Does Michigan's cottage food law let me sell hot sauce?
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No, and Michigan says so by name. The state agriculture department's list of foods you cannot make under the cottage food law includes "sauces and condiments, including barbeque sauce, hot sauce, ketchup, or mustard," along with salsas, canned pickled products and all fermented foods [1]. That covers a cooked vinegar sauce, a fermented mash sauce and a pickled pepper alike. To sell hot sauce in Michigan you need a licensed food establishment, which means a commercial kitchen or a copacker. This page shows exactly where the line falls, the one item on the allowed side that makers ask about, and how the licensed route starts.
What the Michigan list says, word for word
The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) publishes a "What Can I Make?" page. Every hot sauce style lands in the not-allowed column [1]:
| Your product | MDARD's wording | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Vinegar hot sauce, cooked or not | "No sauces and condiments, including barbeque sauce, hot sauce, ketchup, or mustard" | Not allowed |
| Fermented pepper sauce or mash | "No fermented foods or beverages including, but not limited to, kombucha, olives, or sourdough starter" | Not allowed |
| Pickled peppers | "No pickled fruits or vegetables, such as beets, cocktail onions, or cherry peppers" | Not allowed |
| Salsa | "No salsas, tomato sauces, spaghetti sauces" | Not allowed |
| Plain or flavored vinegar | "Vinegar and flavored vinegars are allowed" | Allowed |
MDARD gives its reason in one line: "Pickled and acidified foods pose a risk of botulism" [1]. The statute behind the program is MCL 289.4102 [2].
The flavored vinegar question
Because flavored vinegar is on the allowed list, some makers wonder whether a pepper vinegar (whole peppers steeped in vinegar) qualifies. MDARD's page does not say where a pepper-infused vinegar ends and a hot sauce begins, and the same page bars pickled cherry peppers [1]. Do not decide this yourself. Describe your exact product to MDARD in writing and ask whether it is a flavored vinegar under the cottage food law.
What the Michigan cottage food law allows, for the foods it covers
These terms matter only if you also sell other cottage foods, or if you need to know what you would give up by moving to a license. As of the 2026 update:
- Sales cap: $50,000 a year in gross sales, or $75,000 if the products sold cost $250 or more per unit [3]. The statute sets those figures until October 1, 2026, and MDARD may adjust them each October 1 after that [2].
- Online and mail: allowed, including third-party delivery, if the consumer can speak with you before buying [3]; the statute limits sales to Michigan consumers [2].
- Wholesale and consignment: prohibited; a store or farm stop may not act as a go-between for pre-sold products [3].
- Registration: none; there is no application or registration [3].
- Label statement: "Made in a home kitchen that has not been inspected by the Michigan department of agriculture and rural development," in type at least 11 point [2].
MDARD's Food Establishment License
MDARD's "Become a Licensed Food Processor" page is the starting point, and it points to the department's Food Establishment License. MDARD asks you to include your zip code when you write so your question reaches the right person [4]. Plan on a shared commercial kitchen, your own licensed facility or a copacker, and ask MDARD what it requires of the space before you commit to one.
A shelf-stable acidified sauce also falls under federal rules: a scheduled process written by a process authority (an expert qualified to set the safe process for an acidified food), FDA facility registration and process filing, and a trained supervisor. Start with the process authority page and the licensing page. A fermented sauce finished with vinegar is treated in this book as an acidified food unless a process authority classifies it otherwise in writing; the fermented sauce page explains why.
Once licensed, your label carries the federal elements covered on the federal labeling page, not the cottage food statement.
Confirm with MDARD
- Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Food and Dairy Division: cottage food "What Can I Make?" page [1] and "Become a Licensed Food Processor" [4]. Email MDARD-Info@michigan.gov or call 800-292-3939 [4].
This page was last verified October 2026 against the sources below. Before you write to MDARD, settle where the sauce will be made: the kitchen or copacker page compares a shared kitchen, your own space and a copacker, and the farmers market page covers selling licensed sauce at markets.
References
- Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, What Can I Make? (Cottage Food), not dated (copyright 2026, viewed October 2026). https://www.michigan.gov/mdard/food-dairy/cottage-food/what-can-i-make
- Michigan Legislature, MCL 289.4102 (as amended by 2025 PA 51), 2026. https://capitol.legislature.mi.gov/documents/mcl/pdf/MCL-289-4102.pdf
- Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Cottage Food Getting Started FAQ (2026 update), not dated (viewed October 2026). https://www.michigan.gov/mdard/food-dairy/cottage-food/getting-started-faq
- Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Become a Licensed Food Processor, not dated (viewed October 2026). https://www.michigan.gov/mdard/food-dairy/cottage-food/become-a-licensed-food-processor
