Michigan Cottage Food Label Requirements: What Your Label Must Include

Every Product Needs a Label Before It Leaves Your Kitchen

Michigan law requires all cottage food products to be packaged and fully labeled before sale or delivery. Whether you're handing a bag of cookies across a farmers market table or shipping a box of granola to a customer in Traverse City, the label rules apply.

Getting this wrong is one of the fastest ways to draw an MDARD complaint. Here's exactly what needs to be on every package.

The Six Required Label Elements

1. Product name. The common or usual name of the food — "Chocolate Chip Cookies," "Strawberry Jam," "Garlic Herb Seasoning Mix." Use the name a consumer would recognize, not a brand-only label.

2. Net quantity of contents. Stated in both US customary units and metric units. Examples: "Net Wt. 8 oz (227g)" or "Net Wt. 12 oz (340g)." Weigh the product without packaging.

3. Ingredient list. All ingredients in descending order of predominance by weight. If you use a prepared ingredient like chocolate chips or soy sauce, you must disclose its sub-ingredients in parentheses. For example: "Chocolate chips (sugar, chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, vanilla)."

4. Allergen declaration. You must explicitly call out the major food allergens recognized under federal law: milk, eggs, wheat, peanuts, soybeans, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, and sesame. The standard format is a "Contains:" statement at the end of the ingredient list — "Contains: wheat, eggs, milk, soy."

5. Nutritional claims compliance. If you make any nutritional claim on the label — "low fat," "gluten-free," "sugar-free" — you must back it up with a standardized Nutrition Facts panel that meets federal labeling standards. If you're not making claims, you don't need the panel. The simplest approach for most cottage food sellers: don't make nutritional claims on your label.

6. The MDARD disclaimer. This is the one that catches new sellers. Every cottage food product must display this exact statement:

"Made in a home kitchen that has not been inspected by the Michigan department of agriculture and rural development."

The disclaimer must be in at least 11-point font (approximately 1/8 inch tall) in a color that provides a clear contrast against the packaging background. Black text on a white label works. Light gray text on a cream label does not.

Address or Registration Number

Your label must also identify who made the product and where to find them. You have two options:

Option A — Home address. Print your full name and physical home address. P.O. boxes don't satisfy the requirement.

Option B — MSU registration code. Register with the MSU Product Center for a one-time $50 fee. You'll receive a unique code (formatted as C-000000000) that can replace your home address on the label. You'll still need to include your name and business phone number.

Most cottage food sellers who are concerned about publishing their home address on every product choose the MSU registration. The registration records are exempt from Michigan's Freedom of Information Act.

Common Labeling Mistakes

Using too-small font for the disclaimer. Print the MDARD statement in 11-point or larger. If you're designing labels yourself, measure. If you're ordering from a printer, specify the minimum size in your design file.

Incomplete allergen declarations. Even trace amounts matter. If your kitchen processes tree nuts and you're selling cookies that don't contain them, consider a "may contain" advisory. The formal "Contains:" line covers intentional ingredients.

Missing sub-ingredients. A bag of trail mix that lists "chocolate chips" as an ingredient without disclosing what's in the chocolate chips is non-compliant. Break down every prepared ingredient.

P.O. box instead of physical address. If you haven't registered with MSU, you need your actual street address. A post office box or virtual mailbox doesn't count.

Handwritten vs. Printed Labels

Michigan law allows handwritten labels as long as they're legible and include all required elements. Practically, printed labels look more professional and reduce the risk of missing a required field. Many cottage food sellers start with printed adhesive labels from an online template and graduate to custom-designed packaging as their business grows.

The Michigan Cottage Food & Home Food Business Guide includes ready-to-use label templates that meet every statutory requirement, including proper disclaimer formatting and allergen declaration placement.

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