Can you sell homemade jam under Wyoming's Food Freedom Act?
Updated
On this page8
Yes. Wyoming's Food Freedom Act exempts homemade food sold to an informed end consumer from state licensing, permitting, inspection, packaging and labeling, and the act names jams as an example of non-potentially hazardous food [1]. That classification is what opens the most doors for jam: besides farmers markets, farms, ranches and your home, it can be sold through a retail shop or grocery store, on its own shelf with a home-kitchen label [1]. The firm condition is geography. Every transaction must occur in Wyoming and must not involve interstate commerce [1].
What "informed end consumer" means at your table
The buyer must be the last purchaser, not someone who will resell, and must have been told the product is not licensed, regulated or inspected [1]. Telling them is your job at every sale, including sales through someone else. A sign at the point of sale stating that the homemade food has not been inspected does that work at a market [1].
Three ways to get jam to buyers
| Channel | What the act says | What you must do |
|---|---|---|
| Direct | Sales at farmers markets, farms, ranches, your home or office, and other agreed locations [1] [2] | Inform the buyer; a sign is the simplest way |
| Designated agent | A person, "consignment model market or food freedom store" you designate, which "shall not take ownership" of your products; added in 2023 [1] [3] | Keep ownership; agree terms in writing |
| Third-party vendor | A retail shop or grocery store, for non-potentially hazardous food only [1] | Separate shelf or display from licensed products; a label reading "this food was made in a home kitchen, is not regulated or inspected and may contain allergens"; a sign [1] |
The third-party route is the one most states deny. In Wyoming a gift shop or grocery may carry your strawberry jam, so long as it sits apart from commercially made food and carries the statement [1]. Setting consignment terms and wholesale prices is covered on selling jam to shops and cafes.
The producer limits
The act's definition of a producer has two ceilings: no more than 250,000 individual food or drink products a year, and no more than $250,000 in gross revenue a year from them [1]. Few jam makers will come near either, but they mean Wyoming is not quite a state with no limit at all. The figures are from a compilation current through the 2024 Budget Session [1].
Where edge products land
The act defines potentially hazardous food to include "foods requiring refrigeration, dairy products, quiches, pizzas, frozen doughs, meat and cooked vegetables" [1]. That list matters for three jam-adjacent products:
- Freezer jam requires refrigeration, so it is potentially hazardous. It stays outside the third-party store route [1]; sell it direct, kept frozen.
- Pepper jelly and jams with vegetables involve cooked vegetables. Whether a finished, acidified pepper jelly counts as "cooked vegetables" is not addressed. Read it conservatively and sell it direct only. A process authority's review is still worth having for pepper jelly, even where none is required; see process authorities and scheduled processes.
- Low-sugar spreads and fruit butters are not named. A shelf-stable canned fruit butter sits closer to jam than to the potentially hazardous list. Pumpkin butter does not: it has no tested home canning process.
With no inspection or recipe review in Wyoming, the safety of each jar rests on your recipe and process. Work from tested recipes; see from recipe to product. Product liability falls on you too, which makes insurance worth a look before you sell through a store.
Labels in Wyoming
Homemade food under the act is exempt from state labeling requirements [1]. The exception is the third-party retail channel, where the jar must carry the home-kitchen statement quoted above [1]. A full label is still good practice and is what most shops will ask for; the federal elements are on what a jam label must say.
Beyond food freedom
Out-of-state sales, sales to buyers who will resell, or volumes past the producer limits take you outside the act [1]. The licensing route for a commercial jam kitchen in Wyoming was not confirmed for this page; ask the Wyoming Department of Agriculture.
Contact the Wyoming Department of Agriculture
University of Wyoming Extension's directory entry on the act names the Wyoming Department of Agriculture's Consumer Health Services office as the contact, and confirms that "canned goods such as jams, jellies, and salsas" can be sold under the act [2]. No department web page on the act was located for this review.
The rules above were last verified in October 2026. For the third-party shelf route, selling jam to shops and cafes covers pricing and consignment terms.
References
- National Agricultural Law Center, Wyoming cottage food statutes (W.S. 11-49-101 to 11-49-103), state compilation current through the 2024 Budget Session. https://nationalaglawcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/assets/cottagefood/Wyoming.pdf
- University of Wyoming Extension, Specialty Crop Directory: Wyoming Food Freedom Act, published September 26, 2025, modified September 29, 2025. https://wyoextension.org/specialty-crop/directory/wyoming-food-freedom-act/
- Wyoming Legislature, SF 102 (2023) Food freedom act amendments (designated agents), enrolled, effective July 1, 2023. https://www.wyoleg.gov/2023/Enroll/SF0102.pdf
