ArkansasCottage Food Laws

No. Under the Arkansas Food Freedom Act (Act 1040 of 2021) you can sell homemade shelf-stable foods directly to customers with no state license and no revenue cap. Temperature-controlled items — meat, dairy, eggs, seafood — are excluded and need a different path.

Arkansas's Food Freedom Act is unusually broad and covers many homemade foods sold directly to the end consumer, but hot, ready-to-eat restaurant-style meals that need temperature control fall outside it. The path to yes is a licensed or commissary kitchen for those items; shelf-stable foods you can sell and even ship, including across state lines.

Arkansas is unusually open on channels: you can sell direct, through an agent, a third-party vendor, or a carrier like USPS or FedEx, and even wholesale to grocery and retail shops. It is also one of only six states that explicitly allow interstate sales, so you can ship out of state if you comply with federal law. Restaurants are the one outlet that stays off-limits.

Each package needs the date produced, your name, address, and phone — or an optional ID number from the Arkansas Department of Agriculture that replaces your home address for privacy — the product name, ingredients in descending order, and the exact disclaimer: "This product was produced in a private residence that is exempt from state licensing and inspection. This product may contain allergens."

Arkansas does not require state registration for basic cottage food sales. The cited state sources do not list a revenue cap. Arkansas allows online orders, in-state shipping, seller delivery for cottage food sellers.

Not for the basic cottage food path, based on the state sources cited on this page. Arkansas may still have label, food-category, local zoning, or other business rules, so check the official source before you sell.

Arkansas's cottage food rules mainly cover foods that do not need time or temperature control for safety. Common no-go categories include tcs, meat, poultry, seafood, fish.