West Virginia Cottage Food Law: 2026 Permit Rule and 2027 Outlook

A West Virginia home baker may sell bread through a grocery store, take cookie orders online and hand the box to a parcel carrier without a state permit, an inspection or a sales cap. A cheesecake from the same kitchen is a different matter. It may be sold only to buyers inside the state, only with a permit from the West Virginia Department of Agriculture and only after a kitchen inspection billed at $27 an hour. That permit path opened in June 2026. It comes from Senate Bill 44 of 2026 and a department rule now in effect as an emergency rule, a temporary rule that applies while the permanent version waits for lawmakers. The permanent version needs the Legislature's approval, and the 2027 regular session convenes Jan. 13, 2027.

Shelf-stable foods: no permit, no cap and few limits on who sells them

West Virginia exempts foods that do not need time or temperature control for safety from its food licensing, permitting and inspection laws. The statute calls them nonpotentially hazardous foods. The exemption also covers the state's packaging and labeling laws, but the foods still must be labeled under the department's standards. Sources: West Virginia Code 19-35-6(a), (c); West Virginia Code 19-35-2.
A store may sell a home baker's shelf-stable products. The producer may sell in person or remotely, or an agent or a third-party vendor may sell for the producer. The definitions section names "a retail shop or grocery store" as an example of a third-party vendor. Sources: West Virginia Code 19-35-6(b)(1); West Virginia Code 19-35-2.
A third-party carrier may deliver the order, but the exemption does not cover federal law or other states' laws. The section does not bar out-of-state sales of shelf-stable foods. It also does not exempt sellers from federal law, including any federal limit on interstate sales, or from another state's laws. Source: West Virginia Code 19-35-6(b)(2), (e)(6)-(7).
Counties and cities may not prohibit or regulate these sales. The preemption does not cover space rentals and product placement at government-owned sites, government-run or sanctioned events or temporary events of 14 days or less. Source: West Virginia Code 19-35-6(f).
Neither article of the code sets a sales cap. No dollar limit appears in 19-35-6 or in article 19-40, the 2026 cottage food article. Sources: West Virginia Code 19-35-6; West Virginia Code 19-40.
Labels for food made in a home kitchen carry a required kitchen statement. The department's labeling requirements list the product name, the producer's name, city, state and ZIP code, ingredients, net contents and a "Contains" allergen statement. Home, farm and community kitchen products add: "This product was made in a non-commercial kitchen that may not be subject to inspection and may contain cross-contact allergens not included in the allergen statement." For shelf-stable foods, the label information may instead appear on a receipt, on the website where the food is sold or, for unpackaged items, on a sign at the point of sale. Source: West Virginia Department of Agriculture, Labeling Requirements (2026).

The West Virginia cottage food law guide covers the same rules question by question.

Pepperoni rolls fall under the shelf-stable exemption

The meat ban in article 19-40 and in the department's rule applies to the perishable food permit. Section 19-40-6 says shelf-stable foods sold under 19-35-6 are not subject to article 19-40, and 19-35-6 has had no meat clause since 2021. Its 2019 version barred meat and poultry unless a sale fit certain federal inspection exemptions, and the 2021 farm bill removed that clause. The department's Cottage Food Guide lists pepperoni rolls among its examples of nonpotentially hazardous foods, and its Farmers Market Vendor Guide limits them to "pepperoni and cheese only." The state exemption still does not exempt sellers from federal law. Sources: West Virginia Code 19-40-1; 61CSR42, section 5.3.3; West Virginia Department of Agriculture, Cottage Food Guide; Farmers Market Vendor Guide, page 5; West Virginia Code 19-40-6; Senate Bill 285, enrolled version; House Bill 2633, enrolled version; West Virginia Code 19-35-6(e)(6).

The department's Cottage Foods program told Cottage Food Directory by email on Oct. 27, 2026, that it created the exemption because the rolls are so popular. It said rolls need no permit or inspection when properly labeled and may contain only pepperoni and cheese, with no peppers or other ingredients. The email did not say whether a cheese made with peppers, such as pepper jack, qualifies, so a seller who wants to use one can ask the program before selling. The roll's history is in The Pepperoni Roll: How a Coal Miners' Lunch Won Over West Virginia.

Senate Bill 44 added a permit for perishable home foods

Sen. Patricia Rucker, R-Jefferson, introduced Senate Bill 44 on Jan. 14, 2026. The Senate passed it 33-1 on Feb. 26. The House passed an amended version 96-0 on March 13, and the Senate agreed to the House changes 34-0 on March 14. The governor approved it March 27, 2026, as Chapter 76 of the 2026 Acts, and it took effect June 12, 2026. Sources: Senate Bill 44 (2026) bill history; Senate roll call 235; House roll call 512; Senate roll call 641.

The law created article 19-40 of the code. Anyone who wants to sell a potentially hazardous cottage food, one that needs time or temperature control or other protocols for safety, must get a potentially hazardous cottage food vendor permit from the department. The permit is valid in every county, and food made under the article may be sold only within West Virginia. Cottage food under the article excludes meat, meat products, poultry, poultry products, seafood and Grade A dairy products, meaning milk and milk products made under the federal Pasteurized Milk Ordinance. Sources: West Virginia Code 19-40-1; West Virginia Code 19-40-2(a)-(b).

The department's rule, known as 61CSR42, fills in the details. Its emergency version took effect June 2, 2026. The department filed a modified version of the permanent rule Oct. 23, 2026. The section numbers below come from that Oct. 23 filing. The emergency rule in effect now covers the same points, though some of its section numbers and wording differ. The rule says:

Permits run from Jan. 1 through Dec. 31 of each year. The department inspects the kitchen when a vendor first applies and after each annual renewal, and it bills $27 an hour for inspections, not counting travel. The department's Cottage Food Guide says the permit itself costs nothing. Sources: 61CSR42, sections 4.2, 8.1 and 8.2; Cottage Food Guide.
The permit covers baked goods that need time or temperature control, cut produce, infused honeys and syrups, condiments, freeze-dried perishable foods and canned acidified foods. The canned list includes pickles, salsas, hot sauce, marinara, fermented products and nonstandardized jams and jellies, such as hot pepper jelly or no-sugar-added jam. Each permit lists the products it covers, and only those may be sold. Sources: 61CSR42, sections 5.2, 7.2 and 7.6.
Every permit holder needs food safety training, and canners need more. Most products require a Food Handler's Card or higher-level training, and the rule lists courses such as the ServSafe Food Handler course. Canned acidified foods are low-acid foods, such as vegetables, made safe by adding acid. For them, a process authority must approve the process for preparing and preserving each product. A process authority is a food safety expert recognized by the Association of Food and Drug Officials. Canners must also complete similar training or Better Process Control School, a course in canning safety. They must also keep production records and, for homes on a private water supply, test the water before permitting and every year after. Sources: 61CSR42, sections 7.1, 7.2 and 7.4.
Labels for permit foods go to the department for review. They carry the statement "This product was made in a non-commercial or home kitchen that may not be subject to inspection and may contain cross-contact allergens not included in the allergen statement." Sources: 61CSR42, sections 6.3.9 and 6.4.
Wild-harvested mushrooms and sprouted seeds may not be sold from a home kitchen, with or without a permit. The same bar covers meat, poultry, seafood and Grade A dairy products. Source: 61CSR42, section 5.3.
Selling perishable home foods without a permit can bring a $250 civil penalty. The department first sends a notice giving the seller 30 days to apply. Source: 61CSR42, section 10.1.

What the 2026 law left out

Senate Bill 44 as introduced took a different approach. It would have rewritten 19-35-6 so that potentially hazardous homemade foods, including dairy products and some meat and poultry handled under federal exemptions, could be sold with no permit outside farmers markets. It would have barred the department from requiring label review before sale and would have required stores selling homemade food to shelve it separately under a sign. The enacted version replaced that with the permit system in article 19-40 and left out meat, poultry, seafood and Grade A dairy. Sources: Senate Bill 44, introduced version; Senate Bill 44, enrolled version.

The same introduced text had appeared before. Senate Bill 588 of 2025, also led by Rucker and summarized on its bill page as "Relating to WV Food Freedom Act," carried nearly the same text. It was referred to the Senate Health and Human Resources Committee on Feb. 24, 2025, and went no further. House Bill 4076 of 2026, sponsored by Del. Kathie Hess Crouse, R-Putnam, carried similar homemade food language plus an exemption from the West Virginia Apiary Act for beekeepers producing less than 500 gallons of honey a year. It was referred to the House Government Organization Committee and the House Agriculture, Commerce and Tourism Committee on Jan. 14, 2026, and saw no further action. Sources: Senate Bill 588 (2025) bill history; Senate Bill 588, introduced version; House Bill 4076 (2026) bill history; House Bill 4076, introduced version.

The shelf-stable rules date to 2019 and 2021

Senate Bill 285 of 2019 created 19-35-6 for shelf-stable foods made at the producer's home. It already allowed remote sales, sales through agents and stores, carrier delivery and the bar on county and city rules. It also required the producer's name, home address and telephone number on a label, sign, web page or receipt. House Bill 2633 of 2021, that year's farm bill, allowed home, farm, community or commercial kitchens, as the department determines. It also replaced the statutory label list with the department's labeling standards. The current department label lists the producer's city, state and ZIP code rather than a home address. Sources: Senate Bill 285 (2019) bill history; Senate Bill 285, enrolled version; House Bill 2633 (2021) bill history; House Bill 2633, enrolled version; Labeling Requirements (2026).

5 neighbors, 5 different systems

West Virginia borders Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and Kentucky.

Ohio lets a cottage food production operation make only the foods on a list in the Ohio Department of Agriculture's rule, with no license. Stores and restaurants licensed in Ohio may sell properly labeled cottage foods, but the rule bars sales outside Ohio. A separate home bakery registration, $10 a year and issued after an inspection, covers baked goods that need temperature control. Sources: Ohio Revised Code 3715.023(B); Ohio Administrative Code 901:3-20-05(E)-(F); Ohio Department of Agriculture, Home Bakery Registration; Ohio Revised Code 911.02; Ohio cottage food law.

Pennsylvania has no cottage food exemption. A home kitchen registers with the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture as a limited food establishment for $35, after a plan review and an inspection, and then gets routine inspections. Only shelf-stable foods qualify. Registration covers sales from the production site, including internet sales. Source: Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, Limited Food Establishment registration; Pennsylvania cottage food law.

Maryland raised its cottage food revenue cap from $50,000 to $100,000 on Oct. 1, 2026. Products may be sold to consumers from a residence, at a farmers market or public event and by personal or mail delivery. They may also be sold to a retail food store or food cooperative after the owner gives the Maryland Department of Health proof of an approved food safety course and the product label. Sources: Chapter 320 of 2026 (House Bill 535); Maryland Code, Health-General Article 21-330.1(g); Maryland cottage food law.

Virginia exempts listed shelf-stable foods made in private homes from its food permit and inspection, with no cap except $9,000 a year for pickles and other acidified vegetables. Since July 1, 2026, sales may happen anywhere and delivery may be by mail, but only to an individual in Virginia for personal use, not for resale and not for use in retail food establishments. Sources: Code of Virginia 3.2-5130(C)(3)-(4); Virginia cottage food law; Virginia outlook.

Kentucky's home-based processors register with the state and may earn no more than $60,000 a year in gross income from their products. They may sell only directly to consumers in Kentucky, and they may not make acid, acidified or low-acid canned foods. Sources: Kentucky Revised Statutes 217.015(56); Kentucky Revised Statutes 217.136(2), (5); Kentucky cottage food law; Kentucky outlook.

West Virginia's shelf-stable tier is the least restrictive of the 6 states. No neighbor combines an open-ended food list, no registration, no cap, store sales and carrier delivery. Ohio comes closest but limits makers to a fixed list and keeps sales inside Ohio. On perishable foods, West Virginia's permit resembles Ohio's home bakery registration, though West Virginia's covers more than baked goods, including canned acidified foods, which Kentucky's home-based processors may not make. Where Cottage Food Laws Are Headed puts West Virginia's 2026 change alongside similar moves in Tennessee, Texas, Idaho and Colorado.

Analysis: 3 West Virginia questions for 2027

The Legislature has to decide whether to approve 61CSR42 as written, amend it or leave it unapproved. Under the state's rulemaking law, a proposed legislative rule, the kind that needs lawmakers' approval, goes from the Legislative Rule-Making Review Committee to the full Legislature, which may authorize it in full, authorize it with amendments or disapprove it. The committee's Oct. 12, 2026, agenda listed the cottage food rule, and the department filed its modified version Oct. 23 "as a result of review and comment" by the committee. Compared with the version the department approved July 1, that filing changes "registration" to "permit," limits the rule's labeling section to perishable products and adds a step-by-step enforcement process with written notices, suspension and a hearing right. An emergency rule may stay in effect no more than 15 months, which for a rule effective June 2, 2026, runs to early September 2027. Because the department revised the rule in response to the committee's review, approval in some form looks likely, though the Legislature may still amend it. If lawmakers do not authorize it, the emergency rule ends no later than early September 2027, and state law bars the department from refiling the same or a similar rule as an emergency rule. Sources: West Virginia Code 29A-3-11; West Virginia Code 29A-3-12; West Virginia Code 29A-3-15; Legislative Rule-Making Review Committee, Oct. 12, 2026, agenda; 61CSR42 rule record.
The statute and the rule disagree on whether permit holders also need a farmers market permit. Senate Bill 44 says a permit holder acting under article 19-40 does not need the farmers market vendor permit that 19-35-3 otherwise requires. The rule says separate farmers market vendor permits are still required to sell perishable foods at farmers markets, and the department's Cottage Food Guide says the same. As written, the 2 texts conflict when a permit holder sells at a market. A rule approval bill is one place lawmakers could settle the difference, by amending the rule or leaving it as is. Nothing filed so far addresses it. Until then, the department's guide says perishable food vendors at farmers markets need a separate farmers market permit. Sources: West Virginia Code 19-40-2(f); 61CSR42, section 4.6 of the Oct. 23, 2026, filing and section 9.2 of the emergency rule; Cottage Food Guide.
Food freedom bills, which would let home cooks sell perishable foods without a permit, have been filed 3 times in 2 sessions and have not passed. Senate Bill 588 of 2025, House Bill 4076 of 2026 and the introduced Senate Bill 44 would all have let perishable home foods, including some dairy and meat, be sold without a permit outside farmers markets. The 2026 Legislature passed a permit system instead. A fourth version in 2027 is possible, since Rucker led 2 of the 3. Its odds look weaker than before, because the 2026 Legislature chose the permit system over that approach and the permit rule has been in effect only since June. Sources: Senate Bill 588 (2025); House Bill 4076 (2026); Senate Bill 44 (2026).

What the Nov. 11, 2026, bill search found

The West Virginia Constitution starts each regular session on the second Wednesday of January, which in 2027 is Jan. 13. In 1973 and every fourth year after, including 2025, the Legislature organizes in January and then adjourns until February. 2027 is not one of those years. Source: West Virginia Constitution, Article VI, Section 18.

On Nov. 11, 2026, the Legislature's bill status site had a page for the 2027 regular session with no bills or resolutions listed. State law lets lawmakers and members-elect prefile bills in the 30 days before a regular session opens, so 2027 bills may be filed starting in mid-December. Prefiled bills are formally introduced once the session begins. The Joint Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development's posted 2026 interim agendas, for Jan. 12 and Aug. 10, had no cottage food item. Sources: Bill Status, 2027 Regular Session, all bills; West Virginia Code 4-1-21; Joint Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development agendas.

Before selling from a West Virginia kitchen

The department's guide warns against assuming a food is exempt because it is homemade, sold in a jar, baked in an oven or offered at a market. Whether a food needs time or temperature control depends on its pH and water activity, along with its heat treatment and packaging. The pH number measures acidity, and water activity measures how much of the food's water bacteria can use. Source: Cottage Food Guide.
A seller who already holds a department farmers market vendor permit may submit it as the documentation for the cottage food permit. Only the foods approved on the farmers market permit are then covered. Source: 61CSR42, section 4.5.
State law makes a home-based business a permitted use of a home, meaning it is allowed without special zoning approval, but deed restrictions and homeowners association documents still apply. The same article lets cities set reasonable regulations tied to purposes such as health, safety and compatibility with the neighborhood. Sources: West Virginia Code 8-40-2; West Virginia Code 8-40-3.
The cottage food exemption does not cover tax or business registration laws. Source: West Virginia Code 19-35-6(e)(4)-(5).

Frequently asked questions

Can I sell cheesecake from my home in West Virginia?

The department's Cottage Food Guide lists cheesecake among baked goods that must be time and temperature controlled. That means it may be sold only to buyers in West Virginia and only under a potentially hazardous cottage food vendor permit from the department, which requires a kitchen inspection and proof of food safety training. Sources: Cottage Food Guide; West Virginia Code 19-40-2(a)-(b); 61CSR42, sections 7.2, 7.4 and 8.1.

Can I sell my cookies through a coffee shop or grocery store?

Shelf-stable foods like cookies may be sold by a third-party vendor, and the code names a retail shop or grocery store as an example. They still must be labeled under the department's standards. Sources: West Virginia Code 19-35-6(b)(1), (c); West Virginia Code 19-35-2.

Can I ship baked goods to a customer in another state?

West Virginia law lets a third-party carrier deliver shelf-stable foods, but it does not exempt the seller from federal law or the buyer's state's laws. Foods made under a perishable food permit may be sold only within West Virginia. Sources: West Virginia Code 19-35-6(b)(2), (e)(6)-(7); West Virginia Code 19-40-2(b). Can You Ship Cottage Foods Across State Lines? compares other states.

Can I sell pepperoni rolls I make at home?

The department lists pepperoni rolls as a nonpotentially hazardous food, so they need no permit, and its farmers market guide limits them to pepperoni and cheese only. Its Cottage Foods program told Cottage Food Directory by email on Oct. 27, 2026, that rolls with peppers or other added ingredients do not qualify. Sources: Cottage Food Guide; Farmers Market Vendor Guide, page 5; West Virginia Code 19-40-6.

Can I sell home-canned salsa or pickles?

Canned acidified foods such as salsa and pickles need the perishable food permit. The seller also needs a process approved by a recognized process authority, Better Process Control School or similar training, production records and a department label review. Sources: 61CSR42, sections 5.2.1, 6.4 and 7.1.

Has anyone filed a 2027 bill to change West Virginia's cottage food law?

No 2027 bill had been filed when the Legislature's bill status site was searched Nov. 11, 2026. Its 2027 regular session page listed no bills, and the session opens Jan. 13, 2027. State law allows bills to be prefiled in the 30 days before the session, so filings may appear starting in mid-December. Sources: Bill Status, 2027 Regular Session; West Virginia Constitution, Article VI, Section 18; West Virginia Code 4-1-21.

West Virginia law here comes from the West Virginia Code, bill records and roll calls on the Legislature's website, the department's rule filings with the Secretary of State and the department's own guides, all checked Nov. 11, 2026.

Home bakers and makers across the state are listed on the West Virginia page.

This article is general information, not legal advice. Last reviewed Nov. 11, 2026.

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