Virginia cottage food label requirements
Virginia lets residents make certain foods in a private home without a permit or inspection under Va. Code 3.2-5130(C)(3). The label goes on the principal display panel and must show your name, address or P.O. box, phone number, the date processed and a fixed statement.
Required statement (Va. Code 3.2-5130(C)(3)(v))
NOT FOR RESALE PROCESSED AND PREPARED WITHOUT STATE INSPECTION.
Type size: The law sets no type size.
Open the Virginia preset in the tool
Last checked October 21, 2026. Sources · Example label · FAQ
What a Virginia cottage food label must show
| Element | What to print | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Name | The name of the person preparing the food. | Va. Code 3.2-5130(C)(3)(v) |
| Physical address or P.O. box | Your physical address or post office box number. | 3.2-5130(C)(3)(v) |
| Telephone number | Your phone number. | 3.2-5130(C)(3)(v) |
| Date processed | The date the food was processed. | 3.2-5130(C)(3)(v) |
| Virginia statement | The statement shown above, word for word. | 3.2-5130(C)(3)(v) |
| Product name, net weight, ingredients | VDACS says labels must also meet standard labeling requirements: product name, net weight, name and address of the manufacturer, ingredients and subingredients, and possibly nutrition information. | VDACS Home Food Processing Exemptions FAQ (Rev. July 2026), I.6 |
The law asks for the label to be “affixed with a label placed on the principal display panel”, the part of the package buyers see first. For a package too small for a label, it allows a sign with the same information instead. VDACS adds that “product labels must comply with standard labeling requirements (product name, net weight statement, name and address of the manufacturer, list of ingredients and subingredients, and possibly nutritional information)” (VDACS FAQ, I.6). The tool also adds the allergen “Contains” line.
Keep your home address off the label?
Partly. Virginia Code 3.2-5130(C)(3)(v) asks for the “physical address or post office box number” of the person preparing the food, so a P.O. box may be printed instead of your street address. Your name and telephone number are also required.
This is what the rule says, not legal advice. Check with your state agency before you print.
The Virginia statement, word for word
The statute gives the statement in quotation marks, in capital letters:
NOT FOR RESALE PROCESSED AND PREPARED WITHOUT STATE INSPECTION.
VDACS’s FAQ writes it with a dash and no period (“NOT FOR RESALE — PROCESSED AND PREPARED WITHOUT STATE INSPECTION”). The words are the same; the tool prints the statute’s version.
Pickles and other acidified vegetables (3.2-5130(C)(4)) and honey (C)(5) have their own rules and are not covered by this page.
Type size and placement
Virginia sets no type size. Every line on our free label is at least 1/16 inch tall (see type size).
Selling online, at markets or through stores
- Which foods: the foods listed in 3.2-5130(C)(3), such as baked goods, candies, jams and jellies, if they are “those that do not require time or temperature control after preparation”.
- Who buys: sold at any location, online or by phone, and delivered in person, by mail or by delivery service, to an individual in Virginia for his own consumption, not for resale.
- Not to restaurants or stores: “not offered for sale to be used in or offered for consumption in retail food establishments”.
- VDACS: “Exempt food products cannot be sold for resale, for consignment, for use or consumption in retail food establishments, to other businesses, or across state lines.”
- No permit: qualifying private homes “shall be exempt from the permit and inspection requirements of this chapter and the inspection fees” (3.2-5130(D)).
Example Virginia cottage food label
Sample Kitchen, a made-up home baker in Virginia, selling a bag of oatmeal raisin cookies. This is what the tool prints with the Virginia preset:
Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Ingredients: rolled oats, butter (cream, salt), brown sugar, enriched flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), raisins, eggs, baking soda, cinnamon, salt.
Contains: Milk, Egg, Wheat.
8 cookies, Net Wt 10 oz (283 g)
Sample Kitchen, 123 Example St, Anytown, VA 00000
Phone: (555) 555-0100
Made on: 10/21/2026
NOT FOR RESALE PROCESSED AND PREPARED WITHOUT STATE INSPECTION.
- Name, address, phone and the date processed are all printed, as Virginia requires.
- Virginia’s statement is printed in capital letters, as in the statute.
Open the Virginia preset in the tool
On your first visit the tool loads this example, with its made-up details marked as examples and a Start blank button. If you already have a recipe saved, it keeps your recipe and switches the state to Virginia.
Easy mistakes to avoid
- Putting the label on the back: Virginia asks for it on the principal display panel.
- Leaving off the date processed or the phone number.
- Selling to a restaurant or store, or to a buyer outside Virginia.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a permit to sell home-baked goods in Virginia?
Not if you meet Va. Code 3.2-5130(C)(3). Subsection (D) says qualifying private homes are exempt from the permit and inspection requirements of the chapter.
What is the exact Virginia statement?
"NOT FOR RESALE PROCESSED AND PREPARED WITHOUT STATE INSPECTION." (Va. Code 3.2-5130(C)(3)(v)).
Can I use a P.O. box on a Virginia label?
Yes. The law asks for the "physical address or post office box number" of the person preparing the food.
Sources
Last checked October 21, 2026. We read each of these official sources; quotes on this page are copied from them.
- Code of Virginia 3.2-5130: Exceptions to permit requirement
- VDACS: Virginia’s Home Food Processing Exemptions FAQ (PDF, rev. July 2026)
This page explains the rules in plain English. It is not legal advice. Rules change, and your county or market may ask for more, so check with the agency above before printing a large run.
How we check these rules, and what changed: How we verify · change log · report an error.
Other states
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Also useful: what goes on a food label (federal basics) and the ingredient label maker.