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West Virginia cottage food label rules

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

Another state Mostly confirmed. Check the open points below

Your label must include

Statement of identity (common product name)
Producer/company name
City, state and ZIP code
Ingredients in descending order by weight
Net contents (in bottom third of label)
Allergen statement beginning with ‘Contains’
Handling/storage instructions if applicable
Home kitchen statement

Required statement

“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.”

Required by 61 CSR 38-7.5.a for products from a home, farm or community kitchen. Must be easily legible to the average person; no minimum font size specified. For non-potentially hazardous products, WVDA allows the label information to appear on a point-of-sale placard, receipt or website instead of on the package.

Brown Butter Toffee Cookies

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

[City, state and ZIP code]

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.

[Handling/storage instructions if applicable]

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.

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 West Virginia

Permit: None: production and sale of non-potentially hazardous foods are exempt from state licensing, permitting and inspection (a business registration under general law may still apply).
Training: none
Sales cap: none
Where you can sell: Sold to the consumer in person or remotely, by the producer, the producer’s agent or a third-party vendor, so farmers markets, events, from home and through third-party vendors are all allowed; cannot be used in a commercial food establishment.
Online & shipping: Remote (online/phone) sales allowed; delivery by the producer, an agent, a third-party vendor or a third-party carrier (in-state shipping OK). Out-of-state sales remain subject to federal and other states’ law (generally not allowed).
Law: Nonpotentially hazardous foods exemption, W. Va. Code § 19-35-6 (2019 SB 285; 2021 HB 2633); labeling rule W. Va. C.S.R. § 61-38-7; 2026 SB 44 created new art. 19-40 (Cottage Foods) but leaves non-hazardous foods under § 19-35-6

What we could not confirm (3)

Effective date of the current version of 61 CSR 38-7 not confirmed
Label rule text was read via Cornell LII and WVDA pages, not the WV Secretary of State rule PDF
Whether the ‘placard/receipt/website’ alternative fully replaces an on-package label at farmers markets: WVDA guidance says so, but the rule wording was not checked directly

Check with: West Virginia Department of Agriculture (WVDA)

Last change to the law: 2026 SB 44 (effective June 12, 2026) added art. 19-40 for potentially hazardous cottage foods; § 19-35-6 itself last amended 2021 (HB 2633)

Sources

Made by BakerBacker

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

BakerBacker builds your West Virginia 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 West Virginia Department of Agriculture (WVDA) before you print. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.

West Virginia cottage food label rules

Your label must include

Required statement

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

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