Cottage Food Labels in California: What Goes on the Jar

California runs one of the more prescriptive cottage food programs in the country. You register with your county, you fall into Class A or Class B depending on how you sell, and your label has to carry a specific set of elements including an ingredient list and a home-kitchen statement at a minimum type size.

A Nutrition Facts panel is a separate question, answered federally rather than by California. Most cottage food operations are exempt from it. See the section below for when that stops being true.

Class A and Class B

The class decides how you may sell, and it sets your ceiling.

• Class A sells directly to the consumer: your own site, farmers markets, from your home, at events. The statutory limit is $75,000 in verifiable gross annual sales.
• Class B may also sell indirectly, through a shop or a restaurant that resells your product. The statutory limit is $150,000.

Both figures are adjusted every year for inflation using the California Consumer Price Index, so the number in force is higher than the statutory base and moves each January. Check the current figure with the California Department of Public Health or your county before you plan around it. This guide deliberately does not print a current-year number, because it would be stale within months.

What the label must carry

Plan on all of the following.

• The common or descriptive name of the product
• The name of your cottage food operation, and its location
• Your registration or permit number, issued by the county
• The ingredients, in descending order by weight
• A declaration of the major food allergens present
• Net weight or volume
• The statement "Made in a Home Kitchen" or "Repackaged in a Home Kitchen", in at least 12-point type

That 12-point minimum is a real constraint on a small label, and it is the requirement most often missed. Size the statement first and lay out the rest of the label around it, rather than shrinking it to fit at the end.

Ingredients, in descending order by weight

California requires the ingredient list, which not every state does. Descending order by weight means by the weight going into the batch, before any cooking loss, and includes sub-ingredients of a compound ingredient.

If your recipe uses a commercial product as an ingredient, such as a chocolate chip or a spice blend, its own sub-ingredients generally have to appear. Read the label of what you bought and carry the components through.

When you need a Nutrition Facts panel

California's cottage food law does not require a Nutrition Facts panel. Federal rules decide that, and most cottage food operations sit inside the small business exemption at 21 CFR 101.9(j)(1): annual gross sales of $500,000 or less, or annual gross sales of food to consumers of $50,000 or less. No filing is needed to use it.

You lose the exemption, and need the panel, if any of these apply.

• You make a nutrient content claim or a health claim on the label, in labeling, or in advertising. "Low sugar" and "high in fibre" are claims. So is the same phrase in your online shop description.
• Your sales pass the federal thresholds above. Note these are federal figures and are not the same as the Class A and Class B limits, which are a separate California ceiling on how much cottage food you may sell at all.
• A retailer requires a panel as a condition of stocking you. Common for Class B sales into shops, and not something the law overrides.

What to do in Nutrifax

1. Build or import the recipe and check each ingredient match against what you actually buy.
2. Set the serving size from the reference amount for the category.
3. Generate the panel in the FDA 2016 format, rounded per 21 CFR 101.9.
4. Export a print-ready PDF or PNG, or tile an Avery 5163 sheet for your own sticker printing.
5. Generate an audit report if a shop buyer wants to see the derivation.

Nutrifax produces the Nutrition Facts panel. The California-specific elements, the registration number and the home-kitchen statement, go on your label alongside it.

Related pages

• Cottage Food Label Requirements by State
• When Nutrition Labels Are Required in the US
• US FDA Nutrition Label Requirements for Small Producers
• Serving Size and Rounding Rules (US FDA)
• FDA nutrition label generator

Sources

• California Department of Public Health: Cottage food operations
• California AB-1144: Cottage food operations
• FDA: Small business nutrition labeling exemption guide
• eCFR: 21 CFR 101.9 (Nutrition labeling of food)

Disclaimer

Educational content only; not legal advice. California's sales limits are adjusted annually for inflation and county registration procedures vary. Confirm current requirements with the California Department of Public Health or your county environmental health department, and confirm the final label against current regulations for your product and jurisdiction.