Louisiana Cottage Food Law: $100,000 Cap and Act 801 Outlook

Act 801 of 2026 raised Louisiana's annual home food sales threshold from $30,000 to $100,000 effective Aug. 1, 2026, but kept the ban on resale of home-prepared breads, cakes, cookies and pies. Sellers must remain below $100,000 in gross annual sales, meaning sales before expenses, to qualify under Louisiana Revised Statutes section 40:4.9. Bakers who employ someone to help prepare those foods lose the exemption from specified food safety requirements. The change lets qualifying sellers earn more without changing how those bakers may sell or prepare their products. The statute does not address online orders or shipping. Its online text still shows $30,000 even though Act 801 establishes the new threshold.

Note: This page is general information, not legal advice. Citations below point to Louisiana Revised Statutes 40:4.9 on the Louisiana State Legislature site, the House Bill 403 bill page, the enrolled text and résumé digest for Act 801 of 2026, the House Bill 347 bill page and the Legislature's 2027 Regular Session information page. Sources were checked on Nov. 7, 2026. The Outlook section is Cottage Food Directory analysis, not a forecast from the Louisiana Department of Health or the Legislature.

What Louisiana's low-risk foods exemption allows now

Home preparers of listed low-risk foods are exempt from Sanitary Code equipment and construction rules when sales stay under $100,000. The exemption covers foods prepared in the home for sale. For cane syrup, "the home" also includes a traditional open-sided structure on private property. The section does not allow the sale of unwholesome food. Sources: Louisiana Revised Statutes 40:4.9(A)(1)(a); Act 801 (House Bill 403) enrolled.
Gross annual sales must stay under $100,000. Act 801 amended Subsection B so the section does not apply once sales equal $100,000 or more. That change took effect Aug. 1, 2026. The earlier limit was $30,000. Sources: Act 801 (House Bill 403) enrolled; Act 801 résumé digest; House Bill 403 bill page.
Louisiana's online statute text still shows $30,000. As of Nov. 7, 2026, the Louisiana Revised Statutes 40:4.9 page on legis.la.gov still printed the old thirty-thousand-dollar threshold in Subsection B and still listed amending acts only through 2022. The enrolled act is the controlling text for the new cap. Sources: Louisiana Revised Statutes 40:4.9; Act 801 (House Bill 403) enrolled.
Low-risk foods include baked goods, candies, cane syrup, dried mixes, honey and honeycomb products, jams, jellies and preserves, pickles and acidified foods, sauces and syrups and spices. None of those foods may contain animal muscle protein or fish protein. Acidified foods are foods to which acid is added to increase their acidity. Source: Louisiana Revised Statutes 40:4.9(E).
Custard and cream-filled bakery products are allowed when the statute's milk and time-and-temperature rules are met. Only pasteurized milk or milk products, which have been heat-treated to kill harmful germs, may be used, and the law sets minimum cooking and chilling steps for the filling. Source: Louisiana Revised Statutes 40:4.9(A)(2)(d)-(h).
Every food offered for sale must carry a label that clearly says it was not produced in a licensed or regulated facility. Raw honey that is not pasteurized, filtered or otherwise processed to remove natural pollen is exempt from that label rule. Source: Louisiana Revised Statutes 40:4.9(D)(1).
Sellers must hold a current parish sales tax certificate for the parish where the sales occur. Source: Louisiana Revised Statutes 40:4.9(D)(2).
Home bakers using this exemption may not sell breads, cakes, cookies and pies for resale. Bakers who employ someone to help prepare those foods do not qualify for the exemption. Separate kitchen rules for those bakers cover vermin control, pet exclusion from preparation areas, daily cleaning of food-contact surfaces and holding perishable ingredients at 45 degrees Fahrenheit or below. Sources: Louisiana Revised Statutes 40:4.9(A)(1)(b), (A)(2), (C).
The statute does not mention online sales, mail order or shipping. It neither authorizes nor bans those channels in its text. Source: Louisiana Revised Statutes 40:4.9.
Food containing cannabidiol, a compound found in cannabis plants, may not be sold under this exemption unless the United States Food and Drug Administration approves it as a food additive. Source: Louisiana Revised Statutes 40:4.9(F).

The Louisiana cottage food law guide has the full kitchen, labeling and tax detail.

Act 801 and the 2026 session

House Bill 403 was prefiled Feb. 25, 2026. The House passed it 95-0 on April 9, 2026. The Senate passed it with amendments 38-0 on May 26, 2026, and the House concurred 96-0 on May 29. Gov. Jeff Landry signed the bill June 8, 2026. It became Act 801 and took effect Aug. 1, 2026. Sources: House Bill 403 bill page; Act 801 (House Bill 403) enrolled; Act 801 résumé digest.

The enrolled act does one thing to the low-risk foods statute: it rewrites Subsection B so the exemption stops at $100,000 in gross annual sales instead of $30,000. It does not rewrite the product list, the baker resale ban, the no-employee rule for breads, cakes, cookies and pies, the parish tax certificate requirement or the silence on online and shipped sales. Source: Act 801 (House Bill 403) enrolled.

A related bill, House Bill 347 by Rep. Daryl Deshotel, also sought to raise the same Subsection B limit from $30,000 to $100,000. Deshotel later appeared among the co-authors of enacted House Bill 403. As of Nov. 7, 2026, the Legislature's bill page still displayed "Pending House Health and Welfare" for House Bill 347 after a March 9, 2026, referral. Sources: House Bill 347 bill page; House Bill 347 original digest; House Bill 403 bill page.

Keyword checks on legis.la.gov for cottage food, low-risk foods, homemade food, home bakery and food freedom on Nov. 7, 2026, turned up Act 801 as the enacted 2026 change and House Bill 347 as the related cap bill whose page still displayed "Pending House Health and Welfare." No bill in that set rewrote the baker resale ban, added an online-sales rule or expanded the product list.

2027 filings and session timing

As of Nov. 7, 2026, no 2027 Regular Session bill on cottage food, low-risk foods, homemade food, home bakery or food freedom had turned up in those same keyword checks on legis.la.gov. The 2027 Regular Session convenes at noon Monday, April 12, 2027, and is scheduled to adjourn no later than 6 p.m. Thursday, June 10, 2027, unless extended under the constitution. Odd-year regular sessions are limited subject-matter sessions under Article III, Section 2 of the Louisiana Constitution. Sources: 2027 Regular Session information; Future session information document; Louisiana State Legislature session overview.

How Louisiana lines up with the three states that border it

Louisiana has three land borders: Texas, Arkansas and Mississippi.

Texas caps cottage food gross income at $150,000 a year, adjusted for inflation, and allows most foods after Senate Bill 541 took effect Sept. 1, 2025. Internet sales inside Texas require personal delivery by the operator, an employee or a household member. Operations selling foods that need temperature control to prevent harmful bacteria from growing, such as refrigerated cream pies, must register with the Texas Department of State Health Services. Sources: Texas Health and Safety Code 437.001(2-b), 437.0194, 437.01953.

Arkansas' Food Freedom Act sets no sales cap and lets producers sell shelf-stable homemade food or drink in person, by phone or online, through stores and by carrier, including sales in another state if the seller follows federal law and that state's applicable laws. The act excludes foods that require time or temperature controls to prevent harmful germs from growing or toxins from forming. Sources: Arkansas Code Annotated 20-57-504 and 20-57-507, enacted by Act 1040 of 2021 (document).

Mississippi caps cottage food sales at $35,000 a year and bans internet, mail-order, wholesale and retail-store sales, though online advertising is allowed. Products must qualify as nonpotentially hazardous foods, meaning they do not require time or temperature controls to remain safe. Sources: Mississippi Code Annotated 75-29-951; Mississippi State University Extension, Mississippi Cottage Food Operations: Regulations and Guidance.

Among those three neighbors, Louisiana's new $100,000 cap sits between Mississippi's $35,000 ceiling and Texas' $150,000 ceiling, and below Arkansas' uncapped Food Freedom Act. Louisiana is stricter than Arkansas and Texas on baker resale: breads, cakes, cookies and pies made at home may not be sold for resale under Louisiana Revised Statutes 40:4.9(C). Louisiana's statute also stays silent on online sales, while Mississippi bans internet sales and Texas and Arkansas spell out remote-sale paths.

Farther out, Alabama sets no sales cap and allows in-state phone and online delivery for nonpotentially hazardous foods, meaning foods that do not require time or temperature controls to remain safe, sold directly to consumers. Florida caps the cottage food exemption at $250,000 a year. Tennessee sets no sales cap and, since July 1, 2025, allows some refrigerated homemade foods in person only. Georgia sets no sales cap and allows grocery and restaurant sales of nonpotentially hazardous cottage food items, which likewise do not require time or temperature controls to remain safe. Sources: Code of Alabama 22-20-5.1; Florida Statutes 500.80; Tennessee Code Annotated 53-1-118; Official Code of Georgia Annotated 26-2-470 to 26-2-478, as passed (document posted by the Georgia Department of Agriculture).

For more regional context, see the Southeast comparison and the live outlooks for Florida, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, Mississippi, Tennessee and North Carolina. For the national picture, see Where Cottage Food Laws Are Headed.

Outlook: what may change next in Louisiana

Act 801 leaves baker resale, hiring restrictions and online sales unaddressed. Act 801 moved the limit from $30,000 to $100,000 and cleared both chambers without a no vote on final passage or concurrence. Changing those provisions would require additional legislation. The sources reviewed do not establish which change lawmakers are more likely to pursue. Sources: Act 801 (House Bill 403) enrolled; House Bill 403 bill page; Louisiana Revised Statutes 40:4.9(A)(1)(b), (C).
The reviewed 2026 bills do not add rules for online orders or shipping. Mississippi bans internet sales, Texas allows in-state internet sales with personal delivery and Arkansas allows online and carrier sales. Louisiana's statute stays silent. Any clarification would be new legislation, not a provision of Act 801. Sources: Louisiana Revised Statutes 40:4.9; Mississippi Code Annotated 75-29-951(2); Texas Health and Safety Code 437.0194; Arkansas Code Annotated 20-57-504 (Act 1040 of 2021 document).
The stale $30,000 figure on the online code page may keep creating confusion until the online statute is updated. That is a publication lag, not a second sales limit. Act 801's enrolled text and résumé digest state the $100,000 threshold and the Aug. 1, 2026, effective date. Sources: Louisiana Revised Statutes 40:4.9; Act 801 (House Bill 403) enrolled; Act 801 résumé digest.

Practical takeaways for Louisiana home food sellers

Use the $100,000 gross annual sales figure that took effect Aug. 1, 2026, not the $30,000 line still showing on the online code page. Sources: Act 801 (House Bill 403) enrolled; Louisiana Revised Statutes 40:4.9.
Sell home-prepared breads, cakes, cookies and pies directly to consumers when using this exemption. Selling them for resale is prohibited. Employing someone to help prepare them makes the baker ineligible for the exemption. Source: Louisiana Revised Statutes 40:4.9(A)(1)(b), (C).
Obtain the required parish sales tax certificate before selling. Label each food to clearly state that it was not produced in a licensed or regulated facility. The labeling exception for qualifying raw honey does not waive the tax certificate requirement. Source: Louisiana Revised Statutes 40:4.9(D).
Do not sell products containing animal muscle protein or fish protein under this exemption. Products containing cannabidiol are also excluded unless the United States Food and Drug Administration approves it as a food additive. Source: Louisiana Revised Statutes 40:4.9(E), (F).
For online, shipping and rule-change context, see Selling Cottage Food Online, Can You Ship Cottage Foods Across State Lines? and When Your State Changes the Rules. The Louisiana statute itself stays silent on online and shipped sales. Source: Louisiana Revised Statutes 40:4.9.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a permit to sell baked goods from home in Louisiana?

No food permit is required for low-risk foods prepared in the home when gross annual sales stay under $100,000, but the food must be labeled and the seller must hold a parish sales tax certificate. Sources: Act 801 (House Bill 403) enrolled; Louisiana Revised Statutes 40:4.9(A), (D).

What is the sales limit for cottage food in Louisiana?

Gross annual sales must stay under $100,000 since Aug. 1, 2026. The earlier limit was $30,000. Louisiana's online statute page still shows the old $30,000 figure because it has not been updated for Act 801. Sources: Act 801 (House Bill 403) enrolled; Act 801 résumé digest; Louisiana Revised Statutes 40:4.9.

Can I sell my Louisiana baked goods to a coffee shop or grocery store?

Breads, cakes, cookies and pies made at home under the exemption may not be sold to any retail business or individual for resale. Source: Louisiana Revised Statutes 40:4.9(C).

Can I hire someone to help me bake under the Louisiana exemption?

Home bakers of breads, cakes, cookies and pies who employ anyone to assist in preparing those foods for sale are not covered by the Sanitary Code exemption in Louisiana Revised Statutes 40:4.9(A)(1)(a). Source: Louisiana Revised Statutes 40:4.9(A)(1)(b).

Can I sell cottage food online or ship it from Louisiana?

The statute does not mention online sales, mail order or shipping, so it neither allows nor bans those channels in its text. Federal law and a receiving state's rules may still apply to food that leaves Louisiana. Source: Louisiana Revised Statutes 40:4.9.

Did any 2027 Louisiana bill change the cottage food rules?

As of Nov. 7, 2026, no 2027 Regular Session filing on cottage food, low-risk foods, homemade food, home bakery or food freedom had appeared in keyword checks on legis.la.gov. The 2027 session convenes April 12, 2027. Sources: 2027 Regular Session information; House Bill 403 bill page.

Official sources

To find home bakers and makers in the state, browse the Louisiana listings.

This article is general information, not legal advice. Sources checked Nov. 7, 2026.

Louisiana Raises Its Cottage Food Sales Limit but Keeps Its Baker Resale Ban