Cottage food laws in Missouri

The limits

Sales cap

None — the statute specifies no sales limit

You can sell

Narrowly defined by statute: baked goods (cookies, cakes, breads, danish, donuts, pastries, pies, and similar oven-baked items, excluding potentially hazardous fillings/toppings), canned jams or jellies, and dried herbs or herb mixes

You cannot sell

Potentially hazardous foods (per department rule definitions); aggregator sources also list candies, chocolate items, acidified/low-acid canned foods, nut butters, honey, fermented foods, dried fruits, pasta, popcorn, and meat jerky as falling outside the statute's narrow allowed list

Getting set up

Permit / registration

No — the statute contains no registration or permit requirement, and a cottage food production operation is explicitly not defined as a food service establishment

Cost

None

Training

No

Kitchen inspection

No — the statute exempts cottage food production operations from state and local health/food code inspection (local health departments are barred from regulating them), except that authorities retain investigative power in a foodborne illness outbreak

Labeling

Name and address of the cottage food production operation, and a statement that the food is not inspected by the department or local health department

Where you can sell

Permitted venues

Missouri's cottage food statute defines a covered 'cottage food production operation' as one that produces a baked good, canned jam or jelly, or dried herb/herb mix 'for sale at the individual's home' and that 'sells the food produced ... only directly to consumers.' DHSS's own guidance clarifies that the operative constraint is that the sale be direct-to-consumer and in-state, not a specific approved venue: 'Foods produced under the Missouri Cottage Law are to be sold directly to the end consumer. If foods are to be wholesaled, they no longer are exempted by the Missouri Cottage Law,' and 'A cottage food producer may not sell their products across state lines.' Selling to a retail store, restaurant, wholesaler, or broker voids the exemption. DHSS guidance does not identify farmers markets or other off-premises events as prohibited sale venues for an already-produced, covered cottage food item -- its one relevant Q&A example (a producer making fresh salsa on-site at a farmers market) concerns on-site production of a non-covered item (salsa isn't an exempt product under the law at all), not the resale, away from home, of a product that is covered. This means the placeholder view that farmers markets/events fall 'outside the statute's direct-sale framework' is not well supported by the primary sources: the restriction is on wholesale/retail placement and interstate sales, not on the physical location where a direct sale occurs.

Online sales

Yes with restrictions — the statute permits internet sales only if both the cottage food operation and the purchaser are located within Missouri

Delivery in state

Yes — in-state shipping/delivery is allowed per 2022-era guidance cited by aggregators; confirm current DHSS guidance

Shipping out of state

No — the statute explicitly bars internet sales unless both parties are in-state, which forecloses interstate shipment

The fine print

Statute

RSMo § 196.298

Recent changes

Confirmed: RSMo 196.298 was amended in 2022. The Missouri Revisor of Statutes' own legislative-history note appended to the statute reads '(L. 2014 S.B. 525, A.L. 2022 H.B. 1697),' confirming the amending bill was 2022 House Bill 1697. DHSS's Home-Based Kitchen Food Protection Guidance corroborates the substance and date: 'Revisions made to the Missouri Cottage Law went into effect on Aug. 28, 2022. Updates include allowing cottage products to be sold online and removal of annual gross income caps ... Previously, the cottage food operation was limited to an annual gross income of $50,000 or less ... There is no longer a limit to how much a cottage food producer can make annually.' No further amendment has been identified between 2023 and 2026.

Notes

Earlier research suggested farmers market and event sales might fall outside the statute's direct-sale framework. Verification against DHSS guidance indicates the actual restriction is on wholesale and retail placement and on interstate sales — not on selling a covered product at an off-premises venue such as a farmers market.