Where You Can Sell
- Permitted sales channel: Home Pickup
- Permitted sales channel: Home Pickup
- Permitted sales channel: Home Pickup
- Permitted sales channel: No interstate sales
- Not permitted sales channel: Interstate Sales
Yes, you can legally sell baked goods and other homemade low-risk foods from your home kitchen in Louisiana. Louisiana's cottage food law — R.S. 40:4.9, enacted as Act 542 in 2013 and amended in 2014 and 2022 — is an exemption, not a permitting scheme. As long as your operation meets the conditions in R.S. 40:4.9, you can sell qualifying foods without registering with the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH) or submitting to any routine state inspection.
If you only remember three things, make them these: there's a single $30,000 gross annual sales cap that applies to all cottage foods including baked goods; where you can sell depends on what you make (bakers are limited to direct-to-consumer sales only, while other low-risk food makers can also sell to retail stores and restaurants); and before your first sale you must have both a state and a local sales tax certificate — these are not optional.
Laws can change, so always verify current requirements against the official sources linked at the bottom of this page before you start selling.
What You Can Sell Under Louisiana Cottage Food Law
Louisiana's cottage food law defines a category called "low-risk foods" — and permits you to prepare those foods at home and sell them without state licensing or inspection. R.S. 40:4.9(E) defines "low-risk foods" as any of the following, none of which may consist of animal muscle protein or fish protein:
✅ You Can Sell
- Baked goods — breads, cakes, cookies, and pies
- Candies — brittles, fudge, truffles, chocolate
- Dried mixes — baking mixes, spice blends, drink mixes
- Honey and honeycomb products
- Jams, jellies, and preserves
- Pickles and acidified foods (e.g., pickled cucumbers, salsa)
- Sauces and syrups (e.g., hot sauce, simple syrup, fruit syrups)
- Spices and dried herbs
❌ You Cannot Sell
- Any food containing animal muscle protein (meat, poultry)
- Any food containing fish protein or seafood
- Low-acid canned foods (e.g., canned green beans, corn, beets)
- Fermented foods (e.g., kombucha, fermented vegetables)
- Foods requiring refrigeration that aren't on the allowed list
- Any food not on the statutory low-risk list
- Beverages
- —
| ✅ You Can Sell | ❌ You Cannot Sell |
|---|---|
| Baked goods — breads, cakes, cookies, and pies | Any food containing animal muscle protein (meat, poultry) |
| Candies — brittles, fudge, truffles, chocolate | Any food containing fish protein or seafood |
| Dried mixes — baking mixes, spice blends, drink mixes | Low-acid canned foods (e.g., canned green beans, corn, beets) |
| Honey and honeycomb products | Fermented foods (e.g., kombucha, fermented vegetables) |
| Jams, jellies, and preserves | Foods requiring refrigeration that aren't on the allowed list |
| Pickles and acidified foods (e.g., pickled cucumbers, salsa) | Any food not on the statutory low-risk list |
| Sauces and syrups (e.g., hot sauce, simple syrup, fruit syrups) | Beverages |
| Spices and dried herbs | — |
In Louisiana, you can sell baked goods, candies, jams, honey, dried mixes, pickles, acidified foods, sauces, syrups, and spices — but not any food containing meat, poultry, or fish protein, and not low-acid canned goods or fermented foods.
ℹ Note
Pickles and Acidified Foods Are Allowed in Louisiana
Some competing guides incorrectly list pickles and salsa as prohibited in Louisiana. The statute — R.S. 40:4.9(E)(6) — explicitly names "Pickles and acidified foods" as permitted low-risk foods. Salsa, pickled cucumbers, and similar acidified products are allowed. What is prohibited (per general guidance from Forrager, a cottage food aggregator) are low-acid canned foods and fermented foods. If you're making acidified foods, focus on reaching and confirming a safe final pH — Louisiana law doesn't specify a testing protocol, but standard food safety practice for acidified foods requires confirming a final equilibrium pH of 4.6 or below.
ℹ Note
Custard and Cream-Filled Products
Unlike most states, Louisiana's cottage food law does not categorically prohibit custard or cream-filled bakery products. According to Forrager, these products are allowed under Louisiana's law — but only when pasteurized milk products are used. Verify this with your specific product before selling.
⚠ Watch out
Verify Borderline Products Before Selling
If you're not sure whether your product qualifies as a low-risk food under R.S. 40:4.9(E), contact the LDH Food and Drug Unit at 225-342-7522 before your first sale. The LDH regulates licensed food manufacturing facilities — it can tell you definitively whether your product falls within or outside the cottage food exemption.
Next step
Run pickup orders with Louisiana-compliant labels
MyPorch helps Louisiana bakers organize batch menus, generate Louisiana-compliant labels, and manage porch-pickup orders without DM chaos.
Start your Louisiana storefrontAnnual Revenue Cap and Sales Channels
Louisiana's cottage food law operates with a single $30,000 gross annual sales cap that applies to all low-risk foods, including baked goods. R.S. 40:4.9(B) states that the exemption "shall not apply" to any preparer of low-risk foods "whose gross annual sales equal" the statutory threshold or more. (The 2022 amendment — HB 828 — raised this threshold to $30,000.) At or above the cap, the home-preparation exemption no longer applies and you would need to transition to a licensed commercial kitchen.
The Two-Tier Channel Rule
Where you can sell depends on what you're making — and this is Louisiana's most distinctive feature.
If you make baked goods (breads, cakes, cookies, or pies), R.S. 40:4.9(C) prohibits you from selling those foods "to any retail business or individual for resale." That means baked goods are limited to direct-to-consumer sales only — you sell to the end customer, not to a store or restaurant that then resells to the public.
If you make other low-risk foods (candies, dried mixes, honey, jams, pickles, sauces, spices), the direct-sales restriction in §(C) does not apply to you. Those products may be sold directly to consumers and also to retail food establishments and restaurants — up to the $30,000 annual cap.
ℹ Note
What "Direct to Consumer" Means in Louisiana
For baked goods, "direct to consumer" means the person buying your food is the end consumer — not a shop owner or restaurant buying to resell. You can sell in person (from your home, at a farmers market, at a craft fair, or at a roadside stand), accept pre-orders for pickup, or deliver to a customer's door. What you cannot do is sell to a grocery store or bakery to put your cookies on their shelf, or supply a restaurant with your bread for their menu.
Online Sales and Delivery
R.S. 40:4.9 does not explicitly address online sales. Louisiana has not issued formal guidance confirming or restricting online transactions for cottage food. What the law requires is that baked goods reach a direct consumer — not an intermediary for resale. Online orders placed by end consumers and delivered by you appear consistent with the spirit of the direct-to-consumer requirement, but because the statute is silent on the point, verify with LDH before building an online-first business model. (2025 HB 150, which would have explicitly authorized remote sales, died in a Senate committee — see Recent Law Changes.)
Interstate Sales
Louisiana's cottage food law does not authorize interstate sales. Nothing in R.S. 40:4.9 extends the home-preparation exemption beyond Louisiana, so you can't ship your products to customers in other states under this exemption — if you want to sell across state lines, you'd need to step up to a licensed commercial operation. For now, keep your cottage food sales inside Louisiana.
In summary, Louisiana's cottage food law (R.S. 40:4.9, as amended by HB 828 in 2022) imposes a $30,000 gross annual sales cap on all low-risk foods; baked goods may only be sold direct-to-consumer, while other low-risk foods may also be sold to retail stores and restaurants; and interstate sales are not permitted.
Permit, Registration, and Training Requirements
Louisiana cottage food producers are exempt from the state-level permit and inspection requirements that normally apply to food manufacturing facilities under the LDH Sanitary Code Title 51. No state permit, no registration with the Louisiana Department of Health, and no routine kitchen inspection is required to sell low-risk foods prepared at home under R.S. 40:4.9.
What is required before your first sale are two tax certificates — and these are non-negotiable.
Mandatory Sales Tax Certificates
R.S. 40:4.9(D)(2) states that no individual who prepares low-risk foods in the home shall sell those foods unless they have applied for and been issued all of the following:
- (a) A Louisiana General Sales Tax Certificate from the Louisiana Department of Revenue.
- (b) A local sales tax certificate from the local taxing authority of any jurisdiction in which you intend to sell foods.
These are real business tax registrations, not minor formalities. You must obtain both before making a single sale. If you plan to sell in multiple parishes or municipalities, you may need separate local certificates for each jurisdiction.
⚠ Watch out
Tax Certificates Are the Real Pre-Sale Requirement
Because Louisiana has no state permit or inspection for cottage foods, it's easy to think "no permit means no paperwork." That's wrong. The sales tax certificate requirement in R.S. 40:4.9(D)(2) is mandatory — it's what Louisiana requires in place of a health permit. Contact the Louisiana Department of Revenue to register for your state tax certificate and contact your parish or city tax office for the local certificate. Don't skip this step.
Food Handler Training and Kitchen Inspections
No food handler training or food safety certification is required by Louisiana's cottage food law. No state kitchen inspection is required before or after you start selling. The LDH's Food and Drug Unit regulates licensed food manufacturing facilities — cottage food operations that comply with R.S. 40:4.9 are outside that regulatory framework.
Special Conditions for Baked Goods Preparers
If you make breads, cakes, cookies, or pies (the baked goods tier), R.S. 40:4.9(A) imposes three additional conditions specific to your product category:
- You cannot employ anyone to assist in the preparation of those foods for sale.
- Pets must be excluded from any part of your home where the preparation and baking of those products takes place.
- Perishable ingredients must be refrigerated at or below 45°F — refrigeration must be available to maintain that temperature for all perishable materials connected with production.
Producers of other low-risk foods (candies, jams, honey, etc.) are not subject to these three conditions under the statute — they apply only to the baked goods category.
In summary, Louisiana requires no state permit, license, or food safety training for cottage food — but you must obtain a Louisiana General Sales Tax Certificate and a local sales tax certificate before selling, per R.S. 40:4.9(D)(2). If you bake breads, cakes, cookies, or pies, you're also subject to an employee ban, pet exclusion, and refrigeration requirement.
Labeling Requirements
Every Louisiana cottage food product must carry a label before it reaches a customer. Louisiana's cottage food labeling rule is intentionally minimal — the statute specifies only one thing about what that label must say.
The One Required Statement
R.S. 40:4.9(D)(1) requires that any individual preparing low-risk foods in the home for sale must "affix to any such food offered for sale a label which clearly indicates that the food was not produced in a licensed or regulated facility."
That is the complete Louisiana cottage food label requirement. The statute fixes a standard ("clearly indicates") — it does not prescribe exact verbatim wording. You cannot print a specific required phrase because Louisiana law does not mandate one. The statutory language that must be satisfied — quoted directly from R.S. 40:4.9(D)(1) — is that the label must "clearly indicate that the food was not produced in a licensed or regulated facility."
Your label language should communicate that message plainly. MyPorch's generated Louisiana labels print the statement "This product was not produced in a licensed or regulated facility," which clearly satisfies R.S. 40:4.9(D)(1) — but it is not mandated text, and Louisiana law does not require you to use that exact version. Any clear statement of the same message works.
What Louisiana Law Does Not Require
Louisiana's cottage food statute (R.S. 40:4.9) does not require: - Your producer name or address on the label - A phone number or email address - An ingredient list - A net weight or volume statement - A production date or best-by date - A registration number (there is none for cottage foods)
This means Louisiana's legal floor is significantly lower than what most bakers assume — and lower than FDA general food labeling guidelines.
✓ Tip
Apply Best Practices Even When the Law Doesn't Require Them
Louisiana law's bare minimum — one statement about not being produced in a licensed facility — is genuinely thin. For customer trust, repeat business, and alignment with how food labeling works in the broader marketplace, treat FDA voluntary food labeling guidance as your practical standard: include your business name, a short address or contact point, a full ingredient list in descending order of weight, and major allergen declarations. None of these are legally required by Louisiana cottage food law, but all of them protect you and your customers.
Label Elements: Required vs. Recommended
| Element | Required by Louisiana Law | Recommended Best Practice |
|---|---|---|
| Statement that food was not produced in a licensed or regulated facility | ✅ Required (R.S. 40:4.9(D)(1)) | Use plain, clear language |
| Product common name | Not required by cottage food law | ✅ Strongly recommended |
| Producer name | Not required by cottage food law | ✅ Recommended for customer trust |
| Producer address or contact information | Not required by cottage food law | ✅ Recommended for returns / questions |
| Ingredient list (descending by weight) | Not required by cottage food law | ✅ Strongly recommended |
| Major allergen declaration | Not required by cottage food law | ✅ Strongly recommended (FDA best practice) |
| Net weight or volume | Not required by cottage food law | ✅ Recommended for professional appearance |
| Production / bake date | Not required | ✅ Recommended for short shelf-life items |
| Best-by or use-by date | Not required | ✅ Recommended for short shelf-life items |
| QR code linking to storefront | Not required | ✅ Drives repeat orders |
| Storage instructions | Not required | ✅ Recommended for humidity-sensitive items |
Louisiana law requires only one label element: a statement that clearly indicates the food was not produced in a licensed or regulated facility (R.S. 40:4.9(D)(1)). No exact wording is mandated; no producer name, address, ingredients, or registration number is required by the cottage food statute.
Upcoming Ingredient Disclosure Requirements
In June 2025, Louisiana enacted 2025 SB 14 (Act No. 463-2025). Beginning January 1, 2028, food products sold in Louisiana that contain any of 44 specified ingredients must display a QR code on the packaging linking to further ingredient information. Additionally starting January 1, 2028, food service establishments using seed oils must disclose this to customers via a disclaimer. SB 14 is a general food law, not a cottage food statute amendment — it will apply to cottage food products sold in Louisiana just as it applies to other food products. Prepare to update your labels before 2028 if your products contain the flagged ingredients.
For full allergen labeling guidance and label format templates, see our cottage food labeling guide.
Now That You Know the Rules — Here's How to Start Selling in Louisiana
Louisiana gives you a clear entry point: no state permit, no inspection, no waiting. The main tasks before your first sale are administrative (tax certificates) and operational (labels and channel clarity). Here's the practical sequence:
- Confirm your products qualify. Check your items against the R.S. 40:4.9(E) low-risk food list. If you make baked goods, candies, jams, honey, dried mixes, pickles, sauces, syrups, or spices without any meat or fish, you're in the right territory. If you're making something that doesn't fit neatly into those eight categories, contact LDH (225-342-7522) before you sell.
- Understand your tier and channel. Baked goods (breads, cakes, cookies, pies) → direct to consumers only, no resale. Other low-risk foods → direct to consumers and to retail stores and restaurants. Lock in which tier applies to you before you make any agreements with shops or restaurants.
- Obtain your sales tax certificates. Register with the Louisiana Department of Revenue for your state General Sales Tax Certificate. Then contact the local taxing authority for every parish or jurisdiction where you plan to sell and get the required local certificate. Do this before your first transaction.
- Build compliant labels. At minimum, include the statement that your food was not produced in a licensed or regulated facility. As a matter of best practice, add product name, ingredient list, and allergen declarations. Use our cottage food labeling guide to build a label that satisfies both the legal floor and real-world customer expectations.
- Set up your ordering process. A clear, repeatable way to take pre-orders and payments saves hours of coordination as your business grows. See our guides on how to take pre-orders for your home bakery and how to price your baked goods.
✓ Tip
Watch the $30,000 Cap Across All Products
Louisiana's $30,000 cap is a single threshold covering all of your cottage food sales combined — baked goods and other low-risk foods together. If you sell both bread and jam, both count toward the same ceiling. Once your gross annual sales reach $30,000, the home-preparation exemption no longer applies. Build simple revenue tracking into your process from the start so you're never surprised mid-season.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you sell cottage food in Louisiana?
Do you need a permit for cottage food in Louisiana?
Does Louisiana have a food freedom law?
What foods are allowed under Louisiana cottage food law?
What foods are not allowed under Louisiana cottage food law?
Can you sell baked goods from home in Louisiana?
Does Louisiana cottage food have a sales limit?
Do baked goods have a separate sales cap in Louisiana?
Can Louisiana cottage food producers sell to retail stores or restaurants?
Can I sell my baked goods to a grocery store in Louisiana?
Can Louisiana cottage food producers sell online?
Can I ship cottage food products to customers outside Louisiana?
Can I sell at a farmers market in Louisiana?
What sales tax certificates do Louisiana cottage food producers need?
When do I need to get the Louisiana sales tax certificate?
Is there a fee for Louisiana cottage food sales tax registration?
What label information is required on Louisiana cottage food products?
Does Louisiana require an exact disclaimer statement on cottage food labels?
Does Louisiana require a producer name and address on cottage food labels?
Does Louisiana require an ingredient list on cottage food labels?
Is a production date required on Louisiana cottage food labels?
Can you sell cream pies in Louisiana?
Are pickles allowed under Louisiana cottage food law?
Can I hire a helper for my Louisiana cottage food operation?
Are pets allowed in the kitchen when making Louisiana cottage food?
What refrigeration requirements apply to Louisiana cottage food producers?
Do Louisiana cottage food producers need food handler certification?
Are Louisiana home kitchens inspected by the state?
What happens if I exceed the $30,000 sales cap in Louisiana?
Does Louisiana cottage food law apply to pet treats?
Can local governments restrict Louisiana cottage food businesses?
How does Louisiana cottage food law compare to neighboring states?
Are there any upcoming changes to Louisiana cottage food law?
Recent Law Changes
June 20, 2025 — 2025 SB 14 (Act No. 463-2025): Signed into law. This is a general food law, not a cottage food statute amendment. Beginning January 1, 2028, food products sold in Louisiana that contain any of 44 specified ingredients must display a QR code on packaging linking to further ingredient information. Also beginning January 1, 2028, food service establishments using seed oils must post a customer-facing disclaimer. These requirements will apply to cottage food products sold in Louisiana. Review your ingredients list before 2028 and update your labels if needed.
ℹ Note
2025 HB 150 — Died in Committee
The 2025 Regular Session saw House Bill 150, which would have significantly revised Louisiana's cottage food law — removing the $30,000 sales cap, renaming "low-risk foods" to "non-potentially hazardous food," expanding allowed food categories, explicitly permitting remote/internet sales, and adding new labeling requirements including the preparer's name, address, phone number, and ingredients. HB 150 passed the House but died in a Senate committee. The current law — R.S. 40:4.9 with the $30,000 cap, the two-tier channel structure, and the minimal label requirement — remains in effect. The failed bill signals legislative interest in loosening restrictions; it's worth monitoring future sessions.
August 2022 — HB 828: The $30,000 gross annual sales threshold was increased from $20,000 to $30,000, giving Louisiana cottage food producers more headroom before the exemption falls away. The amendment did not change the allowed food categories, the two-tier sales channel structure, or the labeling requirement.
August 2014 — HB 1270 (Act 542 Amendment): The 2014 amendment to R.S. 40:4.9 significantly expanded the law — it broadened the original list of covered foods (which was limited to jellies, preserves, jams, honey, honeycomb products, cakes, and cookies) to the current eight-category low-risk food framework; added the $20,000 sales cap (now $30,000 after HB 828); added the labeling and sales tax certificate requirements; and introduced the special conditions for baked goods preparers (no employees, pet exclusion, refrigeration requirement).
August 2013 — Act 542 (Original Enactment): Louisiana's cottage food law took effect, originally covering only jellies, preserves, jams, honey, honeycomb products, cakes, and cookies for direct sale.
Guide last reviewed: April 21, 2026. Next review due: October 18, 2026.
How Louisiana Compares
Louisiana vs. Similar States
Key metrics across states with similar baker populations.
| State | Annual Cap | Wholesale | Online Sales | Inspection |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LouisianaThis guide | $30K | Yes | No | No |
| Alabama | $20K | No | Yes | No |
| Arizona | None | Yes | Yes | No |
| Arkansas | None | No | Yes | No |
| California | $75K / $150K | Yes | Yes | No |