Home and Hearth BakerCottage food operation
MCA 50-50-102(3), (4), (6); 50-50-116; 50-50-117; 50-50-121; ARM 37.110.501 to 37.110.514 · HB 478 (2015), Ch. 239, L. 2015; 50-50-102 later amended by SB 202 (2023), SB 161 (2025) and HB 853 (2025, Ch. 737, signed 2025-05-13), with no change found to the cottage food definitions; 50-50-116 and 50-50-117 unchanged since 2015
Yearly sales limit
No state limit
No sales limit in MCA 50-50-116 or 50-50-117.
No sales limit in MCA 50-50-116 or 50-50-117.
Permit or registration
Yes
Registration
Local health authority (county or city-county environmental health office / county sanitarian) in the county where the home is; DPHHS Food and Consumer Safety Section keeps the list. On a reservation, ask the tribal environmental health office; with no tribal agreement, register with DPHHS (MCA 50-50-117(7), (8)).
Fee: $40, nonrefundable, paid to the county (MCA 50-50-117(6); ARM 37.110.511(7)); check or money order on the DPHHS form
Official page
Registration
Local health authority (county or city-county environmental health office / county sanitarian) in the county where the home is; DPHHS Food and Consumer Safety Section keeps the list. On a reservation, ask the tribal environmental health office; with no tribal agreement, register with DPHHS (MCA 50-50-117(7), (8)).
Fee: $40, nonrefundable, paid to the county (MCA 50-50-117(6); ARM 37.110.511(7)); check or money order on the DPHHS form
Official page
Food safety training
No
No training in MCA 50-50-116/117 or the DPHHS guidance. ARM 37.110.506 to 37.110.510 set operator health, handwashing, hygiene and manufacturing practices.
No training in MCA 50-50-116/117 or the DPHHS guidance. ARM 37.110.506 to 37.110.510 set operator health, handwashing, hygiene and manufacturing practices.
Where you make it
Only in the specific registered area of the kitchen in the person's own domestic residence (a single-family house or a unit in a multiunit building) (MCA 50-50-102(3), (7); 50-50-116(4)). DPHHS: must be the primary residence; apartments and a mother-in-law suite kitchen in the primary residence are allowed. Products may be stored only in the registered area or briefly in the vehicle used to transport them (50-50-116(5)). Pets kept out of the work area during production (ARM 37.110.508). Water from a public water system, or a private well with lab results: nitrate below 10 mg/L within 12 months and no total coliform within 6 months (ARM 37.110.511(6)).
Selling in person
Allowed: face-to-face direct sale in Montana (MCA 50-50-102(6)), e.g., from the home, farmers markets, flea markets, craft bazaars, fairs, small venues, and parking lots with the owner's permission (DPHHS guidance and FAQ). Once registered, products may be sold anywhere in Montana (ARM 37.110.511(7)).
Phone and online orders
Not allowed as a sale: a direct sale 'may not be by consignment or involve shipping or internet sales' (MCA 50-50-102(6)). DPHHS FAQ: you may advertise and arrange orders online, by social media or by phone, but the sale itself must be face to face. No Amazon, eBay or similar marketplaces.
Delivery and shipping
Allowed only when the baker hands the product to the buyer face to face (DPHHS guidance allows delivery to the purchaser). Third-party or courier delivery is not allowed (DPHHS FAQ).
Selling out of state
No
Stores and wholesale
Not allowed: no sales to grocery stores, restaurants, other retail food establishments, distributors or wholesale buyers (DPHHS)
Examples you can sell
Only foods that are not potentially hazardous (no refrigeration or other time/temperature control needed), such as jams, jellies, dried fruit, dry mixes and baked goods (MCA 50-50-102(4)), and the products approved in ARM 37.110.503. Other products only case by case with DPHHS and local health authority approval.
- Oven-baked breads, rolls, biscuits, quick breads, muffins, cakes, pastries, scones, cookies, bars and crackers (DPHHS guidance)
- Most pies that do not need refrigeration after baking (DPHHS)
- Cereals, granola, trail mixes, nuts and snack mixes
- Dried fruits and dried herbs (no vacuum or reduced-oxygen packaging)
- Standardized jams, jellies, preserves and fruit butters with at least 55% sugar by weight and no large fruit chunks
- Dry herb, seasoning, tea, coffee and soup mixes
- Popcorn, popcorn balls and cotton candy
- Fudge, candies and confections that are cooked but need no refrigeration afterward; most candy mints
- Molded chocolate made with commercial melts
- Honey
Not allowed
- Potentially hazardous foods (need time and temperature control)
- Products containing meat or cheese; cooked or raw animal products (meat, poultry, fish, eggs) (DPHHS)
- Meringue or custard pies, cream pies, pumpkin pies and cheesecakes (DPHHS)
- Pies with unbaked fresh fruit, or pies that need refrigeration after baking
- Certain frostings (DPHHS; see ARM 37.110.503)
- Freezer jams; jams, jellies or butters from fruits not permitted under the federal standards (CFR)
- Refrigerated or frozen products, refrigerated pastries, dairy products
- Canned fruits and vegetables, salsas, pickled and fermented foods (including lacto-fermented pickles)
- Pet treats (DPHHS FAQ)
- Whole eggs (not a cottage food; may be sold at farmers markets under Department of Livestock rules)
The statement your labels must carry
Made in a home kitchen that is not subject to retail food establishment regulations or inspections.
In type at least 11 point.