Cottage food label requirements in California
The short version
A label on food made in a home kitchen in California carries six things wherever you are: what it is, everything in it heaviest first, the major allergens, who made it, how to reach you, and the date. On top of that comes the wording below.
What goes on the label
- The product name, in words a customer would use.
- Every ingredient, heaviest first.
- The major allergens, called out separately from the ingredient list.
- Who made it: your name or your business name.
- How to reach you.
- The date it was made.
What the label has to say
As published for California, read on 5 August 2026:
Made in a Home Kitchen
This is published as fixed text, so reproduce it exactly rather than rewording it. It has to appear at 12 point type or larger, which is part of the requirement rather than a design choice.
And 2 more requirements
- Repackaged in a Home Kitchen - use this instead of "Made in a Home Kitchen" where applicable, together with a description of any purchased whole ready-to-eat product not used as an ingredient
- Advertising, including online and social media, must state the county of approval, the permit or registration number, and "Made in a Home Kitchen" or "Repackaged in a Home Kitchen" as applicable
Who actually enforces this
California sets the rules centrally but they are enforced locally, so the answer that counts is your own office's rather than the state's. Find the office nearest you.
The detail
12-point type applies specifically to the "Made in a Home Kitchen" / "Repackaged in a Home Kitchen" statement, and it must sit on the product's PRIMARY DISPLAY PANEL - not the back, not the ingredient panel. This is the strictest placement-plus-size rule of the five states here and the easiest one to get wrong in a label template. The rest of the label: the common or usual (or adequately descriptive) name of the product; the name of the cottage food operation; the registration or permit number WITH THE NAME OF THE COUNTY of the issuing agency; and ingredients in descending order of predominance by weight if there are two or more. Labels must also comply with the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, which pulls in federal allergen declaration. California is state law (Health and Safety Code 114365.2, the 2012 Homemade Food Act) enforced entirely at county level - Class A is a self-certification registration, Class B allows indirect sales and requires an inspection.
Make one
Free, nothing saved, no account. It fills in California's wording for you and prints a sheet.
Where to verify all of this
Rules change, and this page can lag behind them. Before you rely on any of it: