Home baker and cook guide
How to sell homemade food in Virginia
Virginia provides specific home-kitchen inspection exemptions for listed low-risk foods, acidified vegetables, and honey; other home food businesses generally require a VDACS permit and inspection. Start with the official program below, then confirm the rules for your product, preparation setting, and local jurisdiction.
Official resources last reviewed 2026-07-21. Rules can change.
Official Virginia resources
Open the official pages below for registration, labeling, allowed foods, and temperature rules. This app collects your application only. After approval, classify every meal when you publish.
What the official pathway currently emphasizes
- The broad low-risk exemption covers only the foods listed by Virginia, including qualifying baked goods, candies, dried products, mixes, jams, and similar shelf-stable items.
- Packages need standard food-label information plus the producer contact, processing date, and Virginia's required no-state-inspection statement.
- The exemption is for direct sales and marks products not for resale.
- Acidified vegetables and honey have separate conditions, while non-exempt products require the inspected home-food-processing route.
A practical preparation sequence
- Match the product to the correct section of Virginia's exemption guide.
- If it is not exempt, contact VDACS for a home-food-processing permit application.
- Prepare the exact required label or point-of-sale sign.
- Confirm the direct-sale method and any product-specific testing or records.
Questions to answer before listing
- Which foods may be produced in your proposed kitchen?
- Does the product require refrigeration or temperature control?
- Are registration, training, inspection, testing, or permits required?
- What must appear on the product label and customer disclosure?
- Where may you advertise, sell, deliver, ship, or arrange pickup?
- Do county, city, zoning, tax, or tribal rules add requirements?
Prepare your local kitchen page
Once you understand the applicable pathway, create a kitchen profile, describe your general pickup area, upload real food photos, and post specific preorder windows. Kitchen Counter-Measures does not approve a product on behalf of a regulator.