Maryland
Maryland’s laws are quite restrictive, only allowing cottage food businesses to sell at farmers markets or at public events, and limiting them to $25,000 of sales per year. However, there are no licensing procedures or fees, so it’s really easy to get started.
Selling
The laws state that the food must be sold at “a location in a farmer’s market or at a public festival or event where raw agricultural products are sold”.
Allowed Foods
Honey must be unflavored.
Limitations
Business
Here is some info about state sales tax in Maryland. There may also be local sales taxes that need to be collected.
Labeling
Chocolate Chip Cookies
"Made by a cottage food business that is not subject to Maryland's food safety regulations." (10-point type)
Forrager Cookie Company
123 Chewy Way, Cookietown, MD 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)
Contains: milk, eggs, wheat, soy
NET WT 2 lb 4 oz (1.02 kg)
If any nutritional claims are made, they must adhere to the federal labeling requirements.
Resources
- Job Title
- Chief of Department
- Organization
- Center for Facility & Process Review, Office of Food Protection, Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
- [email protected]
- Telephone
- 410-767-8407
Lisa Staley
- Job Title
- Administrator
- Organization
- Food Quality Assurance, Maryland Department of Agriculture
- [email protected]
- Telephone
- 410-841-5769
Deanna Baldwin
- October 2012
- SB 550
Comments
Pablo Carvajal
Earlier this year, Governor Hogan signed a bill that makes significant reforms to the existing cottage food law in Maryland. The new law will take effect this October, 2018 and with its reforms, bakers and cottage foods producers in MD will be able to sell (the same authorized goods they already make at home), not only at farmer’s markets, and public events but now also directly from home and via online mail delivery. The law allows home bakers to take custom orders, which can be both lucrative and in demand for consumers. HB 1106 will only apply to food sold under Maryland’s “cottage food” law, which lets Marylanders sell “nonhazardous” homemade food, like cakes, cookies, or jams.
I hope this is good news for everyone, and please help spread the word about this. Good luck with any cottage food business endeavors you take on! Congratulations!
Zachary
I’m hoping to start selling make homemade baked cheese snacks on etsy but if I’m to understand Maryland law correctly there is no legal avenue for me to do so? I’m ServSafe and would be willing to undergo an inspection if necessary. Thank you to anyone who might have advice or experience doing just this!
-Zak
Pablo C
Zach – I work for the Institute for Justice, a non-profit organization that works to change restrictive cottage food laws. Maryland’s cottage foods laws as they are now, are very restrictive. We’d like to change them to allow sales from home (including online), not just events or farmers’ markets. If you are interested in selling cottage food from home let us know, we’d like to help! You can email me at [email protected]. Thank you!
Lucy
Hi! Im trying to get started with farmers markets and I was wondering if anyone could give me some guidance on the financials of it. Like, tax information and stuff like that, is there any website or article that could give me a ran down of this basics?
Lori B
Can dog treats be sold form home and online in Maryland ?
Pablo C
Hi Lori – I work for the Institute for Justice, a non-profit organization that works to change restrictive cottage food laws. Maryland’s cottage foods laws as they are now, are very restrictive. We’d like to change them to allow sales online, and not limited to special events or farmers’ markets. If you are interested in selling cottage food from home let us know, we’d like to help! You can email me at [email protected]. Thank you!
Kate
Pablo, thank you so much for your amazing work to pass the revised cottage food bill in MD this week! If you can provide any details, they’d be very welcome.
Effie Kilpatrick
I know you can only sell your baked goods at farmer’s markets, but can you give away free samples at other events (churches, schools, events, etc) and tell people they can come pick up orders at the farmer’s market? If so, can the sample package have your logo/business information on them? Thanks!
Erica Smith
Hi my name is Erica Smith and I’m an attorney at the Institute, the nonprofit organization who successfully sued Minnesota and Wisconsin over their restrictive cottage food laws. We are interested in trying to change Maryland’s laws to allow sales from home, not just events or farmers’ markets. If selling cottage food from home is something you are interested in doing, please email me at [email protected]. Thanks!
Kristina R
Hello,
I was wondering if this applied to homemade halloween candy?
Mark Brown
Hello,
I live in MD and from your list of approved foods chocolate, fudge and caramels are allowed. However when I go here https://phpa.health.maryland.gov/OEHFP/OFPCHS/Pages/CottageFoods.aspx it says I need a permit. So which is right? Can I, or can I not make chocolate etc in home under cottage law with out a permit or commercial kitchen