Guide
Louisiana cottage food law for home bakers
What a home baker in Louisiana needs before the first sale: Low-risk foods exemption, 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
Louisiana asks for no cottage food licence at all. The only paperwork is a parish sales tax certificate, and her exemption ends once her gross annual sales reach $30,000.
The law names no approved venues and no ban on delivery or online orders, so a baked-goods baker can sell however she likes inside the state as long as she never resells through a retailer.
Registering
The rule is administered by Louisiana Department of Health; the guide reads La. R.S. 40:4.9, as last amended by 2022 La. Acts No. 357 (H.B. 828), eff. 2022-08-01.
There is no cottage food registration, application or fee. She only needs a current sales tax certificate from the parish where she sells, proving she is set up to collect local sales tax.
Where you can sell, and whether online counts
The statute names no approved venues, so she can sell from home, at a market, or by delivery. She can never sell to a retail business or another individual for resale, and every baked good needs a label saying it was not made in a licensed or regulated facility.
What goes on the label
Louisiana requires only that the label make clear the food came from an unlicensed kitchen; there is no fixed sentence or minimum type size in the statute. Raw, unfiltered honey does not need this label at all.
The statute requires a label 'which clearly indicates that the food was not produced in a licensed or regulated facility' but writes no fixed sentence; raw honey that is not pasteurized, filtered or otherwise processed is exempt from the label rule entirely
- A statement that the food was not produced in a licensed or regulated facility
What you can bake and sell
Breads, cakes, cookies, pies, candies, cane syrup, dried mixes, honey, jams, jellies, preserves, pickles, sauces, syrups and spices all qualify, as long as none of them contain animal muscle or fish protein. Anything that needs refrigeration for safety falls outside the exemption entirely.
- Allowed: Baked goods (breads, cakes, cookies, pies), candies, cane syrup, dried mixes, honey and honeycomb products, jams, jellies and preserves, pickles and acidified foods, sauces and syrups, and spices, none containing animal muscle or fish protein
- Not allowed: Any potentially hazardous food, anything containing animal muscle or fish protein, and any food containing cannabidiol unless the FDA has approved cannabidiol as a food additive
The sales cap
Louisiana caps cottage food sales at $30,000 a year, counted as gross annual sales per home preparer, all low-risk foods combined.
Work out how much room you have left this year with the cottage food sales cap checker.
What changed
August 1, 2022: Act 357 (H.B. 828) raised the gross-annual-sales threshold from twenty thousand dollars to $30,000.
Questions people ask
Do I need to register to sell cottage food in Louisiana?
Yes, Louisiana requires registration before the first sale. No cottage food licence or permit; she must hold a current sales tax certificate from the sales and use tax collector for the parish where she sells, since the exemption is from the Sanitary Code, not from local tax registration. Fee: Not stated; the statute names a sales tax certificate, not a food-safety fee, and sets no amount for it.
Has the cottage food sales cap in Louisiana changed over time?
$30,000 a year from August 1, 2022, counted as gross annual sales per home preparer, all low-risk foods combined.
Can I take orders online in Louisiana?
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 Louisiana?
Delivery is allowed. Shipping inside the state is allowed.
What does my Louisiana cottage food label need to say?
The label must include: A statement that the food was not produced in a licensed or regulated facility.
Sources
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