Cottage Food Label Requirements in Massachusetts
What Massachusetts legally requires on your cottage food label — the required statement, sales cap, registration rules, and what you can (and can't) sell.
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This is not legal advice.
Cottage food laws change frequently and vary by county or local health department. Always confirm current requirements with Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH), Food Protection Program, via local boards of health or a local food safety professional before printing labels or selling product. View the official source. Last verified: 2026-08.
Massachusetts does not run a standard statewide cottage food law — home food sales are permitted and inspected locally by each of the state's 351 individual boards of health under the state Retail Food Code (105 CMR 590.000), so the exact label disclosure wording, permit fee, and training requirement all vary by city or town rather than being set once at the state level. Our tooling could not directly load mass.gov's primary guidance PDF (it returned a 403 response), so this entry relies on the regulation text via a Cornell Law School mirror plus several municipal (.gov) mirrors hosting the same state guidance document. Confirm current local requirements with your specific city or town board of health, and with MDPH's Food Protection Program at (617) 983-6712, before printing labels.
Required Label Statement
Exact wording Massachusetts requires
“Massachusetts has no single statewide-mandated disclosure sentence the way most cottage food states do. State regulation (105 CMR 590.000) requires standard label content — ingredients in descending order by weight (with sub-ingredients shown for compound ingredients), allergen disclosure, name and address, and a sell-by date where applicable — and many local boards of health additionally require their own "prepared in a residential kitchen, not routinely inspected" style statement as a condition of your permit. The exact wording is set locally, not by the state.”
No statewide point-size or color-contrast rule is published for a disclosure statement, since the statement itself isn't set statewide. Baseline label content follows 105 CMR 590.000 (which incorporates the FDA Food Code) plus whatever your specific city or town board of health adds as a condition of your permit.
Sales Cap & Registration
Annual Sales Cap
Registration & Permitting
Food Safety Course
What You Can (and Can't) Sell
Allowed
Not Allowed
Selling something that needs a full Nutrition Facts panel (like packaged prepared meals) instead of a cottage food disclosure? See our meal prep labeling guide →
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Massachusetts have a cottage food law?
Not in the traditional sense. Massachusetts regulates home-based food sales as "Residential Kitchens" under 105 CMR 590.000, and your local board of health — not the state — issues the permit, sets the fee, and often decides the exact label disclosure wording.
What has to be on a Massachusetts home-based food label?
At minimum: ingredients listed in descending order by weight, allergen disclosure, your name and address, and a sell-by date where applicable. Many towns also require a statement disclosing that the food was made in a residential kitchen not subject to routine inspection — but check the exact wording with your local board of health, since it isn't standardized statewide.
Is there a sales cap in Massachusetts?
No statewide dollar cap is published in the state regulation. Because permits are administered locally, always double-check with your specific board of health in case they've attached their own conditions.
Do I register with the state or my town in Massachusetts?
Your town or city board of health, for a Retail Residential Kitchen permit covering direct-to-consumer sales. Only Wholesale Residential Kitchens, which sell to stores, are licensed directly by the state Food Protection Program.