The last state to allow this at all
New Jersey was among the very last states in the country to legalise cottage food. For years, selling a home-baked cake to a neighbour for money was simply not permitted here while it was routine almost everywhere else.
That history shows in the rules, which are more formal than most states'. The permit comes from the state rather than a county, the disclosure cites the regulation by number, and the disclosure is required in two places rather than one.
The statement cites its own rule
This food is prepared pursuant to N.J.A.C. 8:24-11 in a home kitchen that has not been inspected by the Department of Health.
No other state puts a legal citation on the package. Reproduce N.J.A.C. 8:24-11 exactly, including the periods and the colon. It is the part of the sentence a proofreader is most likely to "tidy" into something wrong, and the part a customer is least able to check.
And again, on a sign
The requirement that catches people out: the same statement must be displayed on a sign at any in-person sales location.
Your label is not sufficient on its own at a market. The stall needs the sentence too, visible to someone who has not yet picked up a jar.
Build the sign once, properly, and keep it in the market kit with the table and the float. It is a five-dollar piece of card that is easy to leave at home and easy to forget entirely, since nothing about packing product prompts you to remember it.
What the label carries
- The common name of the cottage food product
- The ingredients, in descending order of predominance by weight
- Allergen information where applicable, followed by a list of the major food allergens
- Your name, your business name, and your Cottage Food Operator Permit number
The permit
- Issued by the New Jersey Department of Health, at state level, not by a local health department
- $100
- Valid for two years
- Sales capped at $50,000 in gross annual sales per operator
The state-level issuance is a genuine convenience compared with the county-by-county arrangements in California and Illinois, where practice varies between jurisdictions. One authority, one answer.
The Nutrition Facts panel, and a coincidence worth noticing
New Jersey does not require a panel. The FDA decides, and most cottage food operators 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.
Notice that New Jersey's $50,000 cap and the federal $50,000 food-sales threshold are the same figure. They are not connected, they were not set together, and they do different jobs: one limits what you may sell as a cottage food operator, the other decides whether you need a Nutrition Facts panel. The coincidence is convenient in one direction only. Staying inside the New Jersey cap will generally keep you inside that particular federal threshold too, but the federal exemption also turns on total gross sales and, far more often, on claims.
A nutrient content or health claim on the label, in labeling, or in advertising ends the exemption at any sales level. In New Jersey that includes what the sign says, since the sign is part of how you present the product at the point of sale.
Making the panel
Nutrifax builds the panel from your recipe against USDA FoodData Central, in the FDA 2016 format, rounded per 21 CFR 101.9. Import or build the recipe, verify each ingredient match, set the serving size from the reference amount for the category, and export a print-ready PDF or PNG.
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
- New Jersey Department of Health: Cottage food operator permit
- New Jersey Department of Health: Cottage food rules and resources
- FDA: Small business nutrition labeling exemption guide
- eCFR: 21 CFR 101.9 (Nutrition labeling of food)
Disclaimer
Educational content only; not legal advice. Confirm current requirements with the New Jersey Department of Health, and confirm the final label against current regulations for your product and jurisdiction.