Indiana Cottage Food Dog Treats

Indiana Cottage Food Law Doesn't Cover Pet Food

This is the short answer most people don't want to hear: Indiana's cottage food laws — the Home-Based Vendor framework (IC 16-42-5.3) and the Homestead Vendor framework (IC 16-42-5.4) — apply to food intended for human consumption. Homemade dog treats, cat treats, and other pet food products fall under a completely different regulatory framework.

Pet food and animal feed in Indiana are regulated under the Indiana Commercial Feed Law (IC 15-19-7), administered by the Office of the Indiana State Chemist (OISC) at Purdue University. This isn't the health department — it's a separate state agency with its own licensing, labeling, and inspection requirements.

What You Actually Need to Sell Dog Treats

To legally sell homemade dog treats in Indiana, you need an Indiana Commercial Feed License from the OISC and must follow its product-registration and labeling process. The process involves:

Registration with the Office of the Indiana State Chemist. You must file a commercial feed license application and pay the annual license fee. This licenses your manufacture or distribution of animal feed products in Indiana.

AAFCO-compliant labeling. The Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) sets the labeling standards that Indiana adopts by reference. Every pet treat product must include:

• Product name (including the species it's intended for)
• Guaranteed analysis (minimum crude protein, minimum crude fat, maximum crude fiber, maximum moisture)
• Ingredient list using AAFCO-defined ingredient names
• Net weight
• Manufacturer name and address
• Feeding directions (if the product is intended as a complete food, not just a treat)

No nutritional adequacy claims unless you can substantiate them through AAFCO feeding trials or nutrient profile analysis. For treats (as opposed to complete diets), you can typically use the statement "This product is intended for intermittent or supplemental feeding only."

The FDA Layer

Pet food is also subject to federal oversight by the FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM). Federal requirements include:

• Proper product identification
• Net quantity statement
• Manufacturer or distributor name and address
• Ingredient listing following FDA/AAFCO standards

The FDA doesn't require pre-market approval for most pet treats, but they can — and do — take enforcement action against products that are adulterated, misbranded, or that contain harmful ingredients. Jerky treats and rawhide products have been subject to FDA investigations and recalls.

Can You Make Dog Treats in Your Home Kitchen?

Indiana's commercial feed law doesn't prohibit home-based production of pet treats the way some states do. The OISC's primary concern is registration, labeling compliance, and product safety — not whether your kitchen has a commercial hood system.

That said, your production space needs to maintain basic sanitary standards, and the OISC can inspect your facility. This is a different posture from human cottage food law, where inspections are complaint-driven only. As a registered feed distributor, you're subject to the OISC's standard compliance and inspection protocols.

The Common Mistake

Many home bakers assume they can sell dog treats as a sideline under their cottage food exemption. They'll set up at a farmers market with cookies for humans and biscuits for dogs, treating both products under the same HBV registration. That's a compliance error. The human food products fall under your HBV or homestead vendor exemption. The dog treats require separate OISC registration and AAFCO-compliant labeling. Mixing the two creates a situation where you're selling unregistered animal feed — and the enforcement consequences come from a different agency entirely.

If you're primarily interested in starting a human food business from your home kitchen, the Indiana Cottage Food & Home Food Business Guide covers the complete registration and compliance sequence for the HBV and Homestead Vendor frameworks. For the pet food side, your starting point is the Office of the Indiana State Chemist at Purdue.

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