Short answer
Most home bakers operate under state cottage food law, not the FDA’s full Nutrition Facts requirement. But allergen disclosure still applies no matter what, and a few common situations — wholesale, shipping, health claims — will push you into full federal labeling.
Home baking sits in a specific gap between state and federal food law, and it trips up a lot of new bakers because the two systems use completely different logic. Here’s how they fit together.
Where home baking sits between state and federal rules
Cottage food laws are state-level food-safety exemptions — they let you bake in a home kitchen instead of a licensed commercial one, for a defined list of low-risk baked goods. In exchange, most states swap the full Nutrition Facts panel for a short required disclosure statement instead. Coverage, allowed products, and sales caps vary a lot by state; see our cottage food label requirements by state guide for the specifics.
The FDA’s small-business nutrition labeling exemption (21 CFR 101.9(j)(1)) is the federal-level equivalent — but it’s based on sales volume, not on whether you bake at home. A food is exempt if annual gross sales of that product to consumers are $50,000 or less, total food sales are $500,000 or less, and the label makes no nutrient content or health claims. Most home bakers qualify for both the state and federal exemption at the same time, which is why full Nutrition Facts panels are the exception rather than the rule for this category.
The allergen rule that applies no matter what
Baked goods carry more allergen exposure than almost any other cottage food category — wheat, eggs, milk, tree nuts, peanuts, soy, and sesame all show up constantly in a home bakery. Federal allergen disclosure (FALCPA, expanded by the FASTER Act to add sesame) is not waived by the small-business or cottage food exemption. If your product contains any of the Big 9 major allergens, you must say so — either with a "Contains: Wheat, Eggs, Milk" statement or by clearly identifying the allergen source within the ingredient list itself.
Cross-contact is a separate, non-mandatory disclosure ("may contain traces of tree nuts") — worth adding voluntarily if you bake nut-based and nut-free items in the same kitchen, but it doesn’t replace the mandatory Big 9 statement for ingredients actually in the recipe. See the full allergen labeling guide.
When a home baker needs a full Nutrition Facts panel
- Wholesale accounts. Selling into a café, retail shop, or restaurant that resells your baked goods steps outside direct-to-consumer cottage food sales — many states restrict or disallow this under the cottage food umbrella entirely.
- Shipping nationally. An online store that ships out of state moves you toward FDA interstate commerce jurisdiction, where the state cottage food exemption doesn’t reliably apply.
- Nutrient content or health claims. Labeling something "keto," "low sugar," "high protein," or "gluten-free" (gluten-free carries its own separate FDA definition and testing expectations) requires a full Nutrition Facts panel to back up the claim.
- Outgrowing your state’s sales cap. Once you exceed your state’s annual cottage food sales limit, most states require moving into a licensed commercial kitchen — which typically brings full federal labeling with it.
What actually goes on a cottage food bakery label
At minimum, a compliant home-bakery label under most state cottage food laws includes:
- The product name
- Your business name and address
- Ingredients listed in descending order by weight
- A "Contains" allergen statement for any of the Big 9 present
- Net weight or count
- Your state’s exact required cottage food disclosure statement
If you cross into full FDA territory (wholesale, shipping, or a claim), the label instead needs a complete Nutrition Facts panel — calories, macronutrients, vitamins/minerals, and % Daily Value, calculated from your actual recipe and rounded using FDA rounding rules, on top of everything above.
This is not legal advice
Cottage food laws change often and can vary by county health department on top of state law. Confirm current requirements with your state’s department of agriculture or public health before printing labels or selling baked goods commercially.