Elkhart County, IN Home Business: Cottage Food Operations (2026)
Key Facts
- Permit
- Not required
- Health inspection
- None
- Allowed
- Baked goods, jams, candy
- Statute
- IC 16-42-5.3 (recodified)
- Roadside stands
- Eggs, produce exempt
Summary
Indiana's Home Based Vendor law lets you sell non-potentially-hazardous homemade foods, like baked goods and jams, direct to consumers with no permit or health inspection. Eggs and whole uncut produce sold at a roadside stand or farmers market are exempt too.
An individual vendor of a farmers' market or roadside stand is exempt from the requirements of this title that apply to a food establishment relating to the sale of eggs or whole uncut produce.
Full Breakdown
Indiana recodified its cottage food rules into IC 16-42-5.3 (Home Based Food Products), replacing the former IC 16-42-5.2 chapter, and the 2022 Home Based Vendor law (HEA 1149) expanded home food sales statewide. A home based vendor may make and sell shelf-stable, non-potentially-hazardous foods such as breads, cookies, cakes, candies, jams, and dried herbs directly to the end consumer without a food establishment permit or kitchen inspection. Products must carry a label with the producer's name and address and a statement that the food is homemade and not inspected. Under IC 16-42-5.3-11, a roadside stand or farmers market vendor selling eggs or whole uncut produce is exempt from food establishment requirements, which covers the Amish produce stands throughout the county.
Violations & Fines
Selling refrigerated, potentially hazardous foods, or omitting the required home-kitchen label, strips home based vendor protection and subjects the seller to full retail food establishment permitting and health department enforcement.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a permit to sell homemade baked goods?
Can I sell eggs or produce at a roadside stand?
Sources & Official References
- [1]Indiana Code
Other rules in Elkhart County
Compare Elkhart County to another location·View the Indiana home business overview
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