Pennsylvania has no separate cottage food law. Home bakers and other home food makers register with the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, or PDA, as a limited food establishment under the Food Safety Act. A limited food establishment is a residential-style kitchen, at home or in a similar setting, that makes shelf-stable non-potentially hazardous foods for sale.

Sources: Food Safety Act, 3 Pa.C.S.A. §§5721-5737; PDA Limited Food Establishment application packet (June 2021 revision); PDA registration page

License or permit

You must register with PDA before you sell. Registration costs $35 for the first year and $35 a year to renew. PDA reviews your plans and inspects the kitchen before registration, then inspects registered kitchens routinely. Submit the application at least 60 days before you plan to operate. Local zoning approval is required; county health department licenses, where they apply, must come before PDA registration. Pets may not be in the home at any time if you use the home kitchen, unless the processing area is physically separated with its own entrance.

Sources: PDA Limited Food Establishment application packet; PDA registration page

Sales cap

No state sales cap appears in PDA's limited food establishment requirements.

Sources: PDA Limited Food Establishment application packet

What you can sell

PDA allows shelf-stable, non-potentially hazardous foods such as baked goods without cream fillings, jams, jellies, candies and certain snack mixes. Acid and acidified canned foods may be allowed with an approved process and lab testing. PDA evaluates each product individually.

Sources: PDA registration page; PDA Limited Food Establishment application packet

What you cannot sell

Foods that need refrigeration or hot holding after preparation, such as cream-filled baked goods, are not allowed under a limited food establishment registration. Those foods must be made in a kitchen that meets full commercial requirements.

Sources: PDA registration page

How you can sell

Registration covers sales from the production site, including internet sales. PDA says that if you sell across state lines you may also need FDA registration. Farmers markets, community events and roadside stands are allowed, but the retail site may need its own retail food facility license from PDA or a local health department. PDA's materials do not clearly say whether wholesale or out-of-state sales are allowed; ask PDA before selling to stores or shipping out of state.

Sources: PDA Limited Food Establishment page; PDA registration page; PDA Limited Food Establishment application packet

Labels

Packaged products need the product name; ingredients from most to least by weight, including sub-ingredients; any allergen declaration; the name and address of the manufacturer or distributor; and net weight or count, placed in the bottom third of the main panel in at least 8-point type. Baked goods made and sold directly to a Pennsylvania consumer by the baker or an employee, at the production site or a satellite such as a farmers market, need no label, but ingredient information must be available on request. No home-kitchen disclosure statement appears in PDA's requirements.

Sources: PDA Limited Food Establishment application packet

Read the full Pennsylvania cottage food law guide and FAQs

Pennsylvania cottage food makers

Counties with listings

Northwest Pennsylvania (26 listings)

Clarion County

Crawford County

Erie County

Lawrence County

Mercer County

Venango County

Warren County

Southwest Pennsylvania (90 listings)

Allegheny County

Armstrong County

Beaver County

Butler County

Fayette County

Greene County

Indiana County

Somerset County

Washington County

Westmoreland County

North Central Pennsylvania (45 listings)

Centre County

Clearfield County

Clinton County

Columbia County

Elk County

Jefferson County

Lycoming County

McKean County

Montour County

Northumberland County

Potter County

Snyder County

Tioga County

Union County

Northeast Pennsylvania (72 listings)

Bradford County

Carbon County

Lackawanna County

Lehigh County

Luzerne County

Monroe County

Northampton County

Pike County

Schuylkill County

Susquehanna County

Wayne County

Wyoming County

South Central Pennsylvania (128 listings)

Adams County

Bedford County

Berks County

Blair County

Cambria County

Cumberland County

Dauphin County

Franklin County

Huntingdon County

Lancaster County

Lebanon County

Mifflin County

Perry County

York County

Southeast Pennsylvania (82 listings)

Bucks County

Chester County

Delaware County

Montgomery County

Philadelphia County

Pennsylvania cottage food rules in plain English

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