New Mexico cottage food law for home bakers

The short version

New Mexico's law is unusually generous on channels (internet, mail, delivery all explicitly allowed) but unusually strict on the allowed-foods list, which excludes several items (cheesecake, frosted cakes needing refrigeration, salsa, acidified foods) that some other cottage food states permit.

The Act pointedly bars its own regulated food facilities and grocery stores from using or reselling homemade foods, so a baker can't get her product onto a store shelf even informally.

Registering

The rule is administered by New Mexico Environment Department (NMED), Food Program; the guide reads NMSA 1978, Homemade Food Act (enacted as 2021 N.M. Laws, ch. 137 / H.B. 177, cited in the act as "Sections 1 through 5 of this act"), effective July 1, 2021. Search-engine mirrors of the current New Mexico Statutes Annotated show these sections now compiled at NMSA 1978 §§ 25-12-1 through 25-12-5 (with a conforming cross-reference at § 25-2-21 exempting homemade food from the separate New Mexico Food Act), but the statute pages could not be opened directly to confirm that numbering.

The Act is a state-level preemption law: no county or municipality may regulate homemade food production or sale, with one narrow, statutorily named exception (a "class A county" plus a home-rule municipality with a combined local health department, i.e. Bernalillo County/Albuquerque), and even that jurisdiction is not currently running a local permit program.

Where you can sell, and whether online counts

Delivery, mail, and online sale are all explicitly named as allowed venues, provided the entire transaction stays inside New Mexico; selling to a restaurant, wholesaler, distributor, or anyone outside the state requires a full commercial manufactured-food permit instead.

What goes on the label

The sub-ingredient disclosure rule (naming what's inside a compound ingredient like butter) is more granular than most cottage food states and is easy to miss.

"This product is home produced and is exempt from state licensing and inspection. This product may contain allergens."

• Processor's name, home address, telephone number, and email address
• The common or usual name of the food item
• Ingredients listed from most to least present, including sub-ingredients (e.g., "butter (cream (milk), salt)")
• The required disclosure statement
• May appear on a package label, a label on a bulk container, a placard at the point of sale (for unpackaged/bulk items), or on the webpage where the item is offered for sale

What you can bake and sell

NMED's own list of disallowed TCS examples is unusually long and specific (it names caramel apples, hummus, and garlic-in-oil individually), worth quoting directly on the guide page rather than paraphrasing into a generic "no perishables" line.

• Allowed: Non-time/temperature-control-for-safety (non-TCS) foods only: non-cream-filled baked goods that don't need refrigeration (cakes, cookies, yeast breads, pies, pastries), candy, popcorn, chocolate-covered pretzels, dehydrated fruit, granola/dry mixes, roasted coffee, whole fruits and vegetables, and standard high-sugar fruit jams/jellies.
• Not allowed: TCS foods: meat and meat products (including jerky), fish/fish products, foods needing refrigeration for safety (custard/cream/banana/pumpkin/lemon-meringue pies, cheesecake, cream-cheese-frosted cakes), milk and dairy products, cut fruits/vegetables, caramel apples, hummus, garlic-in-oil mixtures, fruit/vegetable juices, kombucha, apple cider, sprouts, salad dressings, acidified foods, canned/pickled vegetables (relish, pickles, sauerkraut), vegetable jams/jellies (e.g. hot pepper jelly), salsa, and any alcohol-containing food or beverage. Foods containing hemp, hemp extract, or CBD need a separate commercial hemp manufacturing permit regardless of TCS status.

The sales cap

New Mexico sets no cap on cottage food sales; the Act sets no revenue ceiling at all; NMED's own factsheet never mentions one..

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 New Mexico?

No, New Mexico does not require registration. No state permit or registration. NMED stopped issuing its old "Homebased Food Processor" permits on July 1, 2021 and does not require a new one; a processor may voluntarily request a free identification number from NMED. The Act lets a "class A county" and a home-rule municipality with a combined local health department (in practice, only Bernalillo County / Albuquerque) run their own optional or mandatory local permit system, but as of this review Albuquerque's Environmental Health division has chosen not to operate one. Fee: Not stated. The Act imposes no state fee, and the one local body statutorily allowed to charge one (Bernalillo County/Albuquerque) is not currently operating a permit program.

Has the cottage food sales cap in New Mexico changed over time?

no cap from July 1, 2021.

Can I take orders online in New Mexico?

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 New Mexico?

Delivery is allowed. Shipping inside the state is allowed.

What does my New Mexico cottage food label need to say?

The label must say: This product is home produced and is exempt from state licensing and inspection. This product may contain allergens.

Sources

• NMED, Homemade Food Act factsheet (updated August 16, 2021)env.nm.gov
• N.M. House Bill 177 (2021), enrolled text, Homemade Food Actnmlegis.gov
• City of Albuquerque Environmental Health, New Mexico Homemade Food Act pagecabq.gov