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Tennessee cottage food label requirements and Food Freedom Act checklist
Answer a few plain-English questions about what you make and how you want to sell it. We check it against Tennessee's Food Freedom Act — including the 2025 HB 130 rule that sales channels depend on whether your product contains dairy, meat, or poultry — flag anything that isn't allowed, and build you a personalized checklist and a printable food label.
Free customized label/checklist after walk-through completion
Built from the public Tennessee Code and Tennessee Department of Agriculture guidance. Not legal advice and not state approval — rules can change, so verify final requirements with the Tennessee Department of Agriculture before selling.
Free permit walk-throughSee right away if a choice would block you from selling under Tennessee's Food Freedom Act.
Free checklistYour answers folded into Tennessee's current requirements, ready to print or save as PDF.
Free label generationThe required Tennessee disclosure statement plus name, address, phone, and product details, assembled into a printable draft.
Can I sell homemade food in Tennessee?
Almost always yes — Tennessee's Food Freedom Act needs no permit, license, registration, or inspection, and has no sales cap at all. Since a 2025 amendment (HB 130), your sales channels depend on whether your product contains dairy, meat, or poultry: those items must be sold and delivered by you personally, while everything else can also go through an agent, retail vendor, or shipping carrier. Alcoholic beverages, unpasteurized milk, and fish/shellfish are excluded outright; meat and poultry need a narrow federal exemption. The wizard below checks the choices that commonly change the answer.
“This product was produced at a private residence that is exempt from state licensing and inspection. This product may contain allergens.”
TCS/potentially-hazardous items: an added production date
Common Tennessee Food Freedom Act blockers
Alcoholic beverages, unpasteurized milk, or fish/shellfish products
Selling a dairy/meat/poultry-containing item through an agent or retail vendor instead of yourself
Delivering a dairy/meat/poultry-containing item by shipping carrier or agent instead of yourself
Meat or poultry without a qualifying federal inspection/production exemption
Selling to a customer outside Tennessee
Tennessee rule review
What this Tennessee checker reviews before you print a label
The page is built from Tennessee Department of Agriculture — Tennessee Food Freedom Act and the cited official sources below, then turns those rules into a practical pre-sale review.
Sales path
I sell it directly to the customer myself — in person, by phone, or online
Through an agent of mine, or a retail shop/grocery store that sells it for me
I deliver it to the customer myself
Delivered by my agent, a retail vendor, or a third-party shipping carrier (UPS, FedEx, USPS)
Product fit
Baked goods, candy, jams/jellies, dry mixes, honey, maple syrup, or another food with no dairy, meat, or poultry ingredient
Contains dairy as an ingredient (butter, milk, cream, cheese, yogurt) — including most baked goods made with butter or milk
Contains meat, meat by-products, or meat food products
Contains poultry or poultry by-products
Label draft fields
Product name
Ingredients
Net weight or count
Business / operation name
Home address and phone number
Date produced
City
Required home-kitchen disclosure
Major allergen statement
Final wording should be checked against Tennessee Code Annotated § 53-1-118, as amended by HB 130 / Public Chapter 431 (2025) before printing.
Needs extra review
Contains meat, meat by-products, or meat food products
Meat is only allowed under Tennessee's Food Freedom Act if it comes from a source inspected under a specific federal exemption — a narrow carve-out. Multiple secondary sources describe meat as effectively still excluded in practice because that federal exemption rarely applies to a home producer. Confirm with TDA before relying on this.
TCS foods can be sold under Tennessee's Food Freedom Act, but the label needs an added production date, and the food must be kept at an appropriate temperature if transported before final delivery.
Use this order when you prepare the permit packet, label, and direct-sales plan.
Step 1
Check whether your product fits the Tennessee cottage food path
Start with the product category and shelf-stability questions. The wizard flags foods that usually need refrigeration, separate licensing, or extra official review in Tennessee.
Step 2
Confirm where and how you plan to sell
Choose every sales channel you expect to use. The result calls out direct-sale limits, shipping issues, wholesale/resale limits, and other channel rules that matter before you take orders.
Step 3
Draft the label from your actual product details
Enter the product name, ingredients, allergens, net weight, producer information, and any Tennessee-specific disclosure or permit field requested by the form.
Step 4
Print the checklist and verify against official sources
A plain-English helper for Tennessee home cooks and homemade food producers selling under the state's Food Freedom Act. Not legal advice and not state approval.
Tennessee FAQ
Tennessee cottage food questions
Short answers to the questions people usually ask before they start the wizard.
Can I sell homemade food in Tennessee?
Almost always yes — Tennessee's Food Freedom Act needs no permit, license, registration, or inspection, and has no sales cap at all. Since a 2025 amendment (HB 130), your sales channels depend on whether your product contains dairy, meat, or poultry: those items must be sold and delivered by you personally, while everything else can also go through an agent, retail vendor, or shipping carrier. Alcoholic beverages, unpasteurized milk, and fish/shellfish are excluded outright; meat and poultry need a narrow federal exemption. The wizard below checks the choices that commonly change the answer.
What does the Tennessee checker do?
It walks through the state-specific blockers, then produces a printable checklist and a label draft using the answers you entered.
What should I verify before selling in Tennessee?
Verify your product category, sales channel, annual limit or registration requirement, and label wording against Tennessee Department of Agriculture — Tennessee Food Freedom Act before relying on the checklist.
Is the label draft official approval?
No. It is an informational draft based on the page sources. Check final wording with Tennessee Code Annotated § 53-1-118, as amended by HB 130 / Public Chapter 431 (2025) or the responsible local agency before printing labels.