Can you sell low-sugar jam, pepper jelly, freezer jam or pumpkin butter under cottage food?

By Dwight Davis, Founder

Updated October 2026

On this page11

The edge products at a glance Low-sugar and sugar-free jam Pepper jelly and other vegetable jellies Freezer jam and refrigerator jam Fruit butters, and why pumpkin butter is different Jams and jellies with alcohol Flower, herb and other non-fruit jellies Unusual fruits How to read your own state's list Check your state's entry before you choose a product line References

Often not, and it depends on the product and the state. Home food laws are written for standard, high-sugar, shelf-stable fruit jam. Pumpkin butter should not be sold as a canned, shelf-stable spread anywhere, because no tested home canning process exists for it. Pepper jelly is barred on at least one home route in 15 states, listed as "may not be allowed" in Virginia, and sent for a lab test, process review or permit in a dozen more. Low-sugar jam is barred in 9 states and named as allowed in 2. Fruit butters are excluded in 6 states and allowed in 16. Freezer jam needs refrigeration, which puts it outside most laws limited to shelf-stable food. Below, product by product, is what each state has said.

The edge products at a glance

Product	Why it is at the edge	The pattern across states (October 2026)
Low-sugar and sugar-free jam	Falls below the 65 percent soluble solids that defines jam, so it is no longer standard jam and keeps less well	Barred in 9 states, sent for a test, review or permit in 9, allowed by name in 2
Pepper, onion, garlic and other vegetable jellies	Low-acid vegetables raise the pH; treated as acidified food by several state agencies	Barred in 15 states; "may not be allowed" in Virginia; allowed after a recipe review, lab test or permit in 12; unresolved in 2
Freezer and refrigerator jam	Not shelf-stable; spoils at room temperature	Barred by name or by a shelf-stable rule in 15 states; allowed with cold-holding or direct-sale limits in 10
Fruit butters (apple, pear, peach)	Thick purees with their own federal standard	Excluded in 6 states, allowed in 16, sent for a test or review in 4
Pumpkin and winter squash butter	Low-acid; no tested home canning process	Not safe as a canned shelf product; barred by name or rule in 11 states
Jams and jellies with wine, liqueur or beer	Alcohol rules and nonstandard ingredients	Barred in some states
Flower and herb jellies	Not fruit; nonstandard	Barred in some states, sent for review in others

Low-sugar and sugar-free jam

Why it is at the edge. The federal standard for jam and preserves requires at least 65 percent soluble solids [1]. A low-sugar spread falls short, so it cannot be sold as "jam" at all and needs an informative name such as "Strawberry Fruit Spread" [2]. The sugar was also doing preservation work: with less of it, the spread spoils sooner once opened, and some low-sugar methods produce spreads that must be refrigerated rather than canned (Oregon State's methods divide them this way) [3].

What states have said.

Barred (9 states): Michigan allows "No low-sugar or no-sugar jams or jellies" [4]. Nevada excludes sugar-free and no-sugar-added versions [5]. South Carolina excludes low- or no-sugar recipes [6]. Mississippi says jams made with sugar substitutes "are not Cottage Foods" [7]. New York prohibits "spreads," the name a below-standard jam must carry [8]. California [9] and Connecticut [10] require jam to meet 21 CFR Part 150, which shuts out a spread below 65 percent. Ohio's Farm Bureau lists sugar-free jams as not permitted [11], and Utah's cottage food list excludes sugar-free jam (Utah's separate food freedom route does not) [12].
Probably outside the standard: Washington allows only standardized jams under Part 150 and does not name low-sugar spreads [13]; confirm with WSDA.
Sent for a test, review or permit (9 states): Arizona approves shelf-stable status only on a lab result of pH 4.6 or below or water activity below 0.85 [14]. Arkansas asks makers of reduced-sugar products to contact the health department [15]. Kansas tests reduced- and no-sugar jams before deciding whether a license is needed [16]. Iowa requires a shelf-stability test and warns the product may not meet the standard for "jam" [17]. Kentucky sends low-sugar jams to the University of Kentucky microprocessing program, which is open only to farmers [18] [19]. New Hampshire requires a process review unless the recipe is an unchanged NCHFP recipe [20]. Vermont asks for a product determination [21]. West Virginia requires a potentially hazardous cottage food permit, with process authority approval, for no-sugar-added and artificially sweetened jams [22]. Virginia warns that low- and no-sugar jams may fall outside its exemption depending on the recipe [23].
Allowed by name (2 states): Indiana lists low or no sugar jams [24]. Idaho's 2026 act lists regular and sugar-free jams and jellies [25]. North Dakota [26] and Montana [27] do not exclude them, because their food freedom laws exclude almost nothing.
If it needs the refrigerator: Texas allows refrigerated low-sugar spreads only with registration, a date made and a safe handling statement [28], and Alaska only by the producer directly [29].

Florida adds a labeling point: calling the spread "low sugar" is a nutrition claim, which brings nutrition information onto the label [30].

What to do. If your state does not name low-sugar products, assume the allowance means standard jam and ask the agency before you sell. Make the spread with a method built for less sugar (see low-sugar jam that sets and keeps), and name it correctly (see what you can call your jam).

Pepper jelly and other vegetable jellies

Why it is at the edge. Peppers, onions and garlic are low-acid vegetables. The federal acidified food rule (21 CFR 114.3) excludes "jams, jellies, preserves" [31], but it does not say whether a jelly built on peppers counts as a "jelly" for that purpose. Michigan's agriculture department lists pepper and other vegetable or herb jellies as acidified foods, which brings in process filing and a process authority [32]. If you sell pepper jelly, treat it as an acidified food (a process authority review and a verified pH) until a process authority or your state says otherwise. The safety detail is on pepper jelly.

What states have said.

Barred by name (7 states): California's CDPH FAQ [33]; Michigan, "No vegetable jams/jellies (e.g., hot pepper jelly)" [4]; New Jersey, which leaves pepper jelly off its approved list [77] and lists peppers as a prohibited ingredient [34]; New Mexico [35]; New York [8]; South Carolina [6]; and Colorado, which bars pepper jelly made with fresh or homemade dehydrated peppers now and every pepper jam and jelly from January 1, 2027 [36] [37].
Barred by a rule that covers it (8 states): Florida prohibits vegetable jellies [38]. Oregon allows jams and jellies "made only with fruit" [39]. Indiana does not approve acidified canned foods [24]. Ohio bars acidified foods and lists hot pepper butter as not permitted [40] [11]. Connecticut's statute bars acidified foods [41]. Massachusetts bans acidification in every residential kitchen [42]. Nevada [5] and Utah's cottage program [12] say acidified vegetables such as jalapeños must be commercially made.
"May not be allowed" (Virginia): VDACS's July 2026 FAQ lists pepper jelly among jams that "may not be allowed" and again in the acidified vegetable exemption's "MAY NOT be allowed" list [23]. With pepper jelly on both lists, plan on neither home route covering it unless VDACS approves your recipe in writing.
Allowed after a recipe review, lab test or permit (12 states): Arkansas allows pepper jelly made with commercially dried, ground pepper and asks you to contact the health department if it has pepper pieces [15]. Illinois accepts a tested recipe, or a food safety plan with a pH test every 3 years [43]. Kansas needs no license for jelly flavored with pepper vinegar or a little pepper powder and tests the rest [44]. New Hampshire names pepper jelly as needing a process review [45]. West Virginia requires a permit with process authority approval [22]. Pennsylvania reviews it as an acidified food [46], North Carolina wants a lab process authority letter [47], and Texas a recipe from a listed source or a process authority, plus a batch number [28]. Arizona approves it on a lab pH of 4.6 or below [14]. Kentucky sends it to the farmer-only microprocessing program [18]. Tennessee's extension service treats pepper jam above pH 4.6 as a low-acid canned food [48], and Maine says acidified foods carry added requirements [49].
Unresolved (2 states): Hawaii's Department of Health and its statute state the acidified food test differently [50] [51]. In Nebraska, the university program says pepper jelly with pureed peppers is allowed [52], while the law excludes sealed acidified foods [53]. Get a written answer in either state.

Maryland's cottage list is closed and does not include pepper jelly [54].

What to do. Where pepper jelly is barred, the route is a licensed kitchen and a process authority (see process authorities and scheduled processes). Where your state is silent, ask in writing.

Freezer jam and refrigerator jam

Why it is at the edge. Freezer jam is never heat processed. It keeps up to 3 weeks in the refrigerator or up to a year in the freezer, and jam left at room temperature can mold or ferment quickly [55]. That makes it a food that needs temperature control, the category most cottage food laws exist to keep out.

What states have said.

Barred by name or by a shelf-stable rule (15 states): Washington prohibits freezer and refrigerator style products by name [13], and Ohio's Farm Bureau lists freezer jam as not permitted [11]. Michigan's allowance covers jams "in glass jars that can be stored at room temperature" [4]. California [33], New York [8], North Carolina [56], Pennsylvania [57], Vermont [21], Maine [58], Hawaii [59], Massachusetts [42], Maryland [54], Indiana [24] and Rhode Island's farm route [60] exclude food that needs refrigeration. Wisconsin covers only food you "prepare and can" [61].
Allowed with limits (10 states): Arizona treats freezer jam as perishable: direct sale only, offered the day it leaves your home and delivered within two hours [14]. Arkansas allows fruit-based freezer jams under its frozen products rules [15]. Idaho's 2026 act opens perishable homemade foods kept safe and sold with handling instructions [25]. Tennessee allows it in person only [48]. Texas requires registration, a date made and a safe handling statement [28]. Oklahoma requires food safety training and direct sale and delivery [62]. Iowa requires a home food processing establishment license [17]. Alaska [29] and Wyoming [63] allow direct sales by the producer only, and North Dakota requires handling instructions and a statement that the jam was kept frozen [26].

What to do. Assume freezer jam is excluded unless your state's law covers perishable foods, then follow its rules for cold holding, transport and labeling. Storage times live on how long freezer jam keeps.

Fruit butters, and why pumpkin butter is different

Why fruit butters are at the edge. Fruit butter has its own federal standard (21 CFR 150.110): at least 5 parts fruit to 2 parts sweetener by weight and at least 43 percent soluble solids, with a short list of permitted fruits [64]. It is a dense puree, so it heats differently from jam in the canner.

What states have said about fruit butters.

Excluded (6 states): Michigan excludes "apple butter, pumpkin butter, or other fruit butters" [4]. Nevada [5], Utah's cottage list ("Fruit butter is not allowed") [12], Connecticut [10], Georgia [65] and New Jersey, which lists apple, guava, fig and other fruit butters as not included [77], exclude fruit butters. Virginia lists apple butter among products that "may not be allowed" [23].
Allowed (16 states): California, if it meets 21 CFR 150.110 [9]; Colorado [66]; Indiana [24]; Ohio [67]; Maryland, from listed fruits [54]; Oregon, from fruit with a natural pH below 4.60 [39]; Washington, standardized under Part 150 [13]; Illinois [68]; Iowa, if shelf stable [17]; Kentucky [18]; Idaho, under the 2026 act [25]; Arkansas, apple butter at pH 4.6 or below or water activity 0.85 or below [15]; Kansas, apple butter [44]; Texas, high-acid fruit butters [69]; West Virginia, plain fruit butters with no added ingredients [70]; and Delaware, on the farm route only [71].
Sent for a test or review (4 states): Alabama's extension service requires a lab result of water activity below 0.88 or pH below 4.2 [72]. New Hampshire requires a process review [45], Pennsylvania a soluble solids test unless you follow a standard recipe [57], and Vermont a product determination [21].
Unclear: Oklahoma's extension fact sheet lists "butters" among foods that need temperature control without saying which [62].

Pumpkin butter. The National Center for Home Food Preservation says home canning "is NOT recommended for pumpkin butter or any mashed or pureed pumpkin or winter squash." Pumpkin is a low-acid food with a pH above 4.6, and a 1995 University of Missouri study found home-canned pumpkin butters as high as pH 5.4 [73]. That is botulism territory. Eleven states bar it by name or by a rule that covers it: Florida, which calls it potentially hazardous [38]; Michigan [4]; New Hampshire, which says it "cannot safely be made in a residential kitchen" [74]; Ohio [11]; Maryland, which requires a processing license [75]; New Jersey, which lists pumpkin as a prohibited ingredient [34]; West Virginia, which says it is "not considered a fruit butter" [70]; South Carolina, which allows pumpkin only baked into a thin cookie [6]; and Texas [28], Illinois [43] and Maine [76], which exclude low-acid or pressure-canned home foods. A few states leave a gap: Kansas sends pumpkin butter to a lab test [44], Colorado's 2027 list names it as approved [37], and an Indiana county's guidance gives it as an example [24]. Those listings do not make it safe. Do not sell canned pumpkin butter as a shelf-stable product in any state. See pumpkin butter and other low-acid spreads.

Jams and jellies with alcohol

Arkansas does not allow alcohol-flavored jams [15]. New York prohibits wine jellies and any product containing alcohol [8]. Montana's food freedom act excludes alcohol products [27]; whether a cooked wine jelly counts is a question to put to the state health department. Alabama allows foods with less than 3 percent alcohol [72]. New Jersey lists alcohol as a prohibited ingredient [34]. Washington's rule, as reviewed, does not address alcohol; ask WSDA before you list a wine jelly on a permit application. Recipes and their naming are on herb, flower, tea and wine jellies and conserves with nuts, dried fruit and spirits.

Flower, herb and other non-fruit jellies

New York prohibits flower jellies [8], and Michigan allows "No other non-fruit based jams/jellies" [4]. Virginia lists lavender jelly among products that "may not be allowed" [23], West Virginia requires a permit and process authority approval for herb and flower jellies [22], and Kansas tests flower jellies before deciding [44]. Lavender, rose, mint and tea jellies all sit in this group. Where a state's list says "fruit jams and jellies," read the word "fruit" as a limit.

Unusual fruits

Some states limit jam to particular fruits. Nevada and Utah's cottage program accept only fruits listed in 21 CFR 150 [5] [12], and Utah's list leaves out tomato. Maryland allows jams only from listed fruits [54], New York from 22 listed high-acid fruits [8], and Oregon only from fruit with a natural pH below 4.60, which rules out figs, melons, Asian pears and persimmons [39] [78]. Virginia lists fig and banana jam among products that "may not be allowed" [23], South Carolina excludes figs, tomatoes and mint [6], New Jersey excludes rhubarb and tomato jellies [77], and Kansas sends low-acid fruits such as mango for evaluation [44]. Figs, elderberries, Asian pears and white peaches need extra acid even for home use. See fruits that need extra acid.

How to read your own state's list

Find the words that define the category. "Non-potentially hazardous," "non-TCS," "shelf-stable" and "stored at room temperature" exclude freezer jam. "As defined in 21 CFR 150" or "standardized" excludes low-sugar spreads and anything with a nonstandard ingredient.
Look for "fruit." A list that says fruit jams leaves out vegetable, herb and flower jellies.
Check whether the law has a recipe or pH test. States that require pH 4.6 or below, a tested recipe or a process review may still allow an edge product if it passes.
Ask in writing when the list is silent, and keep the answer with your records.

Check your state's entry before you choose a product line

The fifty-state table gives each state's jam conditions and its rule for low-sugar jam, fruit butter and pepper jelly in one line, with a link to the state's own page and its agency.