Indiana

Cottage Food Law

Indiana’s laws are restrictive in that sales are only allowed at farmers markets and roadside stands. Aside from that, however, the laws are quite lenient. They allow for any food below a certain pH value or water activity level, which basically allows nearly any kind of non-potentially hazardous food. There is no registration, fees, or process to get setup, and there is no limitation to how much a vendor can sell.

Table of Contents

Selling Allowed Foods Limitations Labeling Resources

Selling

Allowed Venues

Farmers markets Online Roadside stands

Prohibited Venues

Events Home Restaurants Retail stores

Prohibited Services

Mail order

A vendor may take pre-orders (over the internet, for instance), but they can only deliver them to a farmers market or roadside stand.

Allowed Foods

Prohibited Foods

Fermented foods Salsas Chutneys Juices Meat jerkies Hardboiled whole eggs

There are probably more prohibited foods, but the ones above have been confirmed

Any food with a pH value of less than 4.6 and a water activity value of less than 0.85 is allowed.

Low sugar jams and jellies, as well as pumpkin and pear fruit butters, may not be allowed.

Only "non-potentially hazardous" foods are allowed, but certain non-PHFs may not be allowed. Most foods that don't need to be refrigerated (foods without meat, cheese, etc.) are considered non-potentially hazardous. Learn more

Limitations

Commercial kitchen prohibited Direct sales only

There may be more limitations, but the ones above have been confirmed

There is no sales limit

Labeling

Label Requirements

Business address Business name Date produced Ingredients Net amount Product name Statement

Sample Label

Chocolate Chip Cookies

"This product is home produced and processed and the production area has not been inspected by the State Department of Health." (10-point type)

Forrager Cookie Company

123 Chewy Way, Cookietown, IN 73531

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)

Produced on 9/22/2020

NET WT 2 lb 4 oz (1.02 kg)

In addition to net weight, the label must also include the volume of the product.

If a labeling a product isn’t practical (e.g. the product isn’t packaged), the vendor may place a placard with the same information up at the point of sale.