Cottage food label requirements in Virginia
Selling cookies, jam, bread, or granola from your kitchen in Virginia? Your label has to carry a few specific things before it can go on the shelf. Here is the checklist, plus the home-kitchen disclaimer.
What your Virginia label needs
- ✓Product name. The common name of the food, so a buyer knows what it is.
- ✓Net quantity. The weight or count in the package, usually shown on the front.
- ✓Ingredient list. Every ingredient, listed heaviest-first by weight.
- ✓Allergen statement. A “Contains” line for milk, egg, wheat, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, and sesame.
- ✓Business name and address. Who made the food and where they can be reached.
- ✓Home-kitchen disclaimer. The cottage food sentence Virginia expects, shown below.
The Virginia home-kitchen disclaimer
This is the disclaimer wording Virginia requires cottage food sellers to print on the label:
NOT FOR RESALE - PROCESSED AND PREPARED WITHOUT STATE INSPECTION
Rules change. Confirm this is the current, exact wording with Virginia's cottage food program (usually run by the state agriculture or health department) before you print.
Do you need a full Nutrition Facts panel in Virginia?
Many cottage food sellers are exempt from the full Nutrition Facts panel, as long as the ingredient list, allergen line, net weight, business name, and disclaimer are all present. But online marketplaces like Etsy and Amazon often ask for the panel anyway. Nutripane builds all of it from your recipe, so you are ready either way.
Popular foods to label
The same Virginia label rules apply to whatever you make. Here is how to label the foods sellers ask about most.
Guides to get you started
Cottage food rules in other states
This page is general information, not legal advice. Cottage food rules vary by state and county and change over time. Confirm current requirements with Virginia's program before you sell. See another state.