Indiana has two laws for selling food made at home. A home based vendor may make and sell food products that are not potentially hazardous at the vendor's primary residence, including a permanent structure on the same property. Since July 1, 2026, a homestead vendor may also prepare and sell food from the vendor's primary residence or agricultural property, or at a farmers market, if the vendor receives no more than $1.5 million a year in gross sales of food and meat products. IDOH says the home based vendor law remains in force alongside the homestead law.

Sources: IC 16-42-5.3-2, 16-42-5.3-4(1)-(2); HEA 1424 (2026), adding IC 16-42-5.4-1, 16-42-5.4-3.5; IDOH Farm and Homestead Food Sales memo (May 26, 2026)

License or permit

A home based vendor is exempt from Indiana's food establishment requirements but must get a food handler certificate from an issuer accredited by the American National Standards Institute and give a copy to the local health department in the county where the vendor lives. A local government may not require a license, certification or inspection of a home based vendor's food. State and local agencies may not impose rules, certifications or licenses on a homestead vendor beyond what federal law requires, but a homestead vendor needs a food handler certificate to ship or deliver. Either kind of vendor may be inspected or investigated after a complaint.

Sources: IC 16-42-5.3-3, 16-42-5.3-7, 16-42-5.3-8(a), 16-42-5.3-12; HEA 1424 (2026), adding IC 16-42-5.4-5, 16-42-5.4-8(a)-(b)

Sales cap

Indiana's home based vendor law sets no sales cap. A homestead vendor may receive no more than $1.5 million in gross sales of food and meat products in a single year.

Sources: IC 16-42-5.3; HEA 1424 (2026), adding IC 16-42-5.4-1; IDOH Farm and Homestead Food Sales memo (May 26, 2026)

What you can sell

A home based vendor may sell only food products that are not potentially hazardous. IDOH lists baked goods such as cookies, cupcakes, cake pops, bread and muffins; candy and confections; whole uncut produce; tree nuts and legumes; honey, molasses, sorghum and maple syrup; and traditional jams, jellies and preserves made from high-acid fruit with full-sugar recipes. A homestead vendor may sell prepared foods, including baked goods; candy; produce; natural sweeteners; fruit spreads; and meat products from animals raised on the vendor's property and slaughtered, processed and labeled under IC 15-17-5.

Sources: IC 16-42-5.3-4(2); IDOH Home Based Vendors FAQ; HEA 1424 (2026), adding IC 16-42-5.4-6(b)

What you cannot sell

A home based vendor may not sell potentially hazardous food. IDOH says a home based vendor also may not sell low-acid or acidified foods such as pickled green beans, pickled beets and salsa; pickles made by acidification or fermentation and sold in an oxygen-sealed container; meat products; or shell eggs from birds other than domestic chickens, such as duck, quail and turkey. A homestead vendor may sell only the categories the homestead law lists, and its meat must come from animals raised on its own property. IDOH says many prepared foods made with meat, such as meat pies and casseroles, may be subject to federal USDA rules.

Sources: IC 16-42-5.3-4(2); IDOH Home Based Vendors FAQ; HEA 1424 (2026), adding IC 16-42-5.4-6(b); IDOH Farm and Homestead Food Sales memo (May 26, 2026)

How you can sell

A home based vendor must sell directly to the end consumer, in person, by phone or online, and may deliver in person, by mail or by a third-party carrier, but not to anyone outside Indiana. Shipped food must be in a sealed, tamper-evident package, and the vendor must keep each buyer's shipping or delivery address for at least one year. IDOH says selling through a grocery store is wholesale and needs a permit. A homestead vendor may sell directly to an end consumer at the vendor's property or a farmers market and may ship or deliver in a sealed package within Indiana only with a food handler certificate.

Sources: IC 16-42-5.3-4(4)-(6), 16-42-5.3-6; IDOH Home Based Vendors FAQ; HEA 1424 (2026), adding IC 16-42-5.4-6(a), 16-42-5.4-7(b), 16-42-5.4-8

Labels

A home based vendor's label, or a sign for unpackaged food, must show the producer's name and address, the common name of the food, the ingredients in descending order by weight, the net weight, volume or count, the date the food was processed and this statement in at least 10-point type: "This product is home produced and processed and the production area has not been inspected by the Indiana Department of Health. NOT FOR RESALE." A vendor must post each product's label on its website. A homestead vendor's label or sign must show the vendor's name and address, the ingredients in descending order by weight, a description of the food, allergens the food might have touched and the statement "This product was produced by a homestead vendor or the owner of a small farm that is exempt from government licensing and inspection."

Sources: IC 16-42-5.3-5; HEA 1424 (2026), adding IC 16-42-5.4-7(a)

Read the full Indiana cottage food law guide and FAQs

Indiana cottage food makers

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