Colorado allows home pickles, so why not hot sauce?

You cannot sell hot sauce under Colorado's Cottage Foods Act, even though the same law lets you sell pickles. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment lists "condiments such as ketchup, mustard, and hot sauce" and "sauces such as barbeque, hot, pasta, pizza, or salad dressing" as ineligible, while pickled fruits and vegetables with a finished equilibrium pH of 4.6 or below are eligible [1]. So in Colorado the product category decides, whatever the pH. This page sorts the pepper products that do and do not qualify, explains the free pH testing offer, and covers the Tamale Act that takes effect in 2027.

The line Colorado draws

Most states decide by process: an acidified food is in or out. Colorado decides by product category, and the result can look inconsistent. A jar of pickled jalapeños at the same pH as your vinegar sauce is allowed; the sauce is not.

If you grow peppers and want something to sell from home now, pickled peppers and dry spice blends are the products the law clearly covers. The pickled peppers page has the tested methods, and the pepper jelly page explains why fresh peppers change the jelly rules.

Free pH testing, and what it does not cover

CDPHE will test the equilibrium pH of up to five different products free, while funding lasts, first come, first served [1]. The eligible products are chutney, kimchi, pickled fruits, pickled vegetables, pickles, relish, sauerkraut and fruit or vegetable vinegar [1]. Hot sauce is not on the testing list, which fits its ineligible status. A passing pH number for a sauce would not make it eligible.

A fermented hot sauce is still a hot sauce

CDPHE's eligible and ineligible lists do not mention fermented foods as a category; kimchi and sauerkraut appear only on the testing list [1]. A fermented hot sauce is still a hot sauce, and the ineligible list names hot sauce without regard to how it is made, so this page reads it as ineligible. Confirm with CDPHE if you plan to argue otherwise. Elsewhere in this book, a ferment finished with vinegar is treated as an acidified food unless a process authority rules otherwise in writing; the fermented sauce page explains why.

The Tamale Act in 2027

HB26-1033, the Tamale Act, has passed and begins January 1, 2027 [1] [2]. CDPHE's 2027 pages now set out the main changes: an annual registration with CDPHE, a food safety training certificate to register, a single $150,000 yearly sales cap in place of $10,000 per product type, foods requiring refrigeration allowed, and new label items (your CDPHE registration number, the county where the food was made, your contact information, the production date and a CDPHE web address) [3]. Hot sauce does not become eligible. CDPHE's 2027 food eligibility page lists hot sauces with pepper jams and canned salsa among foods "that require a specific pH and thermal process for food safety" and are not approved [4]. The 2027 registration form was not yet open when this page was checked; watch the Tamale Act page [2].

If you sell eligible pepper products

For the products that do qualify, the current rules are these [1]:

• Training first. Complete a food safety course before you start: CSU Extension's course, a State Food Safety food handler card, or a local public health agency course.
• Revenue. The page's example allows up to $10,000 for each type of product through December 31, 2026; from January 1, 2027 the cap is $150,000 in total a year [3].
• Direct only. Sell to the informed end consumer yourself or through a designated representative, at multiple locations and events. No catering, restaurants, grocery stores or resale.
• Online. Internet sales are allowed, but sales and delivery stay within Colorado.
• Point of sale. Display: "This product was produced in a home kitchen that is not subject to state licensure or inspection. This product is not intended for resale."
• Label. State that the product was produced in a home kitchen without regulatory oversight and may contain common allergens; "allergen free" claims are not allowed.

The federal label elements are on the federal labeling page.

Selling hot sauce in Colorado anyway

A Colorado hot sauce for sale has to be made in a licensed kitchen or by a copacker, under a scheduled process from a process authority and the FDA acidified food rules covered on the acidified foods page. This page could not confirm from a CDPHE source which state license a commercial sauce processor needs; ask CDPHE's food safety program. The kitchen or copacker page compares the options.

Confirm with CDPHE

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment publishes the eligible and ineligible lists on its Cottage Foods Act page, which carries no date [1], and the Tamale Act pages track the 2027 changes [2] [3] [4]. This page was last verified October 2026. Compare Colorado with states that do allow home sauce at selling hot sauce in your state, and start the licensed route with finding a process authority.

References

1. Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Cottage Foods Act, not dated (viewed October 2026). https://cdphe.colorado.gov/dehs/cottage-foods
2. Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, 2027 Tamale Act, not dated (viewed October 2026). https://cdphe.colorado.gov/dehs/cf/2027-tamale-act
3. Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Colorado Cottage Food Act: Updates (2027 Tamale Act), not dated (viewed October 2026). https://cdphe.colorado.gov/dehs/cf/2027-tamale-act/colorado-cottage-food-act-updates
4. Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, 2027 Tamale Act: Food Eligibility, not dated (viewed October 2026). https://cdphe.colorado.gov/dehs/cf/2027-tamale-act/food-eligibility