Selling homemade jam in Mississippi
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You can sell jam made in your Mississippi home kitchen as a cottage food, as long as it is a full-sugar jam, jelly or preserve that meets the federal standard of identity. The Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) allows "Jams, jellies, and preserves that comply with the standard described in part 150 of Title 21," and it adds that jams and jellies "made with sugar substitutes are not Cottage Foods" [1]. Sales are capped at $35,000 a year, and every sale must be face to face inside Mississippi; the internet is for advertising only [1] [2].
What "complies with part 150" means for your recipes
Part 150 is the federal rule that defines jam, jelly and preserves by how much fruit and sugar they contain. Mississippi State University Extension sums it up for cottage food makers: a fruit to sugar ratio of 47 to 55 for one group of fruits and 45 to 55 for the other, and 45 to 55 juice to sugar for jelly, with allowed ingredients including dried and ground spices, acidifying agents, lemon juice and pectin [2]. Which fruit falls in which group is on how much fruit the law requires in jam.
| Product | Status in Mississippi | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Full-sugar fruit jam, jelly or preserves | Allowed | MSDH [1] |
| Jam or jelly made with a sugar substitute | Not a cottage food | MSDH [1] |
| Reduced-sugar jam with real sugar | Not named; a recipe below the Part 150 sugar level does not meet the standard MSDH requires | MSDH [1]; see low-sugar jam |
| Fruit butter | Not named by MSDH or Extension | Ask MSDH |
| Pepper jelly | Not named; MSDH allows acidified plant-based canned foods with a finished pH of 4.6 or below | MSDH [1] |
| Freezer jam | Not named | Ask MSDH |
On pepper jelly, the acidified route means the finished jelly must reach pH 4.6 or below, and MSDH warns that "Improper acidification can lead to botulism" [1]. For a pepper jelly line, a process authority's review of the recipe is the safe course; see pepper jelly. If you are tempted to swap in a sweetener, the reasons it changes the product are on sugar substitutes in jam.
Canning steps Extension expects
Extension says acid and acidified home-canned products should be heat treated in a hot water bath or an approved hot-fill-hold process, and it calls for standardized, tested recipes [2]. It "highly recommended and encouraged" a pH test 24 hours after processing, with the pH value recorded alongside the recipe source, date and batch quantity [2]. Products that need pressure canning are not allowed at all [2]. A notebook with those four entries per batch is also what you will want if a customer ever calls about a jar.
Face to face, inside Mississippi
- No state permit is described. The MSDH FAQ sends you to your city, or your county if you live outside city limits, for local requirements [1].
- $35,000 in gross annual sales is the limit [1] [2].
- Where: from your home, or at farmers markets and municipal or county fairs [2].
- How: "The sale must be from the Cottage Food producer to the actual customer (person to person)," and "You must be present to sell your food" [1].
- Online: you may advertise on the internet and social media [1], but Extension states that "Selling products online, in retail or wholesale stores, or shipping through postal services is prohibited" [2].
- No stores or consignment. Sales at wholesale or to a retail food establishment are prohibited, and cottage foods "may not be sold with or associated with a regulated food business" [1].
- Mississippi only, both ways: your jam may be sold only in Mississippi, and cottage foods made in other states may not be sold there [1].
The contrasting-color statement
Each jar needs your operation's name and address, the product name, ingredients by weight, net weight or volume, allergens, and nutrition information if you make a nutrition claim [1]. It also needs this statement, in at least 10 point type in a color that contrasts with the label background: "Made in a Cottage Food operation that is not subject to Mississippi's food safety regulations" [1]. Extension advises making no claims at all on cottage food labels [2]. The federal elements are on what a jam label must say.
Past the cottage food limits
The MSDH FAQ does not describe the permit for a commercial jam operation [1]. If you want to sell online, ship, supply shops or pass $35,000, ask MSDH what license applies and read moving to a licensed kitchen.
MSDH and your city or county
The official source is MSDH's Cottage Food Operation FAQ, revised September 2023 [1]. Ask MSDH and your city or county before your first sale. Verified in October 2026.
Building a face-to-face season
With the internet limited to advertising, your year is a run of markets and events. Selling jam at a farmers market covers the stall, and selling jam for the holidays covers the busiest weeks of the year.
References
- Mississippi State Department of Health, Cottage Food Operation FAQ, revised September 2023. https://MSDH.MS.GOV/page/resources/5375.pdf
- Mississippi State University Extension (Crist, Schnedler and Von Staden), Mississippi Cottage Food Operations: Regulations and Guidance, Publication 3286 (POD-08-20), 2020. https://extension.msstate.edu/sites/default/files/publications/P3286_web.pdf
