Can I sell hot sauce under Florida's cottage food law?
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Not as a bottled sauce. Florida's cottage food law (Florida Statute 500.80) is one of the most generous in the country for what it does cover, with a $250,000 annual sales cap and shipping across state lines allowed, but its prohibited list includes "Salsa, BBQ sauce, ketchup, mustard" and "Canned pickled products (relish, pickles, etc.)" [1]. Hot sauce is not named, yet it sits squarely among those products: a pepper sauce bottled with vinegar is the same kind of acidified, sealed condiment as the barbecue sauce and pickles the law excludes. This page explains that reading, what you can sell from a Florida home kitchen, and the route for a licensed sauce.
Reading the prohibited list for hot sauce
The University of Florida IFAS Extension table of allowed and prohibited cottage foods is the most detailed public statement of Florida's rules [1]. Its prohibited column includes:
- Salsa, BBQ sauce, ketchup and mustard
- Canned pickled products such as relish and pickles
- Canned fruits, vegetables, chutneys, garlic dip and hummus
- Vegetable butters and jellies [1]
Extension also explains that many products are excluded because they "require time/temperature control for food safety to limit pathogenic microorganism growth or toxin formation" [1]. Florida's law does not set up a pH test, an approved recipe list or a process review that would let an acidified sauce in. With condiments, sauces and canned pickled products all excluded, this page treats hot sauce as prohibited. If you think your product differs, ask the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services in writing before you sell a bottle.
Fermented foods are not mentioned in the Extension table [1]. A fermented pepper sauce bottled for the shelf is still a sauce, and this book treats a ferment finished with vinegar as an acidified food unless a process authority rules otherwise in writing; see the fermented sauce page.
One product to ask about before you make it
Extension lists "vinegar and flavored vinegars" as allowed [1]. A pepper vinegar, the kind made by pouring vinegar over whole peppers in a bottle, may look like a flavored vinegar, but low-acid peppers sitting in the bottle are exactly what makes a product an acidified food. Do not assume it qualifies. Ask FDACS how it classifies the specific product, and describe it precisely, before you sell one.
What a Florida home kitchen can sell
If you also make other foods, the cottage rules are broad [1]:
| Term | Florida rule |
|---|---|
| License or inspection | None required by the state; operations are not inspected by any state agency |
| Sales cap | $250,000 in gross sales a year |
| Venues | Farmers markets, pop-up markets, flea markets, roadside stands and events; a market may set its own requirements |
| Online and mail | Allowed |
| Shipping | Across state lines by USPS or a commercial carrier |
| Wholesale and consignment | Not allowed |
| Permitted stores and food vendors | May not sell cottage foods, which are an unapproved source for them |
Dried products are a common next step for pepper growers in cottage states; check the Extension table for the specific item, and see the dry rubs page for what changes when a pepper product is dry.
The Florida label statement
Cottage foods carry "Made in a cottage food operation that is not subject to Florida's food safety regulations." in at least 10-point type, in a color that contrasts with the label background, along with the name and address of the operation, the product name, ingredients in descending order, net weight and allergen information [1]. The full federal list is on the federal labeling page.
Bottling a Florida sauce legally
A hot sauce for sale in Florida comes out of a permitted facility: a commercial or shared kitchen you rent, your own licensed space, or a copacker. The Extension publication does not describe the state permit for a food processor [1], and this page could not confirm its name from a FDACS source; ask the FDACS Division of Food Safety which permit applies to a bottled acidified sauce. On the federal side, an acidified sauce needs a scheduled process from a process authority, FDA facility registration and a process filing, explained on the acidified foods page. The kitchen or copacker page helps you choose where to make it.
Confirm with FDACS
The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services administers Florida Statute 500.80. The source used here is UF/IFAS Extension's question and answer publication on the law, first published September 12, 2021 and last modified July 2, 2026 [1]; FDACS's own page was not reached for this review. Extension also says anyone starting a food business should contact the local tax collector [1]. This page was last verified October 2026. To see the states where home sauce is allowed, read selling hot sauce in your state, and to begin a licensed process, read finding a process authority.
References
- UF/IFAS Extension, Q and A: Understanding Florida's Cottage Food Law (FS425), by Sarah M. Ellis, Jennifer Hagen and Matthew D. Krug, September 12, 2021 (modified July 2, 2026). https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/FS425
