Massachusetts has no permit-free cottage food law. To sell home-baked or home-canned goods you register your kitchen as a residential kitchen with your local board of health — Northampton, Amherst, or your own town — which permits and inspects it.
Unlike Texas or Georgia, Massachusetts does not exempt home food sellers from permitting. The state food code, 105 CMR 590, and the residential kitchen rules under 105 CMR 500, require a residential kitchen permit from the municipal board of health where you live. In Hampshire County that means the Northampton, Amherst, South Hadley, or your own town's health department, since there is no county health authority. The board reviews the kitchen, inspects it, and issues the permit, and you must label products with ingredients and allergens. Shelf-stable items like breads, cookies, and jams qualify; foods needing refrigeration for safety are restricted.
Selling home-produced food without a residential kitchen permit from the local board of health can bring a cease order and enforcement by that municipal health department under the state food code.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
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See how Hampshire County's cottage food operations rules stack up against other locations.
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