New Mexico Cottage Food Law 2026: No Permit, No Sales Cap, and Straightforward Label Rules

# New Mexico Cottage Food Law 2026: No Permit, No Sales Cap, and Straightforward Label Rules

Yes, you can legally sell a wide variety of baked goods and other shelf-stable foods from your home kitchen in New Mexico — and the rules are simpler than you might expect.

New Mexico's Homemade Food Act (HB 177, effective July 1, 2021) is one of the more producer-friendly cottage food laws in the country. There's no annual sales cap, no state permit required, and no routine home kitchen inspections. You just need a food handler certification and a compliant label.

If you only remember three things, make them these: there's no limit on how much you can earn, you must get a food handler card before you start, and acidified and fermented foods like pickles, salsa, and kombucha are explicitly off-limits under this law.

This guide walks you through everything — what you can and can't sell, exactly what your labels need to say, where you're allowed to sell, and how to get started. It's based on the statute (NMSA § 25-12-3), the New Mexico Environment Department's (NMED) official FAQ, and the enrolled text of HB 177 itself.

What You Can Sell Under New Mexico's Homemade Food Act

The key rule in New Mexico is simple: you can only sell foods that are not time-and-temperature control for safety (Non-TCS). That means shelf-stable items that don't need refrigeration after they're made. The NMED provides examples of allowed and prohibited items — though both lists are explicitly described as non-exhaustive.

Here's the practical breakdown:

In New Mexico, you can sell baked goods, candy, popcorn, dried fruits, roasted coffee, granola, whole fruits and vegetables, and standard high-sugar jams and jellies — but you cannot sell meat, dairy, cut produce, acidified foods like pickles and sauerkraut, beverages like kombucha or juice, or anything that requires refrigeration.

No Sales Cap, No Permit — What You Really Need to Know

Unlimited Gross Revenue

Here's the headline: New Mexico puts no cap on how much you can earn as a cottage food producer. The Homemade Food Act (NMSA § 25-12-3) contains no dollar limit anywhere. You can grow your home-based food business as large as you want — as long as you stay within the other rules (direct-to-consumer, in-state, shelf-stable foods only).

This puts New Mexico in a small group of states with genuinely unlimited revenue potential for cottage food operations.

No State Permit or Registration

You do not need a state permit or mandatory registration from the NMED to sell cottage food in New Mexico. Your home kitchen is exempt from state licensing and routine inspection under the Act (NMSA § 25-12-3(A)).

The NMED does have the authority to operate a voluntary permit system (§ 25-12-3(E)), but you're not required to participate in it.

Mandatory Food Handler Certification

The one regulatory hurdle you can't skip: every person preparing cottage food in New Mexico must complete a food handler certification course approved by the NMED (§ 25-12-3(A)(3)). This is the only mandatory regulatory requirement besides proper labeling.

NMED points producers to accredited food handler card programs. Keep your certificate current and check the NMED Food Safety Program website for the current list of accepted courses.

Where You Can Sell

As a New Mexico cottage food producer, you can sell directly to consumers within the state through a variety of channels, as outlined in § 25-12-3(A)(2):

• Farmers markets
• Festivals and community events
• Roadside stands
• The internet (with in-state delivery or shipping)
• Your home (for pick-up or delivery)
• Mail delivery (within New Mexico)

How You Provide Label Information Depends on the Sale Channel

The law (§ 25-12-3(B)) specifies different ways you must display the required label information depending on how you're selling:

• Packaged products: The information goes on a label affixed to the package.
• Bulk containers: The information goes on a label attached to the bulk container.
• Unpackaged, non-bulk items: Display the information on a placard at the point of sale.
• Online sales: Display the information on the webpage where the item is offered for sale.
• Telephone or custom orders: No label is required, but you must orally disclose to the customer that the item is produced at a private residence exempt from state licensing and inspection and may contain allergens.

This means you need to have the information ready and available in every sales scenario — the medium changes, but the content doesn't.

New Mexico Cottage Food Labeling Requirements

New Mexico's labeling rules are straightforward but specific. You need exactly four things on every label, and one of them is a verbatim statement you can't paraphrase.

The Four Required Label Elements

Per NMSA § 25-12-3(C), every cottage food label must include:

1. The name, home address, telephone number, and email address of the processor. This is your personal name or business name — the statute says "name of the processor" — along with your physical home address, phone number, and email. All four pieces of contact information are mandatory.
2. The common or usual name of the food item. For example, "Chocolate Chip Cookies" or "Granola."
3. The ingredients in descending order of predominance. All sub-ingredients must be included. For instance, if your recipe uses butter, you'd list it as "butter (cream (milk), salt)" with all sub-ingredients from the butter's own label.
4. The verbatim disclaimer statement. This is the exact wording mandated by statute — your label must display it alone, bold, on its own line in a block quote:

"This product is home produced and is exempt from state licensing and inspection. This product may contain allergens."

This wording is mandated by NMSA § 25-12-3(C)(4). Don't paraphrase it, abbreviate it, or swap in your own phrasing — the statute specifies this exact language.

What's NOT Required

A few things you might expect to see on a label are not required by New Mexico law:

• Net weight or volume. The statute does not include this as a required element. (It's a nice professional touch, but it's not legally mandated.)
• A separate allergen declaration. You don't need a "Contains: Wheat, Milk" line. The allergen note is embedded within the required disclaimer statement itself ("This product may contain allergens.").
• A permit or registration number. There's no state permit to have a number from.
• A production or best-by date. Not required, though adding one is a smart best practice for customer trust.

Required vs. Recommended Label Elements

New Mexico law requires exactly four label elements: your name and full contact information (including email), the product name, ingredients in descending order, and the verbatim disclaimer. Everything else is a best practice that can make your products look more professional and build customer trust.

For deeper guidance on designing compliant labels, check out our Cottage Food Labeling Requirements guide.

Local Rules: Check Your County

The Homemade Food Act includes an important wrinkle that many producers overlook.

Bernalillo County and Albuquerque

The NMED does not have jurisdiction in Bernalillo County or the city of Albuquerque. These areas run their own food safety programs. If you live in either, you'll need to check with your local health department for any additional requirements that might apply to your cottage food operation.

Local Permit Systems

Under § 25-12-3(F), a class A county and home-rule municipality that have established a combined local health department may operate a mandatory or voluntary permit system for cottage food sales within their jurisdiction. The catch: any such permit system must allow the sale of all foods at all locations authorized by the Act. In other words, local authorities can add a permit requirement, but they can't restrict what you sell or where you sell it beyond what the state already allows.

How to Start Selling in New Mexico

New Mexico's barrier to entry is about as low as it gets. Here's your step-by-step path:

1. Understand the law. Review the Homemade Food Act (NMSA § 25-12-3) and the NMED FAQ to confirm your planned products are Non-TCS and your sales plans fit within the direct-to-consumer, in-state-only framework.
2. Get your food handler certification. This is the one mandatory step. Complete an NMED-approved food handler card course before production starts. Budget a few hours and a small provider fee, then keep the certificate current.
3. Plan your product lineup. Focus on allowed shelf-stable, Non-TCS foods. Think baked goods, candy, popcorn, dried fruits, granola, roasted coffee, and standard high-sugar jams. If you need help figuring out pricing, our How to Price Baked Goods Home Bakery guide walks you through it.
4. Create compliant labels. Design labels that include all four required elements — your name and contact info (including email!), the product name, ingredients in descending order, and the verbatim disclaimer. Our Cottage Food Labeling Requirements guide has templates and examples to get you started.
5. Choose your sales channels. Decide whether you'll sell at farmers markets, online, from your home, or some combination. Remember: every channel has different label placement rules (label on package, placard at market, info on your webpage, or oral disclosure for phone orders). If you're taking orders ahead of pickup or market day, our How to Take Pre-Orders for Home Bakery guide walks you through the workflow.
6. Start selling. Set up your storefront, book your farmers market booth, or put the word out. New Mexico's lack of a sales cap means you can scale as fast as your oven and your ambition allow.

Frequently Asked Questions

Recent Law Changes (Changelog)

As of this review, there have been no substantive changes to New Mexico's cottage food law since it took effect on July 1, 2021.

The Homemade Food Act (HB 177) remains the governing framework. We searched for 2024 and 2025 legislative activity and found no amendments, new bills, or regulatory changes that alter the core provisions you need to follow — the no-cap sales structure, the food handler certification requirement, the labeling rules, and the permitted food categories all remain exactly as originally enacted.

Here's the key timeline you should know:

• July 1, 2021: The Homemade Food Act (HB 177) became effective, replacing New Mexico's previous, more restrictive cottage food framework. The new law eliminated sales caps, removed the state permit requirement, made food handler certification mandatory, and established the current labeling and sales channel rules you operate under today.
• 2022–2025: No legislative amendments or significant regulatory changes to the Homemade Food Act — your obligations are unchanged.

We'll update this section if any new legislation passes that affects what you can sell or how you have to label it. In the meantime, the statute and NMED FAQ linked in this guide's official sources reflect the current law you need to follow.

This guide is for informational purposes and is based on the New Mexico Homemade Food Act (NMSA § 25-12-3) and official NMED guidance. Laws can change — always verify current requirements directly with the [New Mexico Environment Department](https://www.env.nm.gov/foodprogram/homemade-food-act/) before selling homemade food products.