Cottage food label requirements in Indiana

Last checked 5 August 2026 · Informational only, not legal or food-safety advice. Verify anything important with Indiana Department of Health, Food Protection Division, with county/city local health departments doing the on-the-ground checking before you print a run of labels.

What goes on the label

1. The product name, in words a customer would use.
2. Every ingredient, heaviest first.
3. The major allergens, called out separately from the ingredient list.
4. Who made it: your name or your business name.
5. How to reach you.
6. The date it was made.

What the label has to say

As published for Indiana, read on 5 August 2026:

This product is home produced and processed and the production area has not been inspected by the Indiana Department of Health. NOT FOR RESALE.

This is published as fixed text, so reproduce it exactly rather than rewording it. It has to appear at 10 point type or larger, which is part of the requirement rather than a design choice.

Who actually enforces this

Indiana 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

Indiana calls this a Home Based Vendor (HBV), IC 16-42-5.3-5. 'NOT FOR RESALE.' is part of the single required statement, not a separate line, and the whole thing must be at least 10 point type. It goes on a label for packaged food or on a SIGN for unpackaged food. The label must also carry the producer's name and address, the common or usual name of the product, ingredients in descending order by weight, net weight or volume, and the date the product was processed. Allergen labelling is NOT required in Indiana (IDOH's FAQ says so explicitly), though nothing stops a maker adding it. If selling online, the label of each product must be posted on the vendor's website. No licence, no registration, no sales cap; IDOH may inspect on a complaint. No shipping or delivery to consumers outside Indiana, and shipping records must be kept one year.

Make one

Free, nothing saved, no account. It fills in Indiana's wording for you and prints a sheet.

What it is What is in it, heaviest first Make the labels

Where to verify all of this

Rules change, and this page can lag behind them. Before you rely on any of it:

• The rule itself
• Indiana Department of Health, Food Protection Division, with county/city local health departments doing the on-the-ground checking
• The office nearest you