Cottage Food Labeling: What Home Bakers Must Put on Every Label (2026 Guide)
You can bake a beautiful loaf and still get tripped up by a sticker. Here's exactly what has to go on a cottage food label — producer address, ingredients, allergens, net weight, and the disclaimer your state requires — with a sample label you can copy the shape of.
Selling sourdough from your home kitchen is one of the most accessible small businesses there is — most US states let you do it under a cottage food law without renting a commercial kitchen. But the part that quietly stresses bakers out isn't the baking. It's the label. Put the wrong thing on it, or leave the right thing off, and you've got a compliance problem before your first market day.
The good news: the label is mostly a checklist. Once you know the elements, every loaf you sell uses the same template with the weight and date swapped in. This guide walks through each required element, shows a full sample label for a country sourdough, and is honest about the one thing no article can do for you — tell you your own state's exact rules.
This is general guidance, not legal advice. Cottage food laws are written and enforced state by state. The elements below are required by nearly every state, but the exact disclaimer wording, sales limits, allowed products, and whether you need a permit number all differ. Always confirm your state's exact requirements with your state department of agriculture or health before you sell.
The 6 things almost every cottage food label needs
Across the country, the core of a compliant label is remarkably consistent. Nearly every state's cottage food law requires these six elements. We'll take them one at a time, then assemble them into a real loaf label.
- Your business name and physical address
- The product name
- The ingredient list, in descending order by weight
- An allergen declaration (the 9 major allergens)
- The net weight or quantity, in US and metric units
- Your state's cottage food disclaimer statement
Several states add a seventh and eighth item — a date made or lot code and a permit or registration number — so we'll cover those too.
1. Your name and physical address
The label has to identify who made the food and where. For a cottage food operation that's your name (or your registered business name) and the physical address of the home kitchen where it was produced. A PO box generally isn't enough on its own — states want a real address tied to the kitchen, because that's the address their inspectors and your customers can trace a problem back to.
If you're uncomfortable printing your home address on a public-facing label, that's a real and common concern — but it's usually a legal requirement, not an optional courtesy. Some bakers register an LLC or use a business address where their state allows it; check what your state accepts before you decide.
2. The product name
Use the common or usual name of the food — the plain words a customer would use. "Country Sourdough Loaf," "Seeded Rye Sourdough," "Cinnamon Raisin Sourdough." A clever brand name is fine in addition, but the label still needs language that tells a buyer what the product actually is. "Helga's Pride" is a brand; "Country Sourdough Bread" is the product name, and you need the second one.
3. The ingredient list, in descending order by weight
List every ingredient, ordered from most to least by weight (predominance). For sourdough that almost always means flour and water lead, then starter, salt, and any add-ins. This is exactly where having your formula already in grams pays off — descending order is obvious when you can see the weights.
Two details bakers miss:
- Your starter is made of ingredients too. If you list "sourdough starter," many states want its components disclosed (flour, water) — or you can simply fold the starter's flour and water into your totals. When in doubt, name what's in it.
- Sub-ingredients count. If an add-in is itself a mix (a seed blend, a flavored inclusion), its components may need to appear in parentheses.
4. Allergen declaration — the 9 major allergens
US law recognizes 9 major food allergens. You must declare any that are present in your product:
- Milk
- Eggs
- Fish
- Crustacean shellfish
- Tree nuts
- Peanuts
- Wheat
- Soybeans
- Sesame — the 9th allergen, added by the FASTER Act effective January 1, 2023
For sourdough the obvious one is wheat, which is present in essentially every wheat-flour loaf. But don't stop there: an enriched loaf may carry milk or eggs, a seeded crust may carry sesame or tree nuts, and a soy-flour or soy-oil inclusion brings soybeans. The clearest, most widely accepted way to declare allergens is a separate "Contains:" line right under the ingredient list — for example, Contains: Wheat. That line is in addition to the ingredient list, not a substitute for it.
Sesame deserves special attention. Because it only became a major allergen in 2023, plenty of older label templates omit it. If your loaf has sesame on the crust or in the dough, it must be declared — and if sesame is handled in your kitchen and could cross-contact a batch, take that seriously rather than hiding it.
5. Net weight / net quantity
State the net weight (or count, for things sold by the piece) of the product. The convention most states follow is to show both US customary and metric units — for example, Net Wt 1 lb 8 oz (680 g). "Net" means the weight of the bread itself, not including packaging. For a loaf, weigh the finished, cooled loaf; for a dozen rolls you might use a count plus weight. Keep it honest and consistent — wildly underweight loaves are a labeling problem as well as a customer one.
6. The cottage food disclaimer statement
This is the element unique to cottage food, and the one people get wrong most often. Nearly every state requires a specific sentence on the label telling the buyer the food was made in a home kitchen that is not inspected the way a commercial facility is. A common version reads:
But — and this is the important part — the exact wording is set by each state, and you must use your state's required language. Some states prescribe very specific text. California, for instance, requires the words "Made in a Home Kitchen" with the operation's registration or permit number. Some states use phrasing like "This product is home produced" or "Processed in a cottage food operation that is not subject to state inspection." A few require the disclaimer in a specific type size, or in a specific language in addition to English.
Do not copy the sentence above onto your labels and assume you're done. Look up your own state's cottage food law and use its disclaimer verbatim. This is the single most common reason a cottage food label fails an inspection.
7 & 8. Date or lot code, and permit number (state-dependent)
Many states also require one or both of:
- A date made or a lot code — so a specific batch can be traced if there's ever a problem. Even where it isn't required, a simple date code is good practice.
- A permit or registration number — assigned when you register your cottage food operation. In states that require it, this often appears right next to the disclaimer.
Whether these apply to you is, again, a state-by-state question. Treat them as "very likely" rather than "skip it."
Putting it together: a sample sourdough label
Here's how those elements assemble into a single, compliant-shaped label for a country loaf. The producer info, ingredients, allergen line, net weight, and disclaimer are all here. The disclaimer text shown is a generic placeholder — you'd swap in your state's exact wording and, where required, your permit number.
And a seeded version, to show how the allergen line grows once you add inclusions:
Notice what changed: sesame seeds appear in the ingredient list and get pulled up into the Contains: line. That's the pattern — every major allergen present shows up in both places.
The mistakes that actually get bakers dinged
Using a generic disclaimer instead of your state's
The number one issue. The sentence on someone's blog is a placeholder. Your state has its own required wording, and inspectors know it.
Forgetting sesame
Templates written before 2023 leave it off. If it's in the loaf, it goes on the label — in the ingredients and in the Contains: line.
Listing ingredients out of order
Descending by weight isn't optional. If salt is listed before water, the label is wrong even if every ingredient is named.
Net weight in one unit only
Show both US and metric. "680 g" alone, or "1 lb 8 oz" alone, is usually incomplete.
Assuming the rules are the same across a state line
If you start selling at a market across the border, you may be under a different state's cottage food law entirely. Re-check before you cross.
How DoughPlan helps
DoughPlan is a bake-day planner, not a lawyer — but because it already holds your formulas in grams, it can do most of the label assembly for you. When you set up a product, DoughPlan generates a cottage-food-compliant label as part of the bake plan:
- Producer name and address pulled from your business profile onto every label.
- The ingredient list, already in descending order by weight — because it comes straight from your formula, the predominance order is correct automatically.
- Allergen flags. DoughPlan flags the major allergens in your ingredients (wheat, milk, eggs, sesame, and the rest) and formats them into a
Contains:line. - Net weight in both US and metric, from the loaf weight you're already planning around.
What it can't do is invent your state's disclaimer — and it doesn't pretend to. You enter your state's exact required disclaimer wording (and permit number) once, and DoughPlan formats it onto every label going forward, alongside the date or lot code for the batch. You stay in control of the legal sentence; we handle the formatting and the repetition so it's identical on every loaf, every week.
Already know your numbers? Our free baker's percentage calculator turns a formula into exact gram weights — which is the same data that drives an accurate ingredient order and net weight. If you landed here after the Castiron shutdown, our alternatives guide covers where storefront and back-of-house work should land.
Compliant labels on every loaf, automatically
Enter your formulas and business details once. DoughPlan builds the ingredient list, flags allergens, sets the net weight, and prints your state's disclaimer on every label — as part of the same bake plan that scales your week. Free for your first product.
Start free →Frequently asked questions
What has to go on a cottage food label?
Almost every US state requires the same core elements: the name and physical address of your cottage food operation, the common name of the product, the ingredients listed in descending order by weight, a declaration of any of the 9 major food allergens present, the net weight or quantity in both US customary and metric units, and your state's specific cottage food disclaimer statement (for example, "Made in a home kitchen that is not subject to routine government food safety inspection"). Some states also require the date made or a lot code and a permit or registration number. The exact wording and extra requirements are set state by state, so confirm your own state's cottage food law.
Do I need to list allergens on homemade bread?
Yes. If your bread contains any of the 9 FDA major allergens, you must declare them. For sourdough the unavoidable one is wheat, and many breads also contain milk, eggs, tree nuts, or sesame. The clearest way to declare them is a "Contains:" line under the ingredient list, for example "Contains: Wheat." You still list every ingredient — the allergen statement is in addition to the ingredient list, not a replacement for it.
Is sesame an allergen I have to declare?
Yes. Sesame became the 9th FDA major food allergen under the FASTER Act, effective January 1, 2023. If your sourdough has sesame seeds on the crust or in the dough, you must declare sesame just like wheat, milk, or eggs. Watch shared surfaces too — sesame that ends up in a batch counts.
What is the cottage food disclaimer statement?
It is a required sentence telling the buyer the food was made in a home kitchen that is not inspected like a commercial facility. A common version reads "Made in a home kitchen that is not subject to routine government food safety inspection," but the exact wording is set by each state — some require very specific language such as "This product is home produced." Use your own state's required wording verbatim.
Do cottage food labeling rules vary by state?
Yes, significantly. The core elements are similar everywhere, but the disclaimer wording, whether a permit or registration number is required, the allowed sales channels and sales limits, and the foods you may sell all differ state by state. Always check your state's specific cottage food law through your state department of agriculture or health before you sell.