Home kitchen label rules in British Columbia
The short version
A label on food made in a home kitchen in British Columbia 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
British Columbia describes what the label has to get across rather than publishing a sentence to copy. This is a common form of it, read on 5 August 2026:
THIS FOOD HAS BEEN PREPARED IN A KITCHEN THAT IS NOT INSPECTED BY A REGULATORY AUTHORITY.
Wording close to this is generally accepted.
Who actually enforces this
British Columbia sets the rules centrally but they are enforced locally, so the answer that counts is your own office's rather than the province's. Find the office nearest you.
The detail
BC has NO cottage food statute. The Home-Based Craft Food Act bills that dominate search results (M228-2019, M206-2020, M207-2022) are opposition private member's bills that never became law; ignore any guide that cites them, including the $75,000 income cap and the FOODSAFE tiers, which are bill text, not BC law. The real source is the BCCDC 'Guideline for the Sale of Foods at Temporary Food Markets' (revised August 2020), produced by BCCDC with the Ministry of Health and all six health authorities. Section II item 2 asks for a SIGN clearly visible to the consumer at the point of sale, not a sticker on the package, and the guideline says "or equivalent wording", which is why verbatim is false. It uses recommendation language ("It is recommended that vendors ... ensure"), so it is guidance rather than a regulation. It covers home-prepared LOWER RISK food (water activity 0.85 or less, or pH 4.6 or less) sold at temporary food markets. Selling home-prepared food outside a temporary market generally needs approval or a permit from the regional health authority under the Food Premises Regulation (B.C. Reg. 210/99). The guideline also flags that home-packaged food may be subject to CFIA and Health Canada label rules.
Make one
Free, nothing saved, no account. It fills in British Columbia'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: