Louisiana · Low-Risk Homemade Food

Louisiana cottage food label requirements and low-risk homemade food checklist

Answer a few plain-English questions about what you make and how you want to sell it. We check it against Louisiana's current low-risk homemade food statute, flag the choices that fall outside the exemption, and build you a practical checklist plus a printable label draft.

Free permit walk-through Free label generation Free checklist
Free customized label/checklist after walk-through completion

Built from the current public Louisiana statute page for R.S. 40:4.9. Not legal advice and not state approval — rules can change, and a 2026 proposal exists but is not modeled here as live law, so verify final requirements with the current statute text and your local tax authority before selling.

  • Free permit walk-throughSee fast whether your product, sales volume, or bakery resale setup falls outside Louisiana's current exemption.
  • Free checklistKeep the statute-based next steps tied to your product category, sales plan, and tax setup.
  • Free label generationDraft a practical label with the non-licensed-facility disclosure and your own product details.

Can you sell homemade food in Louisiana?

Sometimes. Louisiana's current law is narrower than a full food-freedom state: it only covers listed low-risk categories, keeps a current gross-sales cap below $30,000, and ties use of the exemption to local sales-tax registration. Bakery sellers also have two specific traps: breads, cakes, cookies, and pies cannot be sold for resale, and the bakery carveout does not apply if another individual is employed to help prepare them.

Louisiana label requirements

  • Food generally must clearly indicate it was not produced in a licensed or regulated facility
  • Raw honey has a carveout from that specific label-disclaimer requirement
  • This tool also helps draft the common-name, ingredients, and producer lines you usually need on a practical market label
  • Keep a parish sales-tax certificate in place before selling

Common Louisiana blockers

  • $30,000 or more in gross annual sales
  • A product outside the listed low-risk food categories
  • Foods consisting of animal muscle protein or fish protein
  • Bakery items sold for resale
  • Bakery items prepared with another individual's help