Pennsylvania has no cottage food law by that name. A home baker or jam maker registers instead as a limited food establishment with the Department of Agriculture: a residential-style kitchen making shelf-stable foods that don't need refrigeration, baked goods without cream fillings, jams and jellies, candy, snack mixes. Unlike most states' cottage food rules, it comes with a plan review and an on-site inspection, a $35 fee each year, lab tests for products like moist cakes and sauces, a water test if you're on a well, and no animals on the food premises. It isn't available in Philadelphia County. In the example below, a Lancaster County baker sorts six products and sends two to the lab first. Below are the rules, the label, testing, the example, and a free checklist.
The short version
- Register as a limited food establishment with the Department of Agriculture: $35, and $35 at each yearly renewal.
- Submit everything at least 60 days before you start; the department reviews in 15 business days, then inspects.
- Only non-TCS, shelf-stable foods: no cream fillings, nothing needing refrigeration or hot holding.
- Lab tests for pH and water activity on moist cakes, some pies, sauces, dehydrated and acidified foods.
- No animals on or in the food premises; a private well needs a water test.
- Not available in Philadelphia County.
- Label: product name, ingredients by weight, allergens, net weight, business name and address.
- TaroStack keeps each batch's lot and test results on its record. More below.
The rules
| Rule | What the Department of Agriculture says |
|---|---|
| What it is | A residential-style kitchen preparing non-hazardous foods that don't need refrigeration after preparation |
| Foods | Shelf-stable, non-potentially hazardous foods, such as baked goods without cream fillings, jams, jellies, candies and some snack mixes |
| Registration | $35 initially and each year; materials at least 60 days before operating; a decision within 15 business days; then an on-site inspection |
| Sales | Registration covers sales from the production site, including internet sales; an event or farmers market may also need a retail food facility license |
| Across state lines | May also need FDA registration, and interstate products need nutrition labeling unless exempt |
| Testing | pH and water activity for acidified foods, sauces, moist breads and cakes, some pies, dehydrated foods |
| Pets | No animals on or in the active food establishment premises |
| Water | A private well needs a coliform and nitrate test |
| Where | Not permitted in Philadelphia County |
The department's page (PDA) and application packet (packet) set these out. This is general information, not legal advice.
The label
| Line | What it says |
|---|---|
| Product | The name of the product |
| Ingredients | From most to least by weight |
| Allergens | A declaration, if needed |
| Net quantity | Net weight or volume |
| Business | Your business name and address |
Bakery items you or an employee sell directly to a Pennsylvania consumer, at your site or a satellite such as a farmers market, don't need the label on each item, but ingredient information has to be available on request. How to write the allergen line is in allergen matrix template.
Testing
| Product | Test |
|---|---|
| Acid, acidified or fermented foods and drinks | pH |
| Dressings, sauces, salsa | pH and water activity |
| "Moist" breads and cakes, some pies | Water activity and pH |
| Jams and jellies | Soluble solids, if asked, for the product's identity |
| Dehydrated foods | pH and water activity |
Every recipe is tested before the plan review, and again whenever a recipe changes or a product is added. How pH and water activity decide whether a food needs refrigeration is in TCS foods list.
An example: a Lancaster County baker
Conestoga Kitchen, a made-up home baker in Lititz, Pennsylvania, I use in these examples, sells at a farmers market and online:
| Product | Allowed? | What it needs |
|---|---|---|
| Whoopie pies, shortening-and-sugar filling | Test first | Water activity and pH, as a moist cake |
| Whoopie pies, cream cheese filling | No | Needs refrigeration |
| Apple butter | Yes | Soluble solids test if asked |
| Soft pretzels | Yes | Shelf-stable |
| Hot pepper sauce | Test first | pH and water activity |
| Chicken pot pie | No | Meat; needs refrigeration |
The whoopie pies and the pepper sauce went to a lab before the application; the results went in with the plan review. The family's dog stays at a relative's house now, since no animals can be on the premises. How a home food business starts is in how to start a cottage food business.
Get the checklist
Download the Pennsylvania limited food establishment checklist. Three sheets: the label, each line with a column for yours; products, each with whether it's allowed and what it needs; 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
Pennsylvania's rule ties every product to its test: a recipe change means a new test. A baker with fifteen products and seasonal versions has to know which recipe each batch used and which test it rests on, and an inspector can ask.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack keeps each batch's lot and test results on its record.
Recipes by version. Recipes are versioned, so a changed whoopie pie filling is a new version on a date, and each batch records which version it was made from.
Test results on the record. Fields of your own on the batch record hold the pH and water activity results and the lab report number, so the test behind a recipe is with its batches.
Each batch dated. Each batch gets a lot with its production and best-before dates, and each order records the lots each customer got.
| The job | Notebook | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| Which recipe a batch used | Remembered | A recipe version on a date |
| The lab test behind it | A folder | A field on the batch record |
| A batch's date | Written on the bag | The batch's lot and dates |
Lots, batches, versioned recipes and batch records with fields of your own 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.