What are Nevada's cottage food rules for jam and jelly?

By Dwight Davis, Founder

Updated October 2026

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Standardized recipes from Part 150 fruits Registering in Clark County Selling face to face The Nevada label statement The July 2027 handover SNHD now, the agriculture department from 2027 Pricing for a $100,000 ceiling References

Nevada allows jam, jelly and preserves as cottage foods, but only full-sugar, standardized recipes made from the fruits named in the federal jam standard. The Southern Nevada Health District (SNHD) puts it this way: "Jams, jellies, and preserves must be 'standardized' recipes and contain only the fruits as described in 21 CFR 150," and "Fruit butter is not allowed. Sugar-free or no sugar added jams or jellies are not allowed" [1]. You must register before you sell ($220 in Clark County), stay under $100,000 a year in Clark County, and sell face to face [1]. The program is changing hands in July 2027, so this page covers the rules now and what is known about the switch.

Standardized recipes from Part 150 fruits

21 CFR 150 is the federal standard of identity for jams, jellies and preserves. It lists the fruits it covers and sets the minimum fruit and sugar for each. Nevada uses that list as its boundary [1], which means:

Strawberry, raspberry, blackberry, apricot, peach, plum, grape and the other listed fruits are fine in a standardized recipe. Check your fruit against the list on how much fruit the law requires in jam.
A fruit missing from the list is outside the cottage food rules even if the recipe is tested. Prickly pear, a desert favorite, appears in the federal jelly list but not the jam list, so a prickly pear jam and a prickly pear jelly may be treated differently; ask your health authority about the exact product.
Fruit butters of every kind, including apple and pumpkin, are not allowed [1].
Sugar-free and no-sugar-added jams and jellies are not allowed [1]. A low-sugar recipe made with real sugar is not named, but it falls below the Part 150 standard, so expect the same answer.
Pepper jelly is not named, but SNHD says "Acidified vegetables (such as jalapeño peppers) must be commercially manufactured" [1]. Treat pepper jelly as off the cottage food list.
Freezer jam is not addressed in the SNHD FAQ.

Use a tested recipe exactly as written; see recipes you can trust.

Registering in Clark County

SNHD registers cottage food operations in Clark County [2]. The current fee is $220, "only applicable through June 30, 2027" [1]. You apply online, email the application, pay the electronic invoice within 30 days, and wait: "The cottage food operation is not registered and cannot operate until an approval letter has been received" [2]. The owner must be a single natural person; partnerships, families and corporations do not qualify [2]. SNHD also offers an optional label review, billed separately [2]. Outside Clark County, ask your local health authority how it registers cottage food operations.

Selling face to face

In Clark County, gross cottage food sales are limited to "no more than $100,000 per calendar year" under NRS 580.600 [1]. Northern Nevada Public Health's undated cottage foods FAQ, which refers to the 2013 law, still gives a $35,000 limit [3], so outside Clark County ask your local health authority which cap it applies. You may sell in "a direct person-to-person transaction" at your home or private property, or "at a licensed farmers market, flea market, swap meet, church bazaar, garage sale, or craft fair" [1]. No consignment, no wholesaler and no sales to a permitted food establishment [1].

The FAQ, dated September 24, 2026, is not consistent about orders. It says "The cottage law specifically prohibits selling food by telephone or via the internet," and also that foods "can be ordered for in-person delivery by the cottage food operator via telephone or internet" [1]. What both lines agree on: you hand the jar over yourself, and a website or social media page may inform and advertise "but may not have an option for shipping" [1]. Before you take any order by phone or online, ask SNHD how it reads the two statements.

The Nevada label statement

Every jar carries: "MADE IN A COTTAGE FOOD OPERATION THAT IS NOT SUBJECT TO GOVERNMENT FOOD SAFETY INSPECTION" [1]. The federal elements (name, net weight, ingredients, allergens, your name and address) are on what a jam label must say.

The July 2027 handover

Assembly Bill 352 passed in the 2025 session and "does not go into effect until JULY 2027" [2]. Under it, the Nevada Department of Agriculture becomes the statewide registering authority on July 1, 2027, under NRS 585.700 to 585.770, and will write the regulations in the meantime [2]. Until then the current law, now codified at NRS 580.600, applies, and SNHD remains the registering authority for Clark County [2]. SNHD's page does not say whether AB 352 changes the sales limit, the product list or shipping [2]. Plan on today's rules and watch the Department of Agriculture's food safety program for its new regulations.

SNHD now, the agriculture department from 2027

SNHD's Cottage Food FAQ is the official page [1]; call (702) 759-0500 or email regsupport@snhd.org [2]. From July 2027, the Nevada Department of Agriculture takes over [2]. Checked in October 2026.