Cottage food laws in Utah

The limits

Sales cap

Not confirmedUnverified. Utah's own UDAF program pages for both the Cottage Food Law and the Home Consumption and Homemade Food Act were fetched directly and neither one states a dollar sales cap for either pathway — but that silence is not confirmation that no cap exists. Confirm directly with UDAF (https://ag.utah.gov/regulatory-services/cottage-food-production/ and https://ag.utah.gov/regulatory-services/home-consumption-and-homemade-food-act/), or by reading Utah Code Title 4, Chapter 5a and Utah Admin. Code R70-560 in full.

You can sell

• Cottage Food Law (R70-560): Non-potentially-hazardous shelf-stable foods — breads, cakes, cupcakes, cookies, candy, chocolate, honey, popcorn, spices, jams/jellies, dry mixes, royal icing, etc. • Homemade Food Act: A much broader array of homemade foods, including some items not allowed under standard cottage food rules, sold directly for personal/home consumption

You cannot sell

• Cottage Food Law: Refrigerated/frozen foods, meat/poultry products, cheesecakes, custards, cream puffs, eclairs, tres leches cake, canned/potentially-hazardous foods, medicinal herbs/supplements • Homemade Food Act: Raw (unpasteurized) milk, most meat products (exceptions for rabbit and poultry raised by the producer per Utah Code § 4-5a-105)

Getting set up

Permit / registration

• Cottage Food Law: Requires a valid Food Handlers Permit; application with recipes submitted to UDAF • Homemade Food Act: Requires only a general business license; no UDAF registration

Cost

Not confirmedUnverified. UDAF's cottage food page confirms a registration fee is charged, invoiced after application, and nonrefundable, but no dollar amount is published on any UDAF page or form reachable in this research. Aggregator sites cite $50, but that figure could not be verified against a primary UDAF source. Confirm the current fee with UDAF (https://ag.utah.gov/regulatory-services/cottage-food-production/, 801-982-2200) or its fee schedule.

Training

Not confirmedCottage Food Law: Confirmed Yes. UDAF's own checklist states plainly: "Any person who will be handling food needs to get a Food Handler's Permit from their local health department." Home Consumption and Homemade Food Act: still unverified — the UDAF program page for this Act does not mention any training or food-handler-permit requirement in either direction, and that silence does not establish that no training is required. Confirm the Homemade Food Act training question directly with UDAF.

Kitchen inspection

Cottage Food Law: Yes, an inspection is required after registration. UDAF states: "A UDAF representative will contact you directly in regards to scheduling a food safety inspection." Home Consumption and Homemade Food Act: No — UDAF's own required label statement for this pathway confirms products are made without any inspection: "Not for Resale – Processed and prepared without the benefit of state or local inspection."

Labeling

• Cottage Food Law: Product name, full ingredient list, net quantity, allergens, business name/contact, and "Home Produced" designation • Homemade Food Act: Disclaimer "Not for Resale – Processed and prepared without the benefit of state or local inspection" plus complete allergen list (per Utah Code § 4-5a-104)

Where you can sell

Permitted venues

• Cottage Food Law: Direct-to-consumer, farmers markets, produce stands, retail store resale • Homemade Food Act: Direct-to-consumer only, at a prearranged/agreed-upon location; farmers-market sales restricted to direct-sale markets or designated sections

Online sales

Not confirmedHome Consumption and Homemade Food Act: Confirmed No — UDAF states products "must be sold in-person, directly to the final end consumer at a prearranged or agreed upon location only," which rules out online/remote sales. Cottage Food Law: still unverified — UDAF's page says products may be sold "direct-to-the-consumer or to stores for resale" within Utah, but does not state whether internet/online sales qualify as an allowed direct-to-consumer channel. Confirm with UDAF.

Delivery in state

Not confirmedUnverified for both pathways. The Homemade Food Act requires in-person sale at a prearranged location, which appears to preclude mail/delivery, but the page does not frame this as a delivery-specific rule. The Cottage Food Law page states products may be sold "direct-to-the-consumer or to stores for resale" within Utah but does not address delivery or mail order specifically. Confirm with UDAF.

Shipping out of state

Confirmed No for both pathways. UDAF's Cottage Food Law page states: "Products may only be sold within Utah." UDAF's Home Consumption and Homemade Food Act page states the same restriction and additionally requires in-person, prearranged-location sale. Note that even in states that are silent on this point, federal rules generally govern and restrict interstate shipment of cottage-food-type products regardless of state law — but Utah is not silent here, it affirmatively limits sales to within the state under both pathways.

The fine print

Statute

Cottage Food Law: Utah Admin. Code R70-560. Homemade Food Act: Utah Code Title 4, Chapter 5a (§§ 4-5a-102 through 4-5a-105)

Recent changes

SB 217 (Local Food Amendments) was signed by the Governor on March 25, 2026 — confirmed from the Utah Governor's official bill list. It is reported to add "designated representative" and "direct-to-sale location" definitions to the Homemade Food Act, allowing producers to contract with others for distribution, sale, or storage; to remove a signage requirement for direct-to-sale farmers markets; and to create a state sales tax exemption for food sold by home cooks effective July 1, 2026. The enrolled bill text could not be read directly — le.utah.gov was unreachable from this research environment on every attempt — so the substance of the amendments is reported rather than verified against the enrolled copy. Confirm with UDAF before relying on the specifics.

Notes

Not confirmedUtah is a food-freedom-style state with the Homemade Food Act functioning as a distinct, broader pathway from the standard Cottage Food Law, per the assignment's guidance — the two are presented separately above and should not be merged. The UDAF page fetched did not fully enumerate the Cottage Food Law's fee, cap, or inspection details; a follow-up direct fetch of https://ag.utah.gov/regulatory-services/cottage-food-production/ returned only navigation content, not the full page text, so several Cottage Food Law fields are flagged Unverified above pending a further UDAF confirmation.