Flourish Bakers

Guide

Arkansas cottage food law for home bakers

What a home baker in Arkansas needs before the first sale: Food Freedom Act, the sales cap, online orders, delivery, and the exact label line, each with its source.

SAMPLE LABEL Grandma's Sourdough Loaf Contains: wheat, milk, eggs May contain: tree nuts This product was produced in a private residence that is exempt from state licensing and inspection. This product may contain allergens. THE NINE ALLERGENS Milk Eggs Wheat Soy Peanuts Tree nuts Sesame Fish Shellfish

This is a plain-language summary, not legal advice. Laws change; check the linked source for your state before you sell. Last reviewed September 19, 2026.

No capsales cap
No feenamed in the rule
Yesonline orders

The short version

Arkansas's Food Freedom Act is one of the most commercially permissive cottage food laws in the country: no cap, no registration or license, and it affirmatively allows sale through a third-party retail vendor (wholesale), delivery by a third-party carrier, and even a transaction 'in another state if the seller complies with all applicable federal laws.'

This out-of-state allowance is unusual enough among cottage food laws generally that the guide quotes it in full rather than paraphrasing it, and it is why Arkansas is marked as following federal rules for an out-of-state sale rather than this project's usual conservative default of treating it as not allowed.

Registering

The rule is administered by No single licensing agency administers this exemption. The Arkansas Department of Agriculture issues an optional producer ID number for label privacy; the Department of Health retains authority to investigate foodborne illness and enforce general adulteration/misbranding law.; the guide reads Ark. Code Ann. §§ 20-57-501 through 20-57-507 (Food Freedom Act), enacted as Act 1040 of 2021 (originating as SB 248), effective July 28, 2021 (the standard post-sine-die effective date for a 2021 Regular Session act carrying no emergency clause; the session adjourned sine die on April 28, 2021).

The optional Department of Agriculture producer ID number (for label privacy) is described in secondary/agency-adjacent sources; it is not spelled out inside §§20-57-501 to 507 itself, only implied by 20-57-505's alternative to naming the producer's home address on the label.

Where you can sell, and whether online counts

What goes on the label

"This product was produced in a private residence that is exempt from state licensing and inspection. This product may contain allergens."

  • Manufacturing date
  • Producer's name, address, and telephone number (or the Department of Agriculture-issued ID number in place of that contact information)
  • Product name
  • Ingredients in descending order
  • The disclosure statement quoted above

What you can bake and sell

  • Allowed: Non-time/temperature-control-for-safety (non-TCS) homemade food and drink products, including baked goods, sold directly to an informed end consumer.
  • Not allowed: Meat, poultry, seafood, and any time/temperature-control-for-safety (TCS) food product.

The sales cap

Arkansas sets no cap on cottage food sales; no dollar sales cap appears anywhere in §§20-57-501 to 507. The Act's stated purpose (20-57-502) is 'unimpeded access' to homemade food, and it is structured around a food-type restriction (non-TCS only, no meat/poultry/seafood) rather than a revenue ceiling..

Work out how much room you have left this year with the cottage food sales cap checker.

Questions people ask

Do I need to register to sell cottage food in Arkansas?

No, Arkansas does not require registration. None required by the Act. A producer may voluntarily obtain an identification number from the Arkansas Department of Agriculture to print on labels instead of her home name, address, and phone number, for privacy. Fee: Not stated. The Act creates no registration or license, so there is no fee-setting body to name; whether the optional Department of Agriculture ID number itself carries a fee was not independently confirmed.

Has the cottage food sales cap in Arkansas changed over time?

no cap from July 28, 2021.

Can I take orders online in Arkansas?

Yes, you can take orders online. You can hand an order over in person or send it anywhere inside the state.

Can I deliver or ship cottage food in Arkansas?

Delivery is allowed. Shipping inside the state is allowed.

What does my Arkansas cottage food label need to say?

The label must say: This product was produced in a private residence that is exempt from state licensing and inspection. This product may contain allergens.

Sources

When the law changes

Tell me when Arkansas's cottage food law changes

We read the statute, not a summary of it. When it moves, this address hears from us. That is all the email is for.

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