Selling homemade hot sauce in Kentucky as a processor or microprocessor

Not under the home based processor registration, the route open to anyone. It does not include acidified foods, pickles, sauces or fermented foods, so a vinegar hot sauce cannot be sold under it [1]. Farmers have a second route, the home based microprocessor: grow the predominant ingredient, take a University of Kentucky workshop, get each recipe approved by UK and certify with the state Food Safety Branch [3]. UK lists salsa, barbecue sauce and pickled vegetables among the products allowed [3], so an acidified sauce fits the program, but hot sauce is not named and your recipe has to pass UK's review. This page explains both routes and the commercial one.

The two home programs

The home based processor: no hot sauce

The Cabinet for Health and Family Services' summary of the home based processing rules lists the allowed foods, and acidified products, pickles, salsa, sauces and fermented foods are not among them [1]. The same document routes low acid, low sugar and savory jams and jellies to the UK microprocessing program [1], which tells you where the state sends riskier canned products. If you are not a farmer, Kentucky's home routes do not cover a vinegar hot sauce or a fermented one.

For products that are on the list, sales are in person, directly to Kentucky consumers: home pickup or delivery, markets other than permitted retail markets, roadside stands and community events. Online orders and payment are allowed, but shipping is not [1]. The label must say "This product is home-produced and processed" in at least 10 point type in a contrasting color, with the processing date [1].

The microprocessor route for pepper growers

UK Cooperative Extension describes the microprocessor as a farmer "allowed to make higher risk products such as canned tomatoes, pickled fruits and vegetables, salsa, barbecue sauce," along with pepper or herb jellies, vinegars, low sugar jams and pressure canned vegetables [4]. The steps, as UK's program page sets them out [3]:

1. Grow the predominant ingredient. Microprocessors "are required to grow the predominant ingredient of the products they make" [3]. For most hot sauces that means your own peppers.
2. Take the workshop. An all-day session offered in spring and fall, $50; registration for 2027 opens in late fall 2026 [3].
3. Get each recipe approved. Recipes "must be reviewed and approved before use," at $5 a recipe [3].
4. Apply to the Food Safety Branch with proof of the workshop, your approved recipes, draft labels for every product and a verified water source; certification is $50 a year [3].

Sales stay inside Kentucky and face to face: the farm, a Kentucky registered farmers market or a certified roadside stand [3] [4]. Grocery stores, gift shops, internet sales and out of state sales all need a commercial food manufacturing permit, and UK states that "A home kitchen cannot be used" for those [3]. Gross sales are capped at $60,000 a year [3] [4]. UK's 2026 program report counts 161 microprocessors certified to sell canned goods [2].

Two practical points for a pepper grower. First, the workshop and recipe approval concern home canning methods, so expect to present a recipe processed in jars rather than a hot filled woozy bottle; published tested recipes are on canning hot sauce at home. Second, "grow the predominant ingredient" means planning your pepper supply around your own harvest (see growing your own peppers or buying them). Whether a fermented sauce can be approved is not answered in any source reviewed; ask UK when you submit.

The commercial route

A non farmer, or anyone selling to stores, restaurants or out of state buyers, needs a commercial kitchen permitted by the state (ask the Food Safety Branch which permit fits) and the federal steps for an acidified food: a process authority review, FDA registration and a filed process (see acidified food rules). Many start in a shared commercial kitchen or with a copacker; shared kitchen, copacker or your own space compares the options.

Confirm with the Food Safety Branch

The Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services, Department for Public Health, Food Safety Branch registers both home programs [1] [3]. For the microprocessor workshop and recipe approval, UK's program takes questions at HBMicroprocessing@uky.edu, and your county extension office runs local sessions [3]. The home based processor summary reviewed is dated March 2021 [1], so ask the branch whether its list has changed. This page was last verified October 22, 2026.

If you will sell at markets, see selling at farmers markets; to compare states, see selling hot sauce in your state.

References

1. Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services, Food Safety Branch, Summary of Updates to Home-Based Processing (902 KAR 45:090), March 2021. https://chfs.ky.gov/agencies/dph/dphps/fsb/FSDocs/hbpupdates.pdf
2. University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension, Home-Based Microprocessor program report (Annhall Norris, Family and Consumer Sciences), reporting year July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026. https://kers.ca.uky.edu/core/reports/Story/s/4806/2026
3. University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension, Family and Consumer Sciences, Homebased Processing and Microprocessing, not dated (forms dated October 2, 2026; viewed October 22, 2026). https://fcs.mgcafe.uky.edu/areas-focus/nutrition-food-safety-quality-and-availablity/homebased-processing-and-microprocessing
4. University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension, Taylor County, Microprocessing, not dated (viewed October 22, 2026). https://taylor.mgcafe.uky.edu/microprocessing