Last verified: October 23, 2026. I’m a Texas home baker, not a lawyer — laws change, so always confirm with the Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) before you sell.

MISSISSIPPI COTTAGE FOOD AT A GLANCE

Annual sales cap: $35,000 in gross annual sales of cottage food products (Miss. Code Ann. § 75-29-951). That figure counts every cottage food sale at every location, and MSDH can ask you to document your sales in writing — so keep your records as you go.

License or permit: Not required — a cottage food operation that follows § 75-29-951 is exempt from the state food establishment permit (§ 41-3-18). No registration with MSDH, either. Your city or county may still require a local business license, so check there too.

Kitchen inspection: Not required — no routine inspection. MSDH may inspect only if a complaint says unsafe food was produced.

Food handler course: Not required. MSDH strongly encourages food safety training (especially if you make acidified foods), but the law does not mandate it.

Shipping: Not allowed. No mail order and no internet sales — advertising online is fine, but the sale itself must happen in person. Mississippi only: cottage foods may be sold only inside Mississippi.

Wholesale: Not allowed. No sales to restaurants, grocery or convenience stores, no wholesale, and no consignment. Every sale is person-to-person, from you to the person who will eat it.

MISSISSIPPI’S COTTAGE FOOD LAW: SIMPLE, STRICT, AND VERY IN-PERSON

Mississippi keeps its cottage food law to a single statute, and the trade it offers is clear: no permit, no registration, no training mandate, and a short label list — in exchange for some of the strictest sales rules in this whole series. You sell face-to-face, inside Mississippi, and nowhere else. No online checkout, no shipping a box to a cousin in Alabama, no leaving a tray of cookies at a coffee shop on consignment.

That in-person rule is the thing to build your business around. Farmers markets, festivals, roadside stands, and direct orders you deliver by hand are all fine — and you can absolutely market yourself on social media and take orders by message; you just complete the sale in person. If your dream is an online shop with shipped orders, Mississippi cottage food won’t get you there, and it’s better to know that on day one.

One more thing to know before you price anything: the $35,000 cap is gross sales of cottage food products, and it covers all your locations combined. Track it from your first market day, not your fiftieth.

WHAT YOU CAN (AND CAN’T) SELL

Everything under Mississippi cottage food has to be nonpotentially hazardous — shelf-stable food that doesn’t need time or temperature control to stay safe, as defined by MSDH. The approved list (§ 75-29-951 and the MSDH FAQ) covers:

Allowed: Baked goods without cream, custard, or meat fillings — breads, biscuits, cookies, pastries, tortillas; candy; chocolate-covered nonperishable foods like pretzels, nuts, and fruit (except melons); dried fruit (except melons); dried pasta; dried spices; dry baking mixes; granola, cereal, and trail mixes; dry rubs; fruit pies; jams, jellies, and preserves that meet the federal standard (21 CFR Part 150); nut mixes; popcorn; vinegar and mustard; waffle cones; and acidified products that meet the federal definition (21 CFR Part 114).

The frosting question (the one every Mississippi cookie decorator asks): The statute and MSDH’s FAQ never use the word “buttercream.” What the rules do say: baked goods can’t have cream or custard fillings, and everything must be non-potentially hazardous — meaning nothing that needs refrigeration to stay safe. A frosting that has to live in the fridge is out. A genuinely shelf-stable frosting is not named either way, so if buttercream is your signature, confirm your recipe with MSDH’s Food Protection Division (601-576-7689) before you sell it. Don’t take a blog’s word for it — mine included.

Freeze-dried treats: Mississippi’s official sources don’t mention freeze-dried foods at all. The approved list does include candy and dried fruit (except melons), and freeze-dried products are often sold in those categories — but “fits the category” is an argument, not a permission. If freeze-dried candy or fruit is your plan, get MSDH’s read first.

Not allowed: Meat, fish, and poultry; dairy products, including custard pies; eggs (other than air-dried hard-cooked eggs in the shell); cooked vegetables; raw seed sprouts; sliced melons; garlic or fresh herbs in oil; cooked potatoes, legumes, and beans; nut butters; fruit and vegetable juices; rice; low-acid canned foods; smoked fish; pasteurized and pre-cooked foods; beverages and other liquid foods; canned fruits and vegetables other than qualifying acidified plant foods; and sugar-free or reduced-sugar jams and jellies — those are expressly not cottage foods in Mississippi.

One delightful rule: Whole fruit dipped in chocolate or a sweet coating is allowed — but you may not sell it on a stick. Caramel and candied apples must be sold intact, and the customer puts the stick in after buying. Plan your market display accordingly.

Kitchen note: Products must be made in the kitchen of your private home (rented homes, apartments, and condos count) and stored in that same home. No baking in a shed, barn, or rented kitchen, and no commercial equipment requirement — your regular home stove is fine.

MISSISSIPPI LABELING REQUIREMENTS

Mississippi law (Miss. Code Ann. § 75-29-951(3)) requires every cottage food product to be prepackaged with a label containing:

  1. The name and address of your cottage food operation. Mississippi requires the address itself — there’s no ID-number substitute and no P.O. Box alternative in the statute.
  2. The name of the product — its common name, like “Chocolate Chip Cookies.”
  3. Ingredients in descending order of predominance by weight.
  4. Net weight or net volume.
  5. Allergen information as required by federal labeling rules — the Big 9 (milk, eggs, wheat, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, sesame). You can name allergens inside the ingredient list or in a “Contains” statement after it; if you use tree nuts, name the specific nut (almonds, not just “nuts”).
  6. This exact statement, verbatim, printed in at least 10-point type in a color that clearly contrasts with the label background: Made in a cottage food operation that is not subject to Mississippi’s food safety regulations.

Only if you make a nutrition claim (“low fat,” “reduced sugar,” and the like) do you also need nutrition information meeting federal requirements. Otherwise, no Nutrition Facts panel is required.

WHERE YOU CAN SELL IN MISSISSIPPI

In person, directly to the consumer, inside Mississippi — that’s the whole list. From your home, at farmers markets, festivals, fairs, and roadside stands, and by personal delivery. The sale must be producer-to-consumer and you must be present; consignment arrangements — leaving products at a store for them to sell — are prohibited, and your products can’t be sold alongside a regulated food business.

You can advertise online — a website, Facebook page, and Instagram are all fine, and taking orders by message is a normal way to line up in-person sales. What you can’t do is sell over the internet or by mail order: no online checkout, no shipped boxes, even to a Mississippi address.

No wholesale, no retail, no crossing state lines. Restaurants, grocery stores, and convenience stores are all out, and Mississippi cottage foods may be sold only in Mississippi. (The flip side is also true: cottage foods made in other states can’t be sold in Mississippi.)

Watch the Legislature, not just the rules. In 2026, bills were filed to raise the cap to $120,000, add a food handler training requirement (SB 2394), and even remove the cap and allow online sales (HB 910) — none of them became law. The $35,000, in-person framework above is the law today. If those ideas come back in a future session, this page will be updated.

Local layer: The state exemption doesn’t cover city or county business licenses, zoning, or taxes. Check with your city — or your county, if you’re outside city limits — before your first sale.

YOUR 3 STEPS TO START

  1. Check your products against the Mississippi list — and make two phone calls if you need them. Everything must be non-potentially hazardous and on (or clearly inside) MSDH’s approved list. Buttercream and freeze-dried products aren’t addressed by name, so confirm those with MSDH Food Protection (601-576-7689) rather than guessing. And check your city or county about a local business license.
  2. Build your label. Six elements: operation name and address, product name, ingredients by weight, net weight or volume, allergen information, and the exact statement in at least 10-point type in a contrasting color. Add nutrition information only if you make a nutrition claim.
  3. Sell in person, track every sale, and stay under $35,000. Markets, festivals, home pickup, and hand delivery are your channels; advertising online is fine, selling online is not. Keep a running gross-sales total — MSDH can ask for written documentation, and going over $35,000 ends the exemption.

Keep exploring: see the Cottage Food Laws by State hub (https://cottagebakersupply.com/cottage-food-laws-by-state/) for every state’s rules, and the free tools page (https://cottagebakersupply.com/tools/) — the Cottage Label Generator and the Cottage Cost Calculator — built for home bakers.

OFFICIAL MISSISSIPPI SOURCES

This guide is for informational purposes only and isn’t legal advice. Cottage food laws change — I last verified this page on October 23, 2026. When in doubt, ask the Mississippi State Department of Health.

Just add sprinkles!