Florida cottage food law and homemade jam
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Yes. Florida's cottage food law allows "Fruit jams, jellies, and preserves" with no license, no permit and no state inspection [1], and it is among the most open states on two points: sales up to $250,000 a year [2], a cap only Wyoming matches today, and shipping across state lines by mail or commercial carrier [1] [2]. The condition you cannot skip is the label, which must carry Florida's cottage statement in at least 10-point type in a contrasting color [2]. Vegetable butters and jellies are prohibited, and that includes pumpkin butter [1].
What Florida allows and prohibits
The University of Florida IFAS Extension fact sheet (FS425, modified July 2, 2026) is the most detailed public list of Florida cottage foods [1].
| Product | Status | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Fruit jams, jellies, preserves | Allowed [1] | Use a tested recipe |
| Honey | Allowed [1] | |
| Vegetable butters and jellies | Prohibited [1] | |
| Pumpkin butter | Prohibited; "considered a potentially hazardous food" [1] | It also has no tested home canning process [3] |
| Syrups, "including elderberry" | Prohibited [1] | Elderberry jam is a separate question; ask |
| Pepper jelly | Not named [1] | Peppers are vegetables, so read it as a prohibited vegetable jelly |
| Fruit butters (apple, peach) | Not addressed [1] | Ask FDACS |
| Low-sugar or no-sugar jam | Not addressed [1] | Ask FDACS |
| Freezer jam | Not addressed [1] | A jam kept frozen is not shelf-stable; ask before selling |
Pepper jelly deserves a word. A jelly made from peppers is a vegetable jelly on Florida's list, and pepper jelly made for sale is an acidified food in any case; see pepper jelly. For the low-acid problem with pumpkin, see pumpkin butter and other low-acid spreads.
No license, no inspection, $250,000
Florida cottage operators "are not required to obtain a license or permit," and "these operations are not inspected by any state government entity" [1]. The yearly limit is "annual gross sales of cottage food products that do not exceed $250,000" [2]. The state requires no training [1], though markets and venues "may require vendors to have additional licensing" [1]. Insurance and local business licenses are covered on insurance, licenses and sales tax.
Shipping jam out of Florida
Section 500.80 lets you "sell, offer for sale, and accept payment" for cottage food "over the Internet or by mail order," and deliver it "in person directly to the consumer, to a specific event venue," or "by United States Postal Service or commercial mail delivery service" [2]. UF/IFAS reads that to include shipping "across state lines" [1]. As of October 2026, Florida is the one state whose official guidance plainly says so.
Two cautions. First, the other state's rules and federal food law still apply once a jar crosses the line; read FDA registration and food safety rules before building an out-of-state customer list. Second, jam is heavy glass, and breakage eats margin; packing is on shipping jam.
No wholesale, no consignment
"A cottage food operation may not sell, offer for sale, or deliver cottage food products at wholesale" [2], and UF/IFAS adds consignment to the prohibition [1]. A gift shop cannot stock your jars, even on commission. If you want shelves in stores, you need a permitted facility; ask FDACS's Division of Food Safety which permit applies, and see when you need a licensed kitchen.
The 10-point cottage statement
Every product is sold prepackaged with a label showing [2]:
- your operation's name and address (UF/IFAS specifies the physical address [1])
- the product name
- ingredients in descending order of predominance by weight
- net weight or volume
- allergen information
- nutrition information, if you make a nutritional claim
- the statement, in at least 10-point type in a color that clearly contrasts with the background: "Made in a cottage food operation that is not subject to Florida's food safety regulations."
The nutrition line matters for jam: calling a jar "low sugar" or "reduced sugar" is a nutritional claim, and it brings a Nutrition Facts panel with it. See do you need a Nutrition Facts panel and, for the federal basics, what a jam label must say.
Getting a Florida answer in writing
The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) oversees cottage food under Fla. Stat. § 500.80, last amended in 2025 [2]. FDACS's own cottage food page and brochure, linked from UF/IFAS, could not be retrieved for this page, so the product list above comes from the UF/IFAS fact sheet [1]. For anything the table marks "ask," contact FDACS's Division of Food Safety through its cottage foods page. This page was last verified in October 2026.
Packing Florida jars for the mail
Interstate shipping is the door Florida opens that most states keep shut, and glass is the hard part of it. Packing, carriers and breakage are on shipping jam, and the order page itself, including what the other state may require, is on selling jam online.
References
- UF/IFAS Extension, Ellis, Hagen and Krug, Q and A: Understanding Florida's Cottage Food Law (FS425), September 12, 2021, modified July 2, 2026. https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/FS425
- Florida Legislature, Fla. Stat. § 500.80, Cottage food operations, 2026 Florida Statutes (last amended ch. 2025-22). http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0500-0599/0500/Sections/0500.80.html
- National Center for Home Food Preservation, Beware: Pumpkin Butter, December 7, 2012. https://nchfp.uga.edu/blog/beware-pumpkin-butter
