The 2025–2026 wave of home-kitchen law changes — newest first. Each item links to the full state law guide. Facts are verified against state statutes and agency pages; anything we couldn't verify from a primary source is marked.
What changed: SB 1447 (Chapter 238, Statutes of 2026) makes technical amendments to the MEHKO sections of the Health and Safety Code, effective January 1, 2027. No change to the $100,000 sales cap, the 30-meals-a-day / 90-a-week limits, or the county opt-in structure.
Who it affects: California MEHKO operators and the counties that permit them — mostly housekeeping, not a new opportunity.
What changed: Act 801 (HB 403) raised Louisiana's cottage food sales cap from $30,000 to $100,000 a year. A 2025 food-freedom-style bill with a $150,000 cap passed the House but died in the Senate.
Who it affects: Louisiana cottage food producers, who can now grow three times larger before needing a commercial license.
What changed: SB 44 (signed March 27, 2026) created a two-tier cottage food system: non-potentially-hazardous foods stay permit-free, and a new WVDA vendor permit — valid statewide — now covers potentially hazardous home-kitchen foods. Previously there was no legal path at all for those foods from home. No sales cap in either tier.
Who it affects: West Virginia cooks who want to sell foods like cooked meats, dairy-based dishes, or fermented products from home.
What changed: HB26-1033, signed June 4, 2026, overhauls the Colorado Cottage Foods Act effective January 1, 2027: the sales cap jumps from $10,000 per product to $150,000 per year (inflation-adjusted), producers must register annually with CDPHE and print a state registration number on labels, and — the headline — packaged temperature-controlled foods like tamales, burritos, and tortas become legal to sell from home.
Who it affects: Every Colorado home food producer — the current $10,000-per-product cap still applies until the new rules take effect.
What changed: HB 3720, the Local Food Freedom Act, was signed in May 2026 and takes effect November 1, 2026. It raises the gross-sales cap from under $75,000 to under $250,000, broadens eligible production locations beyond the home, and gives the Department of Agriculture complaint-investigation and fining authority. Producers must comply with local zoning and building codes.
Who it affects: Oklahoma home food producers — one of the highest caps in the country starting this fall. (Full enrolled bill text could not be verified from a primary source; headline facts come from official legislature pages.)
What changed: HB 535 (Chapter 320), signed April 28, 2026, raises Maryland's cottage food revenue cap from $50,000 to $100,000, effective October 1, 2026. A separate bill to allow refrigerated baked goods (cheesecakes, custard pies) from home kitchens died in committee.
Who it affects: Maryland cottage food businesses approaching the old $50,000 ceiling.
What changed: HB402 (Chapter 605), approved April 13, 2026 and effective July 1, 2026: exempt home producers may now sell low-risk foods and acidified vegetables at any location, by phone, or online to Virginia consumers, and deliver in person, by mail, or by delivery service. Labels may use a P.O. box instead of a home address. VDACS must convene a work group (report due by the 2027 session) to study further expansion.
Who it affects: Virginia home producers — online and mail sales are now squarely legal.
What changed: SB 1283, the Idaho Direct-to-Consumer Commerce Act, was signed March 20, 2026 and took effect immediately. It legalizes direct-to-consumer home sales of perishable and temperature-controlled foods — not just shelf-stable goods — with no license, permit, or inspection, and bars local health districts from adding their own licensing requirements. Labeling and two-year recordkeeping are required.
Who it affects: Idaho home cooks — one of the broadest home-food laws in the country as of this spring.
What changed: HEA 1424 (Public Law 163-2026), effective July 1, 2026, created homestead vendor and small farm categories with a $1,500,000 annual gross-sales cap and state preemption — local health departments may not add rules beyond federal law except to investigate foodborne-illness complaints. The older home-based vendor law stays in effect alongside it. A 2027 cleanup bill is expected to clarify the overlap (bill number not yet verifiable).
Who it affects: Indiana home producers, who now have two parallel legal paths to choose from.
What changed: Vermont's final Manufactured Food Rule took effect January 15, 2026, implementing Act 42 (2025): the old $125-a-week home-kitchen exemption was replaced with a $30,000-a-year cottage food operator exemption, with new training rules and an annual exemption filing.
Who it affects: Vermont home producers — the exemption is now roughly five times more generous than the old weekly cap.
What changed: SB 541, effective September 1, 2025, raised Texas's cottage food cap from $50,000 to $150,000 (inflation-adjusted), flipped allowed foods from a non-TCS-only list to "any food except" six prohibited categories, created a new wholesale "cottage food vendor" tier for retail resale, launched a DSHS registration registry, and strengthened preemption of local regulation.
Who it affects: Texas cottage food producers — the biggest Texas home-food expansion in years. Texas meets in odd years, so the next session is January 2027.
What changed: HB 398 (Act 193), effective July 1, 2025, eliminated Georgia's cottage food license/registration and sales cap, opened sales to grocery stores and restaurants plus online and mail-order direct sales, and preempted local bans.
Who it affects: Georgia home producers — no license, no registration, no cap, and wholesale to retailers is legal.
What changed: AB352 (Chapter 420, Statutes of Nevada), approved June 9, 2025, is Nevada's biggest cottage food overhaul: from July 1, 2027, the Nevada Department of Agriculture replaces all local health districts as the single licensing authority, the cap rises from $35,000 to $100,000, and phone/internet sales become explicitly allowed. NDA is writing the new regulations through mid-2027.
Who it affects: Nevada cottage food producers — simpler and bigger, but the new regime doesn't start until July 2027.
We track home-kitchen bills in all 50 states and update this page as laws change. Spot something we missed? Let us know.
