Lassen County, CA Home Business: Cottage Food Operations (2026)

California's Homemade Food Act (AB 1616, effective 2013, later amended by AB 1144) allows certain non-potentially-hazardous foods - such as baked goods without cream or custard, jams, dried fruits, granola, candies, and similar items on the state's approved list - to be made in a home kitchen and sold. In Lassen County, the Environmental Health Division (within Planning and Building Services) administers cottage food registration and permitting locally. A cottage food operation is defined under California Health and Safety Code 113758 as a home enterprise with no more than one full-time-equivalent employee (not counting family/household members) operating within the registered or permitted area of the operator's private home. There are two classes: Class A operations sell directly to consumers (home, farmers markets, events, online) and need only a county registration with no routine kitchen inspection; Class B operations may also sell indirectly through stores and restaurants and require a permit and an annual kitchen inspection. State law caps gross annual sales (a Class A base of $75,000 and Class B base of $150,000, adjusted for inflation). Lassen County also requires applicants to complete a food processor course within 90 days of approval. Local environmental health fees apply; contact the Environmental Health Division for current amounts and forms.