HB 398: Food, drugs, and cosmetics; authorize production and sale of cottage food items with certain exemptions, requirements, and disclosures

Right now, Georgia's food safety laws generally require commercial food to be made in licensed, inspected kitchens. This bill creates a new legal category called 'cottage food items,' meaning non-potentially hazardous foods and nonalcoholic drinks (things like bread, jams, dried fruit, popcorn, and candy) made in a home kitchen. People who make these foods, called cottage food operators, could sell them directly to consumers, online, by mail order, or through grocery stores and restaurants without needing the usual food sales establishment license. The bill requires sellers to disclose the producer's contact information (or an ID number from the Department of Agriculture) and a warning label stating the product was made at an exempt residential property and may contain allergens. Stores selling these items must post signage and keep them in a separate display area. The Department of Agriculture can inspect a cottage food operator's home only to investigate complaints or illness reports, usually with advance notice. Violators get a written warning first, then face civil penalties up to $75 per violation. Counties and cities are barred from regulating cottage food items generally, though they may vote to ban sales through third-party stores.

• Creates a new legal category, 'cottage food items,' covering low-risk foods and drinks made and packaged in a home kitchen for direct sale.
• Exempts cottage food operators from the licensing and inspection rules that normally apply to food sales establishments, food service establishments, and meat/poultry/dairy processing plants.
• Requires sellers to disclose their business contact information or a state-issued ID number and a printed allergen and inspection-exempt warning on labels, placards, or websites.
• Lets the Department of Agriculture inspect a cottage food operator's home, generally with advance notice, only in response to complaints, illness reports, or emergencies.
• Sets a written-warning-first enforcement system with civil penalties up to $75 per violation for repeat noncompliance.
• Bars counties and cities from regulating or banning cottage food items generally, though local governments may vote to prohibit their sale through third-party retail stores.

Home cooks and bakers who want to sell food they make at home, consumers who buy those products online or in stores, grocery stores and restaurants that carry cottage food items, county and city governments that currently regulate local food sales, and the Georgia Department of Agriculture, which enforces the new rules.

People who bake or make jams, candies, dried goods, and similar low-risk foods at home could turn that into a legal side business or small enterprise without paying for a licensed commercial kitchen, while buyers would get clear labels noting the food wasn't state-inspected and may contain allergens.

• Section 1 (new O.C.G.A. § 26-2-470) defines 'cottage food item' as non-potentially hazardous food or drink made at a residential property, excluding alcohol, cannabis foods, and raw milk.
• Section 1 (§ 26-2-472) allows cottage food producers to sell directly to consumers, online, or through grocery stores and restaurants, treating such food as from an 'approved source.'
• Section 1 (§ 26-2-473) requires labels or placards disclosing the producer's contact info or ID number and a stated allergen/inspection-exempt warning, with different rules for packaged goods, bulk sales, phone orders, and online sales.
• Section 1 (§ 26-2-475) creates a warning-then-penalty enforcement scheme, capping civil penalties at $75 per violation after a first written warning.
• Section 1 (§ 26-2-476) limits Department of Agriculture home inspections to complaint or illness investigations, generally requiring advance scheduling and allowing operators to request an administrative warrant.
• Section 1 (§ 26-2-478) lets counties and municipalities ban cottage food sales through third-party vendors locally, but only after a public hearing and notice to the state.
• Sections 2 through 4 amend existing definitions of food sales and food service establishments to exclude cottage food operators from those licensing categories.
• Section 5 adds O.C.G.A. § 36-60-33, generally barring local governments from regulating cottage food items or blocking commercial delivery of them.

1. 2025-07-01Effective Date
2. 2025-05-13Act 193
3. 2025-05-13House Date Signed by Governor (House)
4. 2025-04-08House Sent to Governor (House)
5. 2025-04-02Senate Passed/Adopted (Senate)
6. 2025-04-02Senate Third Read (Senate)
7. 2025-03-18Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
8. 2025-03-13Senate Committee Favorably Reported (Senate)

• Leesa Hagan (R, HD-156)Primary sponsor
• Houston Gaines (R, HD-120)
• Katie Dempsey (R, HD-13)
• Beth Camp (R, HD-135)
• Brian Prince (D, HD-132)
• Matt Reeves (R, HD-99)
• Sam Watson (R, SD-11)

1. PassedHouse voteMarch 3, 2025

   171 yea, 2 nay (1 not voting, 6 excused)

   PASSAGE: House Vote #140

2. PassedSenate voteApril 2, 2025

   54 yea, 2 nay

   PASSAGE: Senate Vote #395

• cottage food laws
• home-based businesses
• food safety regulation
• local government authority
• small business