Can I sell hot sauce from a New Hampshire homestead kitchen?
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Not confirmed: the state's own sources disagree, so get DHHS Food Protection's answer in writing before you sell. The likely route is a homestead license with a process review. New Hampshire's Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) says in its October 2025 FAQ that a license application for jarred foods "such as, but not limited to: BBQ and hot sauces, mustards, pepper jellies, pickles and salsas" must include a copy of the process review, a written evaluation by a food processing authority [2]. Its web page and its license application form still call acidified foods prohibited in a home kitchen [1] [4]. This page explains the conflict and covers the Class H license and label.
The conflict, and which source this page follows
| Source | What it says about acidified foods like hot sauce |
|---|---|
| DHHS Homestead Food Operations web page, with FAQs dated October 27, 2015 [1] | "Potentially hazardous foods also include processed acidified and low acid canned foods such as pickles, salsa and relish," and potentially hazardous foods cannot be made at home. It also says BBQ and hot sauces need a process review with a license application. |
| DHHS Homestead FAQ Reference Guide, last revised October 2025 [2] | Acidified foods may be made in a homestead kitchen; non-exempt (licensed) operations making acidified foods that do not use National Center for Home Food Preservation recipes must submit a process review. Hot sauce is named. |
| DHHS Application for New Homestead Food Operation License, February 2024 [4] | "potentially hazardous foods and acidified foods such as pickles, relishes, salsa are prohibited" in residential kitchens, yet the same form asks for a copy of the process review for "BBQ and hot sauces, mustards, pepper jellies." |
| UNH Extension fact sheet, updated March 2026 [3] | Process reviews are "required for processed or jarred foods using your own recipe," including "BBQ, hot sauces, mustards, pepper jellies"; foods "that have a pH below 4.6 or a water activity below 0.85 can be produced in the homestead." |
The 2025 FAQ is the newest statement from the agency and agrees with Extension's 2026 fact sheet, so the steps below follow it. But the web page (rechecked October 22, 2026) and the 2024 application form both still say acidified foods are prohibited, and the form names hot sauces in the same breath [1] [4]. Until DHHS reconciles them, treat the licensed route as likely, not settled, and get your product confirmed in writing.
What the licensed route requires
The route the newer sources describe is the Class H homestead license, which costs $150 [1] [3].
- Get a process review for each product. It must be done by a food processing authority, "an expert in thermal processing of low-acid foods or in the acidification and processing of acidified foods" [3], who declares in writing that "there are no biological concerns with the food" [2]. The review also decides whether your sauce is an acid food or an acidified food [1]. Most sellable hot sauces are your own recipe or a changed version of a published one, and a "tweak" to a National Center for Home Food Preservation recipe still needs a review [3]. If you plan to use an NCHFP recipe exactly as written, ask DHHS whether a review is still required, since the license application wording names hot sauces without that exception [2]. Both DHHS and Extension point to the Association of Food and Drug Officials directory of processing authorities [2] [3], and the process authorities directory lists university options.
- Apply for the license with a copy of each process review attached [1] [2].
- Label every bottle as described below.
The cost of a review is not stated by DHHS or Extension [3]; the getting a scheduled process page gives typical fees elsewhere.
The exempt route is unsettled for sauce
Exempt homestead operations sell only non-potentially hazardous food, and only from home, a farm stand, a farmers market or a retail food store [1] [2]. DHHS's newer FAQ ties the acidified food process review to non-exempt operations and never says whether an exempt operation may sell an acidified food [2]. Extension says the same foods are allowed with or without the license [3]. That leaves the exempt route for hot sauce unsettled; ask DHHS.
Where the license lets you sell
The Class H license is what opens restaurants, other retail food establishments, the internet, mail order and wholesalers or distributors [1] [2]. Selling online is allowed "only if you are a licensed Homestead food operation" [1] [2]. DHHS does not address sales to other states; check that state's rules too. The online sales page covers shipping.
Licensed and exempt label statements
Exempt and licensed operations both label their products [2]. The statement differs:
- Licensed: "This product is made in a residential food production area licensed by NH DHHS" (2025 FAQ wording [2]; the web page and the 2024 application form say "residential kitchen" [1] [4]).
- Exempt: "This product is exempt from New Hampshire licensing and inspection" [1] [2].
Also required: the operation's name, a physical address or active email (not a PO box), phone number, product name, ingredients in descending order by weight, net weight in US customary and metric units, allergens, and a product code with the date of manufacture, container size and lot or batch number [1] [2]. The federal labeling page covers ingredient and allergen wording.
Fermented sauce goes through the same review
Neither DHHS source addresses fermented foods [1] [2]; Extension says only that kombucha cannot be made under the homestead law [3]. This book treats a ferment finished with vinegar as an acidified food unless a process authority classifies it otherwise in writing, so a fermented hot sauce would go through the same process review. Ask your reviewer and DHHS.
Confirm with NH DHHS Food Protection
- New Hampshire DHHS, Food Protection Section: Homestead Food Operations [1]. Phone (603) 271-4589; email DHHS.FoodProtection@dhhs.nh.gov [1].
- UNH Cooperative Extension, food safety field specialists [3].
Ask in writing whether a homestead kitchen may make a shelf-stable hot sauce, exempt or licensed, and which label wording applies. This page was last verified October 22, 2026 against the sources below.
Getting your process review
The review is the gate for a New Hampshire hot sauce. The getting a scheduled process page explains what to send a reviewer and how long it takes.
References
- New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, Homestead Food Operations (with FAQs dated October 27, 2015), viewed October 2026. https://dhhs.nh.gov/programs-services/environmental-health-and-you/food-protection/homestead-food-operations
- New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, Bureau of Public Health Protection, Homestead Food Operations Frequently Asked Questions Reference Guide, last revised October 2025 (copy hosted by the Town of Derry). https://www.derrynh.gov/public-health/files/nh-food-protection-homesteading-faqs-2026
- UNH Cooperative Extension, Selling Homemade Food Products in NH: The Basics, Part Two (fact sheet), Mary Saucier Choate and Ann Hamilton, updated March 2026. https://extension.unh.edu/resource/selling-homemade-food-products-nh-basics-part-two-fact-sheet
- New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, Food Protection Section, Application for New Homestead Food Operation License (Form HAPP), February 2024 (viewed October 22, 2026). https://www.dhhs.nh.gov/sites/g/files/ehbemt476/files/inline-documents/sonh/he-p2300adoptedform3.pdf
