Can I sell homemade hot sauce in Georgia after HB 398?

Not confirmed, and the department's own guidance leans against a cooked sauce. Georgia's cottage food law, rewritten by HB 398 from July 1, 2025, allows only food that is not potentially hazardous, and its list of examples names vinegars and dill pickles but no sauce [3]. The Georgia Department of Agriculture's FAQ says that "Food products made with cooked vegetable products do not qualify," naming salsas and tomato sauces [4]. No Georgia source addresses hot sauce by name, and the department lists the law as under revision [1]. Email the department's cottage food team and get a written answer for your specific sauce before you sell.

What HB 398 changed in July 2025

Governor Brian Kemp signed HB 398 on May 13, 2025, and it took effect July 1, 2025 [2]. The statute, O.C.G.A. 26-2-470 and following, now reads [3]:

• No state license. Operators no longer register with or are inspected by the department before selling [2].
• Stores and restaurants. You may sell to "retail food sales establishments, including grocery stores and restaurants," as well as directly to consumers, "online and by mail order" (section 26-2-472) [3]. A store must keep cottage items in a separate section or case marked as exempt from state inspection, and a county or city may ban sales through third-party vendors by ordinance (sections 26-2-473(d) and 26-2-478) [3].
• No cap and no training in the statute. The text sets no sales limit and no training requirement [3], although the department's cottage food page still says operators "must complete" an ANSI accredited food safety program, with food handler training acceptable [1]. Taking the course covers you whichever reading the department applies.
• Georgia buyers. The statute does not authorize sales across state lines and keeps any federal law on interstate sales in force (section 26-2-477) [3]; the department says sales are "to the end consumer within Georgia" [4].

Why the hot sauce question stays open

Section 26-2-470(7) defines non-potentially hazardous foods as those that "do not require temperature control for safety," and its list "includes, but is not limited to" breads, jams, jellies and preserves, dried fruit, dry herbs and seasonings, nuts, "vinegars and flavored vinegars; dill pickles," confections and popcorn [3]. Sauces, condiments, acidified foods, canned foods, fermented foods and pH appear nowhere in the text [3]. Because the list is open ended, the statute neither admits nor rules out a hot sauce.

The department's FAQ is less open. It says "Most home-canned products are not approved," with jams and jellies the exception, and it puts cooked vegetable products, which it describes as "usually" a mix of low acid and acidified foods, outside the program [4]. A cooked pepper and vinegar sauce resembles those products more than it resembles a dill pickle. The department enforces the law and has said new rules are coming [1] [2], so its reading is the one you will meet. A shelf-stable hot sauce depends on correct acidification to prevent botulism, which is why most states that allow it attach a pH test or a recipe review; Georgia's statute contains neither [3]. The shelf stability page explains what has to hold for a sauce to be safe at room temperature.

Two versions of the label statement

The statute and the department give different wording, so ask which one the department will enforce.

What to ask the department

Send these to the cottage food team in writing [1]:

1. Is a shelf-stable, vinegar-based hot sauce a non-potentially hazardous food under section 26-2-470(7), or a cooked vegetable product that does not qualify?
2. Does the answer change for a fermented pepper sauce, with or without vinegar added after fermentation? This book treats a ferment finished with acid as an acidified food unless a process authority rules otherwise in writing; the fermented sauce page explains why.
3. Do you require a pH test, a lab result or a process authority review before the first sale?
4. Is ANSI food safety training still required now that the statute omits it?
5. Which label statement do you enforce, the statute's or the FAQ's?

If the answer is yes

Georgia's retail store allowance is unusual, and it puts your bottles on the same shelf as commercial sauces [3]. A store buyer will judge your label against those bottles, so build it to the federal standard from the start using the federal labeling page, and read getting into stores before you pitch one. Georgia's law does not reach buyers in other states [3]; selling across state lines brings in the FDA acidified food rules described on the acidified foods page, whatever Georgia decides.

If the answer is no

The route is a licensed kitchen or a copacker, a scheduled process from a process authority, and FDA registration and filing. The department's FAQ says makers of cooked vegetable products face "significant federal and state training and licensing requirements" [4], but this page could not confirm which Georgia permit covers a commercial acidified sauce processor; ask the department when you write.

Confirm with the Georgia Department of Agriculture

Contact the cottage food team at CottageFoodInfo@agr.georgia.gov or (404) 656-3627 [1] [2]. The law is O.C.G.A. 26-2-470 and following, which the department posts marked "Under Revision," and the rule is Agriculture Rule 40-7-19-.08 [1] [3]. Watch the department's legal notices for the proposed rule [2]. The statute and FAQ were read on October 22, 2026, and this page was last verified that day. Compare Georgia with states that have settled the question at selling hot sauce in your state, and line up a recipe review through finding a process authority.

References

1. Georgia Department of Agriculture, Cottage Food, not dated (viewed October 2026). https://agr.georgia.gov/cottage-food
2. Georgia Department of Agriculture, Cottage Food Update: HB 398 Frequently Asked Questions, not dated (2025). https://agr.ga.gov/sites/default/files/documents/assets/Cottage-Food-Update-HB398-Frequently-Asked-Questions.pdf
3. Georgia Department of Agriculture, HB 398 Cottage Food Law, O.C.G.A. 26-2-470 et seq. (Under Revision), not dated (effective July 1, 2025; viewed October 22, 2026). https://agr.georgia.gov/sites/default/files/documents/assets/HB-398-Cottage-Food-Law-OCGA-26-2-470-et-seq-Under-Revision.pdf
4. Georgia Department of Agriculture, Cottage Foods FAQ, not dated (viewed October 22, 2026). https://agr.georgia.gov/cottage-food-faq