Iowa lets you sell many shelf-stable homemade foods with no license under its cottage-food exemption. Foods needing refrigeration require a home food processing establishment license from the state, administered through Iowa DIAL.
Iowa's home food rules sit in Iowa Code chapter 137D, administered by the Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing (DIAL) with local inspection support from Johnson County Public Health. "Cottage food" that is non-time/temperature-control for safety, such as most baked goods, jams, and candies sold direct to consumers, is exempt from state licensing and inspection but must be labeled with ingredients, allergens, and a home-kitchen disclosure. To sell refrigerated or other time/temperature-controlled items, you need a home food processing establishment license, the former home bakery license: about $50 a year, a $50,000 annual sales cap, and periodic state inspection. This is not a permit-free free-for-all.
Selling time/temperature-controlled foods without the home food processing establishment license, omitting the required labeling, or exceeding the sales cap can pull the operation under full food-establishment licensing and DIAL enforcement.
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See how Johnson County's cottage food operations rules stack up against other locations.
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