Guide
North Dakota cottage food law for home bakers
What a home baker in North Dakota needs before the first sale: registration, the sales cap, online orders, delivery, and the exact label line, each with its source.
“This product is made in a home kitchen that is not inspected by the state or local health department.”
No capsales cap
No feenamed in the rule
Onlineorders allowed
Last reviewed November 5, 2026. A plain-language summary, not legal advice.
On this page
The short version
North Dakota asks for nothing before you sell: no license, no permit, no fee, no inspection, and no cap on how much you make or earn. The trade is that every sale has to be direct between you and the person eating the food, only for that person's own home consumption, never through a store or a wholesaler.
Unlike most cottage food states, the law does not limit you to shelf-stable food. A cheesecake or a cream pie is fair game as long as it carries safe-handling instructions and a note that it was kept frozen in transit; meat stays off the list except for a narrow allowance for poultry you raised and slaughtered yourself.
Registering
The rule is administered by No licensing agency; the Department of Health and Human Services or a local regulating authority may investigate a complaint; the guide reads N.D. Cent. Code ch. 23-09.5 (Cottage Food Production and Sales), enacted by HB 1433 (2017), effective 2017-08-01, as amended by SB 2386 (2025), an emergency measure in force 2025-03-20.
There is nothing to register and no fee. A state or local health authority can step in only if a producer asks for help, or to investigate a complaint about illness or an environmental health problem.
Where you can sell, and whether online counts
A sale has to run directly between you and the end consumer, for that person's own home consumption, and can happen at a farm, farmers' market, farm stand, your own kitchen, almost any other venue the law does not specifically forbid, or through delivery. Since March 20, 2025 the only thing North Dakota bars from interstate sale is the poultry it separately allows, so state law no longer stops you from selling or shipping any other cottage food across state lines; federal rules still apply to a package that crosses one.
What goes on the label
What you can bake and sell
- Allowed: Baked goods, jams, jellies, and other food and drink products you produce, including items that need refrigeration, such as baked goods with cream, custard, meringue, cheesecake, pumpkin pie, or cream cheese, as long as those carry safe-handling instructions and a disclosure that the product was transported and kept frozen
- Not allowed: Uninspected products made from meat, and uninspected poultry products unless you slaughter no more than 1,000 birds you raised yourself in a year, buy or sell no other poultry products, and the poultry is not adulterated or misbranded; poultry sold under that exemption may never cross state lines. Apart from whole, unprocessed fruit and vegetables, nothing you make may be sold into a restaurant, food processing plant, or food store
The sales cap
North Dakota sets no cap on cottage food sales.
See what your state allows, online orders included, with the cottage food sales cap checker.
What changed
March 20, 2025: Senate Bill 2386 removed the bans on internet, phone, mail and consignment sales and on interstate commerce, keeping the interstate bar only for poultry.
Questions people ask
Do I need to register to sell cottage food in North Dakota?
No, North Dakota does not require registration. None. No state agency or political subdivision may require a license, permit, certification, inspection, packaging, or label review before you sell; an agency may only step in if a producer asks for its help. Fee: Not stated. The chapter creates no license or permit for a state agency to attach a fee to.
What is the cottage food sales cap in North Dakota?
North Dakota sets no cap on cottage food sales.
Can I take orders online in North Dakota?
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 North Dakota?
Delivery is allowed. Shipping inside the state is allowed.
What does my North Dakota cottage food label need to say?
The label must say: This product is made in a home kitchen that is not inspected by the state or local health department.
Sources
Laws change; check the linked source before you sell.
We are building a shop for home bakers.
Read our story or put your name on the founding bakers list.