Virginia Can you legally sell food from home in Virginia?
Cottage Food Law
Virginia allows producers to make certain types of food from home without needing a license or inspection from the ag department. The information on this page only pertains to operations that do not get their home kitchen inspected. If you want to make more types of food or to sell in more venues, you can apply to be a home food processing operation, which is much more complicated than using the exemption described below.
To use the inspection exemption, producers have to adhere to some restrictions. For instance, a producer can only sell from farmers markets and their home, and they can only sell certain types of food. Fortunately, the law was amended in 2013 to allow many more kinds of products. A few types of products, like pickles and honey, have sales limits.
Virginia had another bill (HB 1290) that aimed to replace the current cottage food law with an exemption that would prevent any type of cottage food business from needing licensing or inspection. As happened last year (HB 135), it was too ambitious and it died in its session. These bills are part of a group’s food freedom initiative.
Selling Where can you sell homemade food products?
Advertising online is allowed, even though internet sales are not allowed.
Honey can be sold to any venue, without restriction.
Allowed Foods What food products can you sell from home?
Pickles and acidified vegetables must have a pH level no higher than 4.6, and only $3,000 of sales are allowed per year.
Low-acid or acidified low-acid food products (like some sugar-free jams) are not allowed.
Infused honey products are not allowed.
Limitations How will your home food business be restricted?
Honey producers can’t sell more than 250 gallons of honey per year.
Business What do you need to do to sell food from home?
You do not need a license from the ag department to start your business, though there may be other local requirements (like a business license or zoning approval) that you need to fulfill.
Most food businesses in Virginia are charged an annual $40 fee, but since you are exempt from inspection, this fee does not apply. If you get a $40 bill from the ag department, you should dispute it.
Labeling How do you label cottage food products?
Chocolate Chip Cookies
"NOT FOR RESALE - PROCESSED AND PREPARED WITHOUT STATE INSPECTION."
Forrager Cookie Company
123 Chewy Way, Cookietown, VA 73531
Phone: (123) 456-7890
Produced on 3/24/2023
Instead of the statement above, honey producers must label their jars with this statement: “PROCESSED AND PREPARED WITHOUT STATE INSPECTION. WARNING: Do Not Feed Honey to Infants Under One Year Old.”
Resources Where can you find more information about this law?
- Department
- Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
- foodsafety@vdacs.virginia.gov
- Telephone
- 804-786-3520
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Comments
Jas
Does the above laws apply for making dog treats?
haniz
Hi, Is there anyone who successfully got a home food processing approval? I need some information on the process.
Milad Emam
Dear Haniz – I’m an attorney at the Institute for Justice, a non-profit organization that works to change restrictive cottage food laws. If you are interested in learning more, you can email me at memam@ij.org. Thank you! – Milad
Tonya Fehrenbach
Hello! I want to seek my homemade sauces (salad dressing/pasta and rice sauce). I don’t see anything on your site that includes that in exempted items. Any guidance on that?
Thank you so much!
amanda
HI. im so confused because the other day I read this page and it had buttercream listed and said I could not use eggs, cream, or cream cheese in buttercream. But now I can’t find it. My question is, what if I use the pasteurized carton of eggs from the store for my buttercream? I’m really trying to find another recipe that actually Taste good if I can’t use patuerized egg whites :(. also, if I can’t use cream, does that mean I also can’t use milk? thank you for your help. :)