Under Arkansas’s cottage food laws, you can prepare shelf-stable foods in your home kitchen and sell them without a state license or inspection, so long as the products are not meat, poultry, seafood, or anything else that needs refrigeration to stay safe. The rules come from the state’s Food Freedom Act, which also lets you sell through retail shops, not just directly to customers.1Justia. Ark. Code Ann. § 20-57-5032Justia. Ark. Code Ann. § 20-57-504
What You Can Sell From Home
The Food Freedom Act covers foods that don’t need time or temperature control for safety, often called non-TCS foods. Think baked goods, jams, and jellies that stay safe at room temperature.1Justia. Ark. Code Ann. § 20-57-503
The following are excluded and cannot be produced at home for sale under this law:2Justia. Ark. Code Ann. § 20-57-504
- Meat and meat products
- Poultry and poultry products
- Seafood and seafood products
- Any other food requiring time or temperature control for safety
Your home kitchen doesn’t need a health department inspection to operate. The Department of Health still has authority to investigate if someone reports a foodborne illness or if a product appears misbranded or unsafe.
Where You Can Sell
Arkansas is more permissive than most states about sales channels. You can sell directly to customers, and you can also sell through third-party vendors, including retail shops and grocery stores, as long as the buyer is an informed end consumer.2Justia. Ark. Code Ann. § 20-57-504
Labeling and the Required Disclaimer
Every packaged product needs a label with:3Justia. Ark. Code Ann. § 20-57-505
- Your name, address, and telephone number
- The common or usual name of the product
- The date it was manufactured, produced, or processed
- A complete ingredient list in descending order of predominance by weight
- The state-mandated disclaimer
The disclaimer must read, word for word: “This product was produced in a private residence that is exempt from state licensing and inspection. This product may contain allergens.”3Justia. Ark. Code Ann. § 20-57-505 The law does not require you to list each major allergen by name, but that “may contain allergens” phrase has to appear.
If you sell in bulk or online rather than in packaging, the same information can be posted on a placard or a website instead of a label.
Local Zoning and HOAs
State law bars cities and counties from prohibiting or regulating the production and sale of homemade food.4Justia. Ark. Code Ann. § 20-57-507 A local zoning board generally cannot stop you from running a cottage food business out of your home.
That preemption applies to government entities. It does not override private contracts. If your homeowners’ association bylaws or your lease restrict business activity, those rules still bind you and can lead to fines or a private dispute even when you’re fully compliant with state law.
Taxes
Before you start selling, you need a gross receipts tax permit from the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration.5Justia. Ark. Code Ann. § 26-52-201 The permit lets you collect and remit sales tax. Unpaid tax draws penalties and interest.6Justia. Ark. Code Ann. § 26-18-208
On the federal side, if your net earnings from the business reach $400 or more in a year, you owe self-employment tax for Social Security and Medicare in addition to income tax.7IRS. Self-Employment Tax (Social Security and Medicare Taxes) Keep records of sales and expenses from day one.
What Happens if You Break the Rules
The state can detain, embargo, or destroy food it finds to be unsafe or misbranded, which most often applies when a product is deemed adulterated, meaning it contains harmful substances or was made in unsanitary conditions.8Justia. Ark. Code Ann. § 20-56-216
Violations are a misdemeanor. A conviction can carry a fine of up to $500, up to one year in jail, or both.9Justia. Ark. Code Ann. § 20-56-205