One law, two regimes
Most states set one set of obligations and apply them to everybody. Maryland sets two, and which one you are in depends on where you sell, not what you make or how much of it.
Selling direct to the consumer. No state licence, no food service facility permit, no routine kitchen inspection. Among the lightest arrangements in the country.
Selling through a retail outlet. You must complete a state-approved food safety course, and you must submit your product labels to the Maryland Department of Health for approval.
That second path is a genuine step up, and it is easy to walk into without noticing. A farmers market stall is direct. A friend's shop agreeing to stock two cases is retail, and it moves you across the line. The obligations attach to the channel, so the day a shop says yes is the day the course and the label approval become your problem, not later.
If retail is anywhere in your plans, do the course early. It is far more pleasant as preparation than as a scramble while a buyer waits.
The required statement
Made by a cottage food business that is not subject to Maryland's food safety regulations.
Two formatting requirements:
- 10-point type or larger
- In a colour that provides clear contrast to the background
The contrast requirement is the one that trips up considered design. Grey text on kraft paper reads as tasteful and does not satisfy a contrast rule. Check it against the stock you actually print on, not against white on screen.
The cap
$50,000 in annual gross sales, raised from $25,000 in 2022. Note that the older figure is still all over the internet, so a guide quoting $25,000 is out of date rather than wrong about a different thing.
Counties still have a say
Maryland requires you to comply with county and municipal laws governing the preparation, processing, storage, and sale of cottage food products. The state rules above are a floor, not the complete picture, and your county can add to them.
Check with your local health department before you commit to a plan built purely on the state rules.
The Nutrition Facts panel
Maryland does not require a panel, and the state's two-track structure does not touch the question. It is federal.
Most cottage food businesses are exempt under 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, with nothing to file. Maryland's own $50,000 cap sits at that second federal figure, so a cottage food business operating legally within the Maryland limit is generally inside that particular federal threshold too.
What ends the exemption regardless of sales is a claim: a nutrient content or health claim on the label, in labeling, or in advertising.
Here is where the two Maryland regimes matter again. If you are on the retail track, your labels go to the Department of Health for approval, and a nutrition claim in that artwork is a claim you have committed to in front of a regulator while also taking on a federal panel obligation. Decide about claims before you submit, not after.
Retail buyers frequently want a panel anyway, exemption or not. It is a commercial condition rather than a legal one, and it is not one you can argue past.
Making the panel
Nutrifax builds it from your recipe against USDA FoodData Central, in the FDA 2016 format, rounded per 21 CFR 101.9. Import or build the recipe, check each ingredient match, set the serving size from the reference amount for your category, and export a print-ready PDF or PNG.
If you are heading for the retail track, generate the panel before you submit labels for approval, so that what you submit is what you intend to print.
Related pages
- Cottage Food Label Requirements by State
- When Nutrition Labels Are Required in the US
- US FDA Nutrition Label Requirements for Small Producers
- Inspection-Ready Nutrition Audit Reports
- FDA nutrition label generator
Sources
- Maryland Department of Health: Guidelines for cottage food businesses
- Maryland Code, Health-General 21-330.1: Cottage food businesses
- FDA: Small business nutrition labeling exemption guide
- eCFR: 21 CFR 101.9 (Nutrition labeling of food)
Disclaimer
Educational content only; not legal advice. County and municipal rules apply on top of the state ones. Confirm current requirements with the Maryland Department of Health and your local health department, and confirm the final label against current regulations for your product and jurisdiction.