Ingredients Labels

Business By bbvaccaro Updated 20 Mar 2016 , 10:15pm by bbvaccaro

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bbvaccaro Posted 16 Mar 2016 , 5:34am
post #1 of 9

Hi all! I'm new to this group so please forgive me if this has been asked...Arkansas cottage food law requires that baked goods have an attached ingredients list. I'm still in the planning stages of my cookie venture & was trying to come up with best and least visually distracting way to include a label for ingredients on my packaging, for both individually packaged cookies & cookie boxes. How do you all attach an ingredients list? Should a print it on a label & affix it to the back/ side of packaging? What about boxes with assorted cookies? Should there be a separate label for each cookie or list all the ingredients together on one label? Thanks so much for the help!

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suezoo Posted 19 Mar 2016 , 2:59am
post #2 of 9

Hi there, I too am in the process of getting a cottage license to do cookies and such. I think you have to have a label for each type of cookie. I am going to put mine on the bottom of the container or the back of a bag.  For Washington I have to have the label made  and attached to the recipe on the application. 


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bbvaccaro Posted 19 Mar 2016 , 5:08am
post #3 of 9

Thanks for the reply! In Arkansas you don't need a permit as long as you're not selling baked goods that are "hazardous", ie. items that require refrigeration or to be kept warm. The law is very vague though about the ingredients list & doesn't mention assorted items. I'm really hoping I could get away with having one label with all the ingredients listed :)

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FrostedMoon Posted 19 Mar 2016 , 4:59pm
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I highly recommend you contact the health board inspector responsible for your town.  In MA each town has very different expectations and it's the individual that's reviewing everything that has the final say on how they interpret the laws.

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bbvaccaro Posted 19 Mar 2016 , 7:04pm
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Quote by @FrostedMoon on 1 hour ago

I highly recommend you contact the health board inspector responsible for your town.  In MA each town has very different expectations and it's the individual that's reviewing everything that has the final say on how they interpret the laws.

Arkansas doesn't require a permit. As long as I'm selling baked goods that fall within their cottage food guidelines, there is nothing to submit or apply for. The only stipulation is to have "homemade" on the packaging & an ingredients label.

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kristykgs Posted 20 Mar 2016 , 1:10am
post #6 of 9

Louisiana is even more relaxed. I called our parish (county for other states) health board and they told me verbatim, we do not monitor home bakeries. Do not sell anything that needs to be refrigerated and you are good to go. No ingredients, no lab to send recipes to, no permits..nothing. Oh, we can't make over 20K a year. 

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kelscraftycakes Posted 20 Mar 2016 , 2:37pm
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I just moved to NH and I'm pretty sure it's exactly the same here. Can't make over $20k and no refrigerated items.

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BakerBlackCat Posted 20 Mar 2016 , 6:46pm
post #8 of 9

http://forrager.com/law/arkansas/

I use this site for California and have found it a great help.  Read all the comments too; sometimes comments clarify the bullet points.  It covers everything: what's allowed, label requirements, types of products/ingredients/sales that are prohibited, etc.

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bbvaccaro Posted 20 Mar 2016 , 10:15pm
post #9 of 9


Quote by @BakerBlackCat on 3 hours ago

http://forrager.com/law/arkansas/

I use this site for California and have found it a great help.  Read all the comments too; sometimes comments clarify the bullet points.  It covers everything: what's allowed, label requirements, types of products/ingredients/sales that are prohibited, etc.


Thanks so much! The site is very helpful !

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