canned foods and any sale outside Ohio, are in 901:3-20-05. This is general information, not legal advice.
The label
| Line | What it says |
|---|---|
| Business | The name and address of the business |
| Product | The name of the food |
| Ingredients | In descending order by weight |
| Net quantity | Net weight, in both U.S. and metric units |
| Statement | "This product is home produced." in ten-point type |
| Federal rules | Everything 21 CFR part 101 asks, including allergens |
The five state items are in Ohio Revised Code 3715.023, and the federal rules are added by 901:3-20-02. The Department of Agriculture's fact sheet (ODA) asks for net weight in both unit systems, and a "Contains" statement or allergens named in the ingredients; a nutrient or health claim brings the full Nutrition Facts panel. How to write the allergen line is in allergen matrix template.
Where you can sell
| Where | Allowed? |
|---|---|
| From the home where it's made | Yes |
| Farmers markets and registered farm markets | Yes |
| Licensed grocery stores | Yes |
| Licensed restaurants, to sell or cook with | Yes |
| Festivals organized by a city, county or other political subdivision, up to seven consecutive days | Yes |
| Anywhere outside Ohio, by mail or in person | No |
The fact sheet lists these places. The Department of Agriculture doesn't license or inspect cottage food, but it can sample any of it to check it isn't adulterated or misbranded, and refusing samples isn't allowed under 901:3-20-05.
An example: a central Ohio baker
Olentangy Oven, a made-up home baker in Worthington, Ohio, I use in these examples, sells at a farmers market and to two cafés:
| Product | Allowed? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Buckeye candies | Yes | Candy |
| Chocolate-covered strawberries | No | Candy can't include fresh fruit |
| Cream-filled donuts | No | Only unfilled baked donuts are listed |
| Pumpkin roll with cream cheese filling | No | Needs refrigeration |
| Roasted coffee | Yes | Whole beans or ground |
| Salsa | No | Acidified foods aren't allowed |
The cafés buy buckeyes and coffee, which Ohio allows. A customer in Indiana asked for buckeyes by mail; Ohio cottage food can't be sold outside the state, so they pick them up when they visit. How a home food business starts is in how to start a cottage food business, and which foods need refrigeration in TCS foods list.
Get the checklist
Download the Ohio cottage food checklist. Three sheets: the label, each line with a column for yours; products, each with whether it's on the list 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
Selling to cafés means orders, deliveries and invoices on top of the market, and the state can sample a product any day. Knowing which batch a sampled bag of coffee came from, and where the rest of that batch went, is the part a notebook misses.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack keeps each batch's lot and which shops it went to.
Each batch dated. A roast of coffee or a batch of buckeyes gets a lot with its dates, and lot labels print with it.
Cafés as customers. Each café has its own 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.
| The job | Notebook | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| Which batch a sample came from | Guessed | The batch's lot |
| Where the rest of it went | Not recorded | One recall report |
| Café invoices | Written by hand | From their orders |
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.