Ontario, CA Home Business: Cottage Food Operations (2026)

Ontario Development Code Section 5.03.240.C.10 expressly addresses home food businesses, providing that Cottage Food Operations shall be conducted consistent with State law operating requirements and shall only involve products contained on the Approved Cottage Foods list maintained by the California Department of Public Health. The underlying state framework is the California Cottage Food law, codified in the California Health and Safety Code (the California Retail Food Code, Part 7 of Division 104), with definitions at Health and Safety Code Section 113758. State law defines a Class A cottage food operation (limited to $75,000 in verifiable gross annual sales) and a Class B operation (limited to $150,000), permits no more than one full-time-equivalent cottage food employee, and restricts production to nonpotentially hazardous foods on the approved list. Because California sets these limits and the approved-foods list statewide, Ontario incorporates the state requirements rather than imposing separate local food-safety thresholds.