Maryland Cottage Food Law 2026: No Permit, $50K Cap, and a Privacy Option for Your Home Address

# Maryland Cottage Food Law 2026: No Permit, $50K Cap, and a Privacy Option for Your Home Address

Yes, you can sell baked goods and other non-potentially hazardous foods from your home kitchen in Maryland — and the state makes it surprisingly easy. No permit. No inspection. No mandatory food-handler course. Maryland's cottage food law, governed by COMAR 10.15.03.27, is one of the more accessible entry points for home bakers in the Mid-Atlantic.

If you only remember three things, make them these: your annual gross revenue is capped at $50,000 today (rising to $100,000 on October 1, 2026), you can sell through a range of direct channels including mail order, and Maryland offers a free identification number so you never have to print your home address on a label. There's a lot to cover, so let's walk through exactly what you can sell, where you can sell it, and how to label it — all straight from the primary source text.

What You Can Sell in Maryland

Maryland allows you to sell only non-potentially hazardous foods — meaning foods that don't require temperature control to stay safe. The full list comes straight from COMAR 10.15.03.27 §B, and it's narrower than many states. Here's a practical breakdown:

The headline categories from §B are: hot-filled canned acid fruit products, specific fruit butters and jams/jellies, non-potentially hazardous baked goods, farm-licensed foods, non-potentially hazardous candy, and all other non-potentially hazardous foods from licensed entities.

What counts as "non-potentially hazardous"?

Most shelf-stable baked goods and candies are non-potentially hazardous — think bread, cookies, brownies, hard candy, and fruit jams made from approved fruits. If your product contains meat, cheese, cream, or other perishable fillings, it almost certainly doesn't qualify. When in doubt, contact the Maryland Department of Health (MDH) before investing in packaging and ingredients.

A separate note for farmers

Maryland does offer an On-Farm Home Processing License that lets licensed farm operations sell up to approximately $40,000 of additional products — things like pickles, dried fruit, and hot sauces — to venues including restaurants and retail stores. This is a completely separate pathway from the cottage food law and requires its own licensing. If you're a farmer, it's worth exploring, but don't confuse it with the cottage food rules on this page.

Annual Revenue Cap

Your cottage food business can generate up to $50,000 per year in gross revenue. That cap was raised from $25,000 by House Bill 178 of 2022 (Chapter 406), which took effect on October 1, 2022. The statute section is Md. Code Ann., Health-Gen. § 21-301.

Here's the exciting part: the cap is about to double. House Bill 535 of 2026 (Chapter 320), approved by the Governor on April 28, 2026, raises the annual limit to $100,000 effective October 1, 2026. That's roughly three months from now.

What happens if you exceed the cap? Once your gross revenue goes over the limit, you'd need to transition to a licensed commercial kitchen and operate under Maryland's full food-service regulations. Keep careful records of your sales throughout the year so you always know where you stand.

Where You Can Sell

You can only sell Maryland cottage food products within the state — interstate shipping isn't permitted. Within Maryland, COMAR 10.15.03.27 §A(2) gives you six authorized channels:

• At a farmer's market
• At a bake sale
• At a public event
• By personal delivery (think porch pickup, hand-delivery to customers)
• By mail order (Maryland explicitly allows mail-order sales)
• At a retail food store (subject to additional MDH pre-approval requirements — see below)

Online sales

Maryland doesn't have a separate "online sales" category, but the explicit allowance of mail order strongly supports selling through an online storefront. You take orders online and deliver by mail or personal delivery within the state. The law doesn't prohibit this — it's consistent with the mail-order provision.

Selling to retail food stores

If you want your products on the shelves of a grocery store, co-op, or other retail food store, the process gets more involved. Before you can sell to a retail food store, you must:

1. Submit your product label to MDH for review (per §C(6)(a))
2. Provide documentation of successful completion of an ANSI-accredited food safety course within the past 3 years (per §C(6)(b)), covering: basic food safety, cleaning and sanitizing, personal hygiene, pest control and prevention, and receiving/storing/preparing/serving food
3. Wait for written approval from MDH before selling anything (per §C(7))

Your labels for retail-store products also need additional information — phone number, email address, and the date the product was made. We'll cover that in the labeling section.

Local regulations

Maryland's cottage food law includes local-preemption language: you must comply with all applicable county and municipal laws and ordinances regulating the preparation, processing, storage, and sale of cottage food products (per §C(3)). Some counties may have their own requirements beyond the state rules, so check with your local health department before you start selling.

No Permit, No Inspection — But Know the Rules

For direct-to-consumer sales, Maryland keeps things refreshingly simple:

• No state permit or license is required
• No registration fee
• No routine inspection of your kitchen
• No mandatory food-handler training (unless you're selling to retail food stores)

That said, Maryland does have complaint-based enforcement. Per §C(4), if MDH receives a complaint about your products or there's an outbreak of illness, they can investigate, send a representative to inspect your kitchen at a reasonable time, and collect samples. Per §C(5), you may not refuse access or interfere with any such inspection.

If MDH finds you in violation, they can take action against misbranded or adulterated food under Health-General Article, §§21-211, 21-253, and 21-254, and may determine that food from your kitchen can no longer be sold as cottage food (per §D).

The MDH identification number (your privacy option)

Here's a Maryland-specific benefit that many bakers love: under HB 1017 of 2020 (§C(2)), you can request a free unique identification number from MDH and use it on your label instead of your home address. Your label would then show your business name, phone number, and that MDH-issued ID number — no street address required.

There is no cost to request this number. If you'd rather not publish your home address on labels going to farmers markets and bake sales, this is the way to do it. We'll show you exactly how this works in the labeling section below.

Maryland Cottage Food Labeling Requirements

Every cottage food product you sell in Maryland must be prepackaged with a label containing specific information. This isn't optional — it's baked into the law (§C(1)(c)). Here's what your label needs:

Required label elements

1. Business identification — Your business name AND address, or your business name, phone number, and MDH-issued identification number (the privacy option from HB 1017 of 2020)
2. Product name — the name of the cottage food product
3. Ingredients list — in descending order by weight
4. Net weight or net volume
5. Allergen information — as specified by federal labeling requirements
6. Nutritional information — only required if you make a nutritional claim about the product
7. The required disclaimer — see the exact text below
8. Retail-only additions — if selling at a retail food store, you must also include the business phone number, email address, and the date the product was made

The required disclaimer

Maryland law fixes the exact wording for your label disclaimer. Per COMAR 10.15.03.27(C)(1)(c)(vii), it must be printed in 10-point or larger type in a color that provides clear contrast to the label background. Here's the statement:

Made by a cottage food business that is not subject to Maryland's food safety regulations.

That's the exact, verbatim text from the regulation — word for word, punctuation for punctuation. Don't paraphrase it, don't abbreviate it, and don't shrink the font below 10 points. This is the one piece of your label where Maryland leaves zero room for creative interpretation.

Required vs. recommended label elements

Here's what that means for you: the legal must-haves are straightforward, but adding a production date, storage instructions, and a QR code to your online store will make your packaging look more professional and help your customers know exactly what they're getting.

Phone and email response times

A phone number isn't always required — you only need one if you use the MDH ID privacy option in place of your address, or if you're selling to a retail food store. An email address is required only for retail-store sales. But here's the detail that catches people off guard: whenever a phone or email appears on your label, it has to be a working line. The phone number must enable MDH to reach your cottage food business within 24 hours (§C(8)), and the email must enable contact within 48 hours (§C(9)). If you only check your business voicemail once a week, that's not going to cut it.

Now That You Know the Rules — Here's How to Start Selling in Maryland

You've got the regulatory picture. Here's a practical sequence for turning that knowledge into a functioning Maryland cottage food business:

1. Understand the law (done!). You know the current $50,000 cap is jumping to $100,000 on October 1, 2026. You know what you can and can't sell. You know there's no permit required for direct-to-consumer sales.
2. Plan your product line. Decide what you're making, keeping Maryland's allowed-food list in mind. Stick to non-potentially hazardous items — baked goods, approved jams and jellies, hard candy.
3. Get your MDH ID (optional but recommended). If you'd rather not print your home address on labels, apply for your free MDH-issued identification number. You can request it through MDH's Cottage Food Business Request form.
4. Set up your storefront. Create a simple ordering system — an online storefront works well for Maryland since mail order is explicitly allowed. Manage orders through a platform that keeps everything organized.
5. Design compliant labels. Make sure every label includes all required elements, especially the verbatim disclaimer in 10-point or larger type. If you're selling at retail, add the production date, phone, and email.
6. Price your goods profitably. Factor in ingredient costs, packaging, your time, and the annual sales cap. With the $100,000 cap coming in October, you'll have more room to grow.

For broader label planning, use the MyPorch cottage food labeling requirements guide as your checklist companion. Before you open orders, sanity-check your margin with the home bakery pricing guide, then set up your weekly launch rhythm with the guide to taking pre-orders for a home bakery.

Frequently Asked Questions

Recent Law Changes (Changelog)

Here's how Maryland's cottage food law has evolved, from oldest to newest. We've addressed these in the order they matter to you.

• October 1, 2020 — HB 1017 (Privacy Option): This law added the ability to use an MDH-issued identification number in place of your home address on cottage food labels. No cost to apply. This is the provision that lets you keep your personal address off your packaging.
• October 1, 2022 — HB 178 (Chapter 406, Sales Cap Increase): Raised the annual sales cap from $25,000 to $50,000. Passed the House 130-0 and the Senate 45-0. Codified in Md. Code Ann., Health-Gen. § 21-301.
• 2025 — SB 701 (Failed Legislation): Senate Bill 701, introduced by Senator Ready, would have expanded the definition of "cottage food product" to include refrigerated baked goods like cheesecakes, custard pies, meringue pies, cream pies, and fresh fruit tarts. The bill received a hearing in the Senate Finance Committee on February 28, 2025, but took no further action and died in committee. Refrigerated baked goods remain prohibited under Maryland cottage food law.
• October 1, 2026 — HB 535 (Chapter 320, Upcoming Cap Increase): Approved by the Governor on April 28, 2026, this bill raises the annual sales cap from $50,000 to $100,000. It takes effect on October 1, 2026 — approximately three months from now. If you've been scaling toward the current $50,000 ceiling, this gives you significant room to grow.

Last reviewed: June 27, 2026. Laws change — verify current requirements at the [Maryland Department of Health](https://health.maryland.gov) before selling.