Florida's cottage food law lets you make and sell certain non-hazardous foods from your Lee County home with no state license and no local permit, as long as annual gross sales stay at or below $250,000. Lee County cannot separately license a compliant cottage food operation.
FS 500.80 exempts a cottage food operation from the state permitting requirements of s. 500.12 if it complies with the section and has annual gross sales of cottage food products not exceeding $250,000. The law counts all sales at any location toward that cap. Operators may sell in person, at events, and by mail or internet, with delivery direct to the consumer. Products must be non-time/temperature-control foods (baked goods, jams, honey, dry mixes) and must carry the required cottage-food label. Because this is a statewide preemptive law, Lee County does not issue a separate cottage-food license.
Exceeding $250,000 in annual sales, mislabeling, or selling prohibited perishable foods forfeits the exemption and subjects the operation to full FS Chapter 500 food-permitting enforcement.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
Lee County, FL
Backyard composting is allowed in Lee County; no ordinance prohibits a residential compost pile. Yard waste (grass, leaves, brush) is collected separately th...
Lee County, FL
Lee County's Land Development Code does not authorize synthetic turf as a substitute for required living landscaping, so it generally does not count toward d...
Lee County, FL
Lee County's development landscape standards require a large share of native Florida trees and shrubs from Appendix E, and Florida law (FS 373.185) bars HOAs...
Lee County, FL
Lee County does not restrict residential rainwater harvesting. Under water Ordinance No. 24-01, rain barrels, cisterns, and other rain-harvesting devices may...
Lee County, FL
Unincorporated Lee County limits landscape irrigation to set days by address and bans watering from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. year-round under Ordinance No. 24-01, su...
Lee County, FL
The Lee County Lot Mowing Ordinance (No. 14-08) declares grasses and weeds over 12 inches on lots a nuisance in unincorporated areas. The County notices owne...
See how Lee County's cottage food operations rules stack up against other locations.
Help us keep this page accurate. If you notice an error or outdated information, let us know.