Cottage food laws in Arkansas

The limits

Sales cap

None

You can sell

"Homemade Non-TCS Food" — food/drink that does not require refrigeration for safety, produced at the producer's private residence, including baked goods (breads, cakes, cookies, fruit-filled pies, etc.), pickled/acidified fruits and vegetables at or below pH 4.6, jams/jellies/preserves/fruit butters/syrups, dried/dehydrated/roasted goods, candy and confections (including up to 5% ABV flavoring per A.C.A. § 3-2-413), hemp foods made from hulled hemp seed/seed oil/protein powder, icings/frostings/sugar art, frozen fruit-based treats, whole uncut fruits/vegetables, and maple syrup/sorghum/honey (including creamed or non-TCS-flavored honey)

You cannot sell

Any Time/Temperature Control for Safety (TCS) food, including all meat/poultry/seafood/dairy products (dairy specifically excluded by Act 698 of 2025), raw seed sprouts, cut leafy greens, cut/sliced tomatoes or melons, garlic-in-oil mixtures, canned low-acid foods, smoked/cured/dried meats, and any product with a final pH above 4.6 or water activity above 0.85 without further product assessment

Getting set up

Permit / registration

No permit or registration required for Homemade Non-TCS Food

Cost

None

Training

No formal training mandate identified for Homemade Non-TCS Food producers (recipe/process approval or pH testing is required for acidified products specifically)

Kitchen inspection

No

Labeling

Date manufactured/produced/processed; producer name, address, and telephone number (or an Arkansas Department of Agriculture-issued ID number in lieu of contact details); common/usual name of the food; ingredients in descending order of predominance; and the statement: "This product was produced in a private residence that is exempt from state licensing and inspection. This product may contain allergens." For bulk-container sales, disclosures may be provided via a separate written document; for online sales, the website must display the same information and the physical package must still be labeled.

Where you can sell

Permitted venues

Direct to the informed end consumer in person, by phone, or online; through an agent of the producer; or through a third-party vendor (retail shop/grocery store), which must keep Homemade Non-TCS Foods physically separate from inspected products. Not permitted for sale to restaurants for use within the restaurant.

Online sales

Yes

Delivery in state

Yes — by the producer, an agent, a third-party vendor, or a third-party carrier (mail, parcel post, etc.)

Shipping out of state

Yes, conditionally — the guide states sales may occur "within the State of Arkansas or in another state if the seller complies with all federal laws," and advises producers to contact the FDA and destination-state/local health authorities before any out-of-state sale. This is a notable exception to the general federal bar on interstate cottage food shipment and should be treated cautiously.

The fine print

Statute

Food Freedom Act, Act 1040 of 2021 (replaced the Cottage Food Act, Act 399 of 2017); dairy exclusion added by Act 698 of 2025

Recent changes

Act 698 of 2025 explicitly excluded dairy products (milk, cheese, butter, sour cream, etc.) from the Food Freedom Act exemption. The Arkansas Department of Health's "Homemade Food Production Guidelines" were last updated May 21, 2026.

Notes

Arkansas's Food Freedom Act is broader than a typical cottage food law (no permit, no cap, third-party retail sale allowed, and a conditional interstate allowance) but does not provide liability protection to the producer. No MEHKO-style program was identified as separate from this framework — Arkansas's approach effectively folds broad home-food-production freedom into one statute rather than a tiered or dual-track system. ---