Michigan Cottage Food Address Privacy: MSU Registration and Label Options

The Privacy Problem PA 51 Solved

Before March 2026, every cottage food label in Michigan had to display the producer's full home address. No P.O. boxes, no business addresses — your actual residential street address, printed on every bag of cookies and jar of jam you sold.

For a lot of home food entrepreneurs, especially women operating solo businesses, that was a dealbreaker. Giving strangers your home address at every farmers market booth or in every online order creates a personal safety risk that the state didn't address for fifteen years.

Public Act 51 of 2025 fixed it by creating a voluntary registration program through the MSU Product Center.

How the Registration Works

You register online through the MSU Product Center's portal. The fee is $50, paid once. After registration, you receive a unique identification number formatted as C-000000000.

With that code in hand, your labels can display:

• Your name (or business name)
• Your business phone number
• Your MSU registration number

Instead of:

• Your name
• Your full home address

The registration records are shielded by law. MSU shares your information with MDARD for enforcement purposes, but the records are explicitly exempt from the Michigan Freedom of Information Act. A member of the public cannot FOIA your home address through the registration system.

When You Need to Re-Register

The registration remains in effect unless certain details change. You must re-register (and pay the $50 fee again) if:

• Your home address changes
• Your registered business name changes
• Your primary business contact person changes

If only your business phone number changes, you can update it by emailing [email protected] without paying again.

What Registration Doesn't Do

MSU registration is purely a label-privacy mechanism. It doesn't:

• License your operation
• Inspect your kitchen
• Certify your products
• Create any ongoing reporting obligation
• Replace any other labeling requirement

You still need every other required label element — product name, net weight in US and metric units, full ingredient list, allergen declarations, and the mandatory MDARD disclaimer in 11-point font. The registration code replaces only the address line.

Is It Worth the $50?

If you sell at farmers markets, craft fairs, or online — anywhere a stranger can read your label — the privacy protection is worth the cost. A single jar of jam at a market gives anyone your home address without the registration. Multiply that by hundreds of products over a selling season, and the exposure adds up fast.

For sellers who only sell to friends, family, and neighborhood regulars, the home address on the label may not be a concern. The registration is voluntary specifically because not every seller needs it.

The Michigan Cottage Food & Home Food Business Guide walks through the MSU registration process step by step and includes label templates that accommodate both the address and registration-code formats.

See more Michigan guides →