An Arkansas home baker can sell cookies online, stock them on a grocery store shelf and hand them to a parcel carrier without a state license, permit or inspection, and no sales ceiling applies. A cheesecake from the same kitchen cannot be sold under the same law. The Arkansas Department of Health says cheesecakes must come from a permitted and inspected facility. Both rules trace to the Food Freedom Act, Act 1040 of 2021, which created Arkansas Code Annotated 20-57-501 through 20-57-507. Act 205 of 2023 made a technical correction to that text. The Legislature's calendar lists Nov. 16, 2026, or the date election results are certified, whichever is later, as the opening of prefiling for the 2027 regular session. A Nov. 8, 2026, search of the Legislature's records found no filed 2027 bill addressing cottage food or raw milk. Raw milk has not been pasteurized, meaning heated to reduce harmful microorganisms.
About the sources: Sources were checked Nov. 8, 2026. This article uses Arkansas statutes, enacted legislation, the Legislature's records and the Department of Health's May 21, 2026, guide. The outlook is Cottage Food Directory's analysis.
Where Arkansas law stands in November 2026
- Homemade food or drink products made and sold under the act need no state license, certification or inspection. The act also exempts them from state packaging and labeling requirements, though it sets its own disclosure rules. The product must be processed at the producer's private residence, which can include a farm or ranch where the producer lives. Sources: Arkansas Code Annotated 20-57-503(3), (7) and 20-57-504(a), enacted by Act 1040 of 2021.
- The act puts no limit on a producer's yearly sales. Nothing in sections 20-57-501 through 20-57-507 sets a gross sales cap. Source: Arkansas Code Annotated 20-57-501 to 20-57-507 (Act 1040 of 2021).
- Sales may happen in person, by phone or online, and a store may do the selling. The seller may be the producer, the producer's agent or a third-party vendor such as a retail shop or grocery store. Products may also be sold from a retail space at the home, farm, ranch or office where they are made. Sources: Arkansas Code Annotated 20-57-503(9), 20-57-504(b)(1) and 20-57-506(b).
- A third-party carrier may deliver the product, and the sale may take place in another state if the seller follows federal law. The act does not exempt sellers from federal law, including federal limits on interstate food sales, or from another state's laws. Sources: Arkansas Code Annotated 20-57-504(b)(2), (4) and 20-57-507(a)(6).
- Meat, poultry, seafood and foods that need time or temperature control for safety are excluded. These controls prevent harmful microorganisms from growing or producing toxins. The statute's definition of those foods includes raw or cooked animal foods, raw seed sprouts, cut leafy greens, cut tomatoes and garlic-in-oil mixtures. The Department of Health's guide names dairy products, cheeses, deli salads, casseroles, cream or custard pies and cheesecakes as common examples that must come from a permitted facility. Sources: Arkansas Code Annotated 20-57-503(8) and 20-57-504(b)(3); Arkansas Department of Health, Homemade Food Production Guidelines (May 21, 2026).
- Pickles and other vegetables preserved by adding acid must meet an acidity limit and recordkeeping rules. Their equilibrium pH, the acidity after the food and liquid have balanced, must be 4.6 or less. Producers must use a recipe from a Department of Health-approved source or one tested by an appropriately certified laboratory. Otherwise, they must test every batch with a calibrated pH meter, an instrument adjusted to measure acidity accurately. Each batch must have a unique number. Records must include that number, the recipe, its source or applicable test results and the preparation date. Sources: Arkansas Code Annotated 20-57-503(5)(B), as amended by Act 205 of 2023.
- Every buyer must receive five pieces of information. They are the date the product was made; the producer's name, address and phone number, or an identification number from the Arkansas Department of Agriculture requested for the producer's safety; the common name of the product; the ingredients in descending order of predominance; and the statement "This product was produced in a private residence that is exempt from state licensing and inspection. This product may contain allergens." The information goes on a package label, on a bulk-container label with a separate written document, on a placard at the point of sale for unpackaged items or on the website for online sales. Sources: Arkansas Code Annotated 20-57-505; Arkansas Department of Agriculture, application for a Food Freedom Act business identification number.
- The Department of Health's guide instructs online sellers to disclose the information on both the website and the package. Arkansas Code Annotated 20-57-505(b) lists alternative disclosure methods, including the website for online sales. The guide adds a package-label instruction that the statute does not expressly include in its online-sales provision. Sources: Arkansas Code Annotated 20-57-505(b)(3); Department of Health guide (May 21, 2026), page 5.
- Restaurants and other food service establishments may not sell or use these products, except as the act allows. A store that also sells food from a licensed kitchen must keep homemade products separate. Source: Arkansas Code Annotated 20-57-506(a), (c).
- Cities and counties may not ban or regulate the production and sale of homemade food or drink products. The act still leaves tax laws, Department of Health foodborne illness investigations and the state's adulteration and misbranding rules in force. Source: Arkansas Code Annotated 20-57-507.
The Arkansas cottage food law guide walks through the same rules question by question.
The 2023 amendment and separate raw milk laws
Senate Bill 248 became Act 1040 when Gov. Asa Hutchinson approved it April 29, 2021. It contained no emergency clause. The Department of Health says it replaced the earlier Cottage Food Act. Sources: Senate Bill 248 (2021) bill page; Act 1040 of 2021; Department of Health guide (May 21, 2026).
Act 205 of 2023, House Bill 1288, made technical corrections to Title 20 and was approved March 6, 2023. It rewrote the pickle provision in Arkansas Code Annotated 20-57-503(5)(B) "for consistency," changing wording such as "pH" to "pH value" and "labelled" to "labeled." It did not change which foods producers may sell or how they may sell them. Sources: Act 205 of 2023; House Bill 1288 (2023) bill page.
Raw milk sales follow a separate law, Arkansas Code Annotated 20-59-248. Act 125 of 2025 clarified sales at farmers markets and delivery from the farm. Act 698 added natural food stores and provisions for products such as butter, cheese and yogurt made with raw milk. Products sold away from the producing farm require a warning label, refrigeration or ice at or below 40 degrees Fahrenheit before sale and the buyer's signed acknowledgment of risk. These provisions do not authorize dairy sales under the Food Freedom Act. Sources: Act 125 of 2025; Act 698 of 2025; Arkansas Code Annotated 20-57-507(a)(4); Department of Health guide (May 21, 2026), page 10.
Prefiling opens no earlier than Nov. 16 for the 2027 session
A Nov. 8, 2026, search of the Legislature's records found no filed 2027 bill addressing cottage food or raw milk. The Legislature's calendar lists Nov. 16, 2026, or the date election results are certified, whichever is later, as the opening of prefiling for the 2027 regular session. Members may prefile bills and resolutions under Joint Rule 23. The 96th General Assembly convenes at noon Jan. 11, 2027, under Arkansas Code Annotated 10-2-101(a). Sources: Arkansas State Legislature bill search; Bureau of Legislative Research, 2027 Regular Session Important Dates and Deadlines.
How Arkansas compares with its six neighbors
Arkansas borders Missouri, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas and Oklahoma.
Missouri's cottage food law covers only baked goods that are not potentially hazardous, canned jams or jellies and dried herbs or herb mixes. Sales must go directly to consumers, internet sales are allowed only when the operation and the buyer are both in Missouri, and the state's health department says a 2022 update removed the earlier $50,000 cap. Sources: Revised Statutes of Missouri 196.298; Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, Home-Based Kitchen Food Production Guidance; Missouri cottage food law.
Tennessee's Food Freedom Act sets no sales cap and allows phone, online and store sales of shelf-stable homemade food, but only for sales made inside Tennessee. Since July 1, 2025, some foods that need time or temperature control may be sold too, in person only, by the producer or an agent. Sources: Tennessee Code Annotated 53-1-118; Senate Bill 484 (2025) bill page; Tennessee cottage food law.
Mississippi caps cottage food sales at $35,000 a year and bans internet, mail-order, wholesale and retail-store sales, though sellers may advertise online. Products must be nonpotentially hazardous foods. Sources: Mississippi Code Annotated 75-29-951; Mississippi cottage food law.
Louisiana raised its home low-risk food sales threshold from $30,000 to $100,000 on Aug. 1, 2026, under Act 801. Home bakers of breads, cakes, cookies and pies may not sell those foods for resale and lose the exemption if they employ help to prepare them. Custard and cream-filled bakery products are allowed under the statute's pasteurized milk, cooking and chilling rules. The statute does not mention online sales or shipping. Sources: Louisiana Revised Statutes 40:4.9; Act 801 of 2026 (House Bill 403), enrolled; Louisiana cottage food law.
Texas caps cottage food gross income at $150,000 a year, adjusted for inflation, and allows most foods except listed categories such as meat and seafood. Operations that sell foods needing time and temperature control must register with the Department of State Health Services. Internet sales inside Texas require personal delivery by the operator, an employee or a household member. Sources: Texas Health and Safety Code 437.001(2-b), 437.0194 and 437.01953; Texas cottage food law.
Oklahoma renamed its law the Local Food Freedom Act on Nov. 1, 2026, and raised its gross sales limit to less than $250,000. Shelf-stable products may be sold online, through stores and delivered by parcel carrier. Foods that need time or temperature control may be sold only by the producer directly to the consumer and delivered by the producer, after state-approved food safety training. Source: House Bill 3720 (2026), enrolled, amending Oklahoma Statutes Title 2, Sections 5-4.1 to 5-4.6; Oklahoma cottage food law.
The Tennessee and Mississippi outlooks cover two of these neighbors in more depth. For the national picture, see Where Cottage Food Laws Are Headed.
Outlook: where Arkansas could move next
- Arkansas excludes foods that Tennessee, Texas and Oklahoma allow under specific conditions. Tennessee, Texas and Oklahoma each allow some foods that need time or temperature control, using three different conditions: in-person sales only, state registration or food safety training. Arkansas still bars those foods under Arkansas Code Annotated 20-57-504(b)(3), and Act 205 of 2023 made only technical changes. Those states' laws provide examples Arkansas lawmakers could consider, though the Nov. 8, 2026, search found no filed proposal. Sources: Arkansas Code Annotated 20-57-504(b)(3); Act 205 of 2023; Tennessee Code Annotated 53-1-118(b)(3); Texas Health and Safety Code 437.01953; Oklahoma House Bill 3720 (2026), enrolled.
- The Department of Health's guide gives producers product-specific instructions that the statute does not list. The May 21, 2026, edition identifies foods the department considers unsuitable for this exemption and instructs online sellers to label both the website and the package. Producers therefore need to distinguish the statute's requirements from the department's published guidance. The current edition does not establish whether the department will revise that guidance in 2027. Sources: Arkansas Code Annotated 20-57-503; Department of Health guide (May 21, 2026), pages 5 and 10-17.
What Arkansas sellers can act on now
- Keep cheesecake, cream and custard pies, tres leches cakes, kolaches and meat fillings off a Food Freedom Act menu. The Department of Health lists them among foods that are not allowed or that must come from a permitted facility. Sources: Arkansas Code Annotated 20-57-504(b)(3); Department of Health guide (May 21, 2026).
- Request an Arkansas Department of Agriculture identification number to keep a home address off labels. The act lets that number replace the producer's name, address and phone number when the producer requests it for safety. Sources: Arkansas Code Annotated 20-57-505(a)(2); Arkansas Department of Agriculture, application for a Food Freedom Act business identification number.
- Put the full disclosure on both the website and the package for online orders. That provides the statutory website disclosures and follows the department's additional package-label instruction. Sources: Arkansas Code Annotated 20-57-505(b)(3); Department of Health guide (May 21, 2026), page 5.
Frequently asked questions
Can I ship homemade food from Arkansas to another state?
Arkansas law allows a sale in another state if the seller complies with all applicable federal laws, and a third-party carrier may deliver it. The act does not exempt the seller from federal limits on interstate food sales or from the receiving state's laws. Sources: Arkansas Code Annotated 20-57-504(b)(2), (4) and 20-57-507(a)(6)(C)-(D).
Can I sell my homemade food to a restaurant in Arkansas?
A homemade food or drink product may not be sold or used in a food service establishment except as the act allows, and the Department of Health's guide says these foods cannot be sold to restaurants for use in the restaurant. A retail shop or grocery store may sell them to the final buyer. Sources: Arkansas Code Annotated 20-57-504(b)(1)(B) and 20-57-506(a); Department of Health guide (May 21, 2026), page 4.
Has anyone filed a 2027 bill to change the Food Freedom Act?
A Nov. 8, 2026, search of the Legislature's records found no filed 2027 bill addressing cottage food or raw milk. The Legislature's calendar lists Nov. 16, 2026, or the date election results are certified, whichever is later, as the opening of prefiling for the 2027 regular session. The session convenes Jan. 11, 2027. Sources: Arkansas State Legislature bill search; Bureau of Legislative Research, 2027 Regular Session Important Dates and Deadlines.
Related guides: Arkansas cottage food law, Where Cottage Food Laws Are Headed, Can You Ship Cottage Foods Across State Lines? and Selling Cottage Food Online.
Home bakers and makers across the state are listed on the Arkansas page.
General information, not legal advice. Arkansas sources and the 2027 bill search were checked Nov. 8, 2026.