Idaho Can you legally sell food from home in Idaho?
Cottage Food Law
In 2026, Idaho passed the “Idaho Direct-to-Consumer Commerce Act” (SB 1283) which significantly expanded their cottage food law.
Producers can sell all types of non-perishable foods and most types of perishable foods (excluding most meat products) directly to consumers within the state.
The law also allows direct sales through a “designated agent” such as a cooperative market, consignment market, and some retail stores.
There is no sales limit and producers don’t need to get any license, permit, or training to start selling. However, they must adhere to specific labeling requirements and keep extensive sales records.
Selling Where can you sell homemade food products?
Your products need to be sold to the end consumer.
You can assign a “designated agent” to sell on your behalf. This allows you to sell through cooperative markets, consignment markets, or other entities (including retail stores) that facilitate sales without taking ownership of your products. You must specify your designated agent(s) in writing.
Your products cannot be prepared on-site for immediate consumption (restaurants, food trucks, food carts, etc).
Allowed Foods What food products can you sell from home?
Most food and drink products are allowed, with the following important exceptions:
- In general, products containing meat are not allowed. However, you can sell products containing poultry if you raise the poultry yourself and slaughter no more than 1,000 poultry per year. Farmers can also use this law to sell live animals, rabbit meat, fish, and federally-inspected meat (but not products containing those items).
- If you want to use this law to sell milk and dairy products, you must follow the requirements in Idaho Code Title 37, Chapters 3, 4, 5, & 12.
- If you want to use this law to sell raw milk and raw milk products, you must follow the requirements in Idaho Code Title 37, Chapter 11.
- Alcoholic drinks are not allowed.
Limitations How will your home food business be restricted?
Business What do you need to do to sell food from home?
Although you don’t need to get a license or permit to start selling, you do need to keep extensive records of your sales.
The records must include:
- Type and quantity of product sold
- Sale date
- Production date
- Production location
- Ingredient sources (where each ingredient was produced or acquired)
- Designated agent (if using one)
You (or your designated agent) must maintain these records for at least 2 years after the time of sale.
Labeling How do you label cottage food products?
"This product is not subject to government food safety inspection or licensing requirements. It may contain allergens."
John Baker
Phone: (123) 456-7890
Ingredients: enriched flour (wheat flour, malted barley flour, niacin, iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), butter (cream, salt), semi-sweet chocolate (sugar, chocolate, cocoa butter, milkfat, soy lecithin, natural flavors), brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs, vanilla extract (vanilla bean extract, alcohol, sugar), baking soda, salt (salt, calcium silicate)
All customers must be informed that your products are homemade and not subject to inspection or licensing.
You must put the above labeling info on a label attached to the product, a prominent sign near the product, or a card that you hand the customer.
Your labels must include your contact information, but you can decide what contact info to provide (phone number, email address, home address, etc).
If you sell perishable products, you must include information about how to store and prepare the items safely.
If you sell at a store that also sells commercial food products, your products must be in a separate section and the section must be clearly labeled to indicate that it is for homemade products.
Resources Where can you find more information about this law?
- Department
- Idaho Department of Health and Welfare
- [email protected]
- Telephone
- (208) 334-5938
Food Protection Program
- April 2016
- IDAPA 16.02.19
- March 2026
- SB 1283
Selling low-risk foods in Idaho has been allowed for many years. Because Idaho had no law to legalize these home food businesses, a couple cottage food bills were introduced in 2015. The first bill (H106) simply tried to codify the then-current practice of the allowing direct sales of low-risk foods. H106 was opposed by the Northwest Food Processors Association, which created a second bill (H187) to add a number of restrictions (like registration and a sales limit). Both bills ultimately failed due to conflicting interests, which was a good thing: if H187 had passed, it likely would have made it harder to sell homemade food in Idaho.
In the summer of 2015, the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare held discussions around the state to discuss the status of cottage foods. Patrick Guzzle, who was the Food Protection Program Manager at IDHW at the time, said, “We pretty consistently heard from cottage food producers that there needed to be some better definitions, but not regulations around it”.
Ultimately those discussions influenced rules that the health department proposed, which imposed minimal regulations and eventually were passed in 2016.
Ten years later, Idaho passed their first bill (SB 1283) for homemade food, which was heavily influenced by Wyoming’s law.