Cottage food can be produced in a home kitchen or in a commercial kitchen as long as you follow local ordinances. Commercial kitchens offer the equipment and spaces usually required for a food license issued by the Minnesota Department of Health, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, or one of their delegated regulatory agencies.
*NOTE* As is always the case, do not make, sell, or store cottage food in your home if anyone in the household is sick. Follow good food safety practices of proper hand hygiene, preventing bare hand contact with ready-to-eat foods, and regular cleaning and sanitizing of equipment and surfaces.
Cottage food can be produced in a home kitchen or in a commercial kitchen as long as you follow local ordinances. Commercial kitchens offer the equipment and spaces usually required for a food license issued by the Minnesota Department of Health, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, or one of their delegated regulatory agencies.
*NOTE* As is always the case, do not make, sell, or store cottage food in your home if anyone in the household is sick. Follow good food safety practices of proper hand hygiene, preventing bare hand contact with ready-to-eat foods, and regular cleaning and sanitizing of equipment and surfaces.
Local agencies often conduct inspections at venues like farmers’ markets and community events to verify registration and that food is being sold in a manner consistent with Minnesota laws. In addition, if food sold by a cottage food producer is suspected or confirmed to have caused illness or injury, the MDA will conduct an investigation which may include an inspection of the location where the food was produced. Under Minnesota law, the MDA has the authority to enter at reasonable times any establishment where food is manufactured, processed, packed, or held. Inspection and investigation activities would be limited to areas of the location where food is manufactured, processed, packed, or held.
The MDA investigates complaints to ensure people selling cottage food are complying with the law, including all the topics covered in this guidance document: registration, training, sales amounts, sales locations, food types, and labeling and placarding. Actions depend on the severity of the violation and may include inspection, written notice, registration revocation, penalties, or prosecution.
Cottage food can be produced in a home kitchen or in a commercial kitchen as long as you follow local ordinances. Commercial kitchens offer the equipment and spaces usually required for a food license issued by the Minnesota Department of Health, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, or one of their delegated regulatory agencies.
*NOTE* As is always the case, do not make, sell, or store cottage food in your home if anyone in the household is sick. Follow good food safety practices of proper hand hygiene, preventing bare hand contact with ready-to-eat foods, and regular cleaning and sanitizing of equipment and surfaces.
Examples of Signs to be Displayed
For more information on these signs, see the Labeling and Displaying a Sign section above.
No. The Cottage Food Exemption is an exemption from food licensing and applies to food. Edible cannabinoids are explicitly excluded from the definition of food products found in Minn. Stats. §34A.01, subd. 4.