Guide
Illinois cottage food law for home bakers
What a home baker in Illinois needs before the first sale: Cottage food operation, the sales cap, online orders, delivery, and the exact label line, each with its source.
This is a plain-language summary, not legal advice. Laws change; check the linked source for your state before you sell. Last reviewed September 18, 2026.
The short version
Illinois asks her to register each year with her local health department for up to $50, sets no dollar cap on sales, lets her take orders online and deliver or ship them in state, and requires a certified food protection manager plus an allergen notice on the label.
She can sell at farmers' markets, fairs, festivals and public events, online, by delivery, or through pickup, including from a third party's property with their consent.
Registering
The rule is administered by Illinois Department of Public Health; the guide reads 410 ILCS 625/4, as codified through P.A. 102-633 (eff. 2022-01-01), P.A. 103-903 (eff. 2025-01-01) and P.A. 104-417 (eff. 2025-08-15).
She registers every year with the local health department for the unit of local government where her kitchen sits. If her county has no local health department, an adjacent county's handles it instead. The fee cannot run past $50 and is set locally, and she must hold a Department-approved certified food protection manager credential.
Where you can sell, and whether online counts
The statute lists the places by name: farmers' markets, fairs, festivals, public events, online, pickup from her home or farm, delivery to the customer, pickup from a third party's property with their consent, and mobile farmers' markets. She can ship a non-refrigerated item inside Illinois, tamper-sealed, but never out of state, and never to a reseller.
What goes on the label
The statement below goes on the package label. At the point of sale, a shorter version of the same warning has to appear too, as a placard at a table or a message on her ordering page if she sells online.
"This product was produced in a home kitchen not inspected by a health department that may also process common food allergens. If you have safety concerns, contact your local health department."
- The name of the cottage food operation and the unit of local government where it is located
- The registration number and the name of the municipality or county where she registered
- The common or usual name of the food product
- All ingredients, in descending order by weight, using their common names
- The date the product was processed
- Allergen labeling as federal law requires
What you can bake and sell
Most baked goods qualify. Custard, cream and pumpkin or sweet potato pie, cheesecake, and anything else filled or topped with something that needs the fridge, stay off her list; so do a long roster of other foods the statute names, from raw sprouts to alcoholic drinks.
- Allowed: Breads, cookies, cakes, pastries and similar baked goods that are safe at room temperature, plus jams, candies and other shelf-stable items not on the state's banned list
- Not allowed: Cheesecake, custard pies, cream pies, pumpkin and sweet potato pies, and any baked good filled or topped with something that needs time or temperature control for safety
The sales cap
Illinois sets no cap on cottage food sales; p.A. 102-633 (Home-to-Market Act) rewrote Section 4 effective 2022-01-01; neither the pre-2022 nor the rewritten text contains a gross-sales cap.
Work out how much room you have left this year with the cottage food sales cap checker.
What changed
January 1, 2022: P.A. 102-633 (Home-to-Market Act): expanded sale venues from farmers' markets (plus a narrow on-farm or direct-delivery exception for locally grown main ingredients) to farmers' markets, fairs, festivals, public events, online sales, pickup, delivery and third-party pickup; replaced a local-health-department opt-in registration track (fee capped at $25) with flat annual local registration (fee capped at $50); reworded the label statement.
January 1, 2025: P.A. 103-903 (SB 2617) amended Section 4, adding mobile farmers markets as a venue, adjacent-county registration where a county has no health department, and the certified food protection manager requirement.
Questions people ask
Do I need to register to sell cottage food in Illinois?
Yes, Illinois requires registration before the first sale. Register annually with the local health department for the unit of local government where she is located, or an adjacent county's if hers has none; she must be a Department-approved certified food protection manager. The fee is $50. Not to exceed $50; the local health department sets the exact amount.
Has the cottage food sales cap in Illinois changed over time?
no cap from January 1, 2022.
Can I take orders online in Illinois?
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 Illinois?
Delivery is allowed. Shipping inside the state is allowed.
What does my Illinois cottage food label need to say?
The label must say: This product was produced in a home kitchen not inspected by a health department that may also process common food allergens. If you have safety concerns, contact your local health department.
Sources
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