Free tool · Cottage food label rules

Montana cottage food label rules

What has to be on the label when you sell homemade baked goods in Montana, and the limits that matter at a market. Checked September 2026.

Another state Mostly confirmed. Check the open points below

Your label must include

Name, address, city, state and zip code of the cottage food operation
Product name
Ingredients in descending order of predominance by weight
Net quantity, weight, count or volume
Allergens (per federal and state labeling requirements)
Nutrition label only if a nutritional claim is made and federal law requires it

Required statement

“Made in a home kitchen that is not subject to retail food establishment regulations or inspections.”

Statement must be at least 11-point type, in a contrasting color, conspicuously placed. Under the Local Food Choice Act instead, sellers must inform buyers the food has not been licensed, permitted, certified, packaged, labeled, or inspected per any official regulations; containers sold at a farmers market need a label similar to a cottage food label.

Brown Butter Toffee Cookies

Sunny Crumb Co. · 123 Palm Ave, Your City, MT 00000

Ingredients: enriched flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), butter (cream, salt), brown sugar, toffee bits (sugar, butter, almonds, soy lecithin), eggs, vanilla extract, baking soda, sea salt.

Net wt. 4 oz (113 g) · 2 cookies

Contains: wheat, milk, eggs, tree nuts (almond), soy.

Made in a home kitchen that is not subject to retail food establishment regulations or inspections.

Sample label for illustration, made from the checklist above. Your own label has to match your recipe and your state’s exact rules.

Key limits in Montana

Permit: Registration with the local health authority required under the cottage food law; $40 registration fee paid to the county. (Local Food Choice Act sales need no registration.)
Training: none
Sales cap: none
Where you can sell: Cottage food: face-to-face direct sales to consumers in Montana only (farmers markets, events, from home); no consignment, retail stores or wholesale. Local Food Choice Act: direct to informed consumers at home, farm, ranch or traditional community events incl. farmers markets.
Online & shipping: Cottage food: no internet sales and no shipping (sale must be face-to-face); in Montana only. Local Food Choice Act: pre-arranged delivery in Montana allowed; no out-of-state sales.
Law: Cottage Food Operations, MCA 50-50-102, 50-50-116, 50-50-117; ARM 37.110.501-511. Alternative: Montana Local Food Choice Act, MCA 50-49-201 et seq.

What we could not confirm (3)

What the 2025 amendments to 50-50-102 changed (definitions still prohibit internet/shipping)
Whether the $40 county fee is one-time or recurring, and whether some counties charge more
Exact MLFCA wording for the required consumer notice (no fixed statement found)

Check with: Montana DPHHS Food & Consumer Safety, via your county/local health department

Last change to the law: MCA 50-50-102 amended 2025 (Ch. 344 and Ch. 737, L. 2025) — ‘direct sale’ definition still bars shipping/internet; 50-50-116 unchanged since 2015

Sources

Made by BakerBacker

Set up this label once. Print it for every cookie.

BakerBacker builds your Montana label from each recipe: ingredients in order, allergens and the required statement. Change a recipe and every label updates. It also prices your cookies, takes pre-orders and writes the week’s posts.

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This page is general information, not legal advice. Rules change and counties can add their own. Confirm with Montana DPHHS Food & Consumer Safety, via your county/local health department before you print. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.

Montana cottage food label rules

Your label must include

Required statement

Set up this label once. Print it for every cookie.

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