Cottage food laws in New York

The limits

Sales cap

None

You can sell

Non-potentially-hazardous items: breads, rolls, biscuits, bagels, muffins, doughnuts (no cream filling), cookies, cakes (no homemade frosting requiring refrigeration), brownies, double-crust fruit pies, scones, high-acid-fruit jams/jellies/preserves, repackaged dried goods, fudge, popcorn, peanut brittle, granola, crackers, and pretzels. May include high-acid fruits and commercially dried fruits/herbs.

You cannot sell

Temperature-controlled/potentially-hazardous items: buttercream or cream-cheese frosting, vegetable breads, alcohol-containing products, no-bake items, pickles, sauces, vegetable jellies, chocolate-dipped candies, raw nuts, dairy products, meat/fish/poultry, beverages, nut butters, and anything else requiring refrigeration.

Getting set up

Permit / registration

Yes — registration (not a permit) with NYSDAM via the Home Processor Registration Request form (submitted by email or mail). NYSDAM's page notes a current backlog of up to 16 weeks for processing.

Cost

None (no registration fee). Private-well users must submit a water-potability test from a certified lab.

Training

No. The complete regulatory text of the Home Processor exemption, 1 NYCRR 276.4(b), was reviewed in full. It conditions the licensing exemption on only three requirements: (1) finished-product containers are clean, sanitary, and properly labeled; (2) the home-processed food is neither adulterated nor misbranded; and (3) glass containers used for jams, jellies, marmalades, and similar products have rigid metal covers. No food safety training, certification, or education requirement of any kind appears anywhere in the section.

Kitchen inspection

Only on complaint — "kitchens are reviewed on a complaint basis only."

Labeling

Product name; ingredients by descending weight; net quantity; processor name and address; allergen declarations; and the phrase "Made in a Home Kitchen" (or an NYSDAM-accepted equivalent, e.g., "Made at Home by [Name]") in type at least 1/16 inch high.

Where you can sell

Permitted venues

Wholesale and/or retail sale at agricultural venues (farms, farm stands, farmers markets, green markets, craft fairs, flea markets), via home delivery, or via the internet — all within New York State.

Online sales

Yes with restrictions — internet sales are permitted, but only to buyers within New York State.

Delivery in state

Yes — home delivery within New York State is permitted.

Shipping out of state

No — "shipping products out of state is not permitted"; items must be sold, packaged, and delivered entirely within New York.

The fine print

Statute

1 NYCRR 276.4 (Home Processor exemption), under the exemption framework of NY Agriculture and Markets Law Articles 20-C and 28.

Recent changes

No enacted change to the Home Processor exemption (1 NYCRR 276.4) has been identified for 2023-2026; secondary sources point to the last substantive expansion (additional product categories, authorization of in-state online sales) occurring in April 2018. A bill is currently pending, but not yet law, that would create a separate, parallel exemption: Assembly Bill A5836A, the 'Homegrown Foods Act,' would exempt home-processed food sales of up to $12,500 per year in direct-to-consumer, in-state sales from certain food-processing licensure requirements. As of its most recent status on the Assembly's own bill page, A5836A remains 'In Assembly Committee' (Agriculture Committee) and has not been enacted -- so it does not yet change New York's cottage-food/home-processor law.

Notes

New York's Home Processor exemption is administered at the state level by NYSDAM with no county-level variation confirmed in the sources reviewed for this specific exemption. However, New York is generally known for local health department variation in retail food licensing, so operators inside New York City or another jurisdiction with a delegated local health authority should confirm no additional local rules apply beyond the state registration described here. No MEHKO-specific law was identified for New York in the sources reviewed.