Is This a Business Yet?

The cottage-food question and the exact line between a home kitchen and a commercial operation.

1. Cottage food or commercial: the line you're about to crossWhat a cottage-food exemption is, why the rules come entirely from your state, and how to tell whether you're operating under one right now.
2. What you're actually allowed to make at homeHow to tell whether your own product can legally be made in a home kitchen — the pH and water-activity science behind cottage-food lists, and how to classify your recipe against your state's.
3. The cottage-food rules that actually bite youThe everyday cottage-food violations that get operators fined — the label elements and exact disclosure wording, the sales channels and shipping limits, and the records you keep even while exempt.
4. The moment you legally have to leave your home kitchenThe four events that end a cottage-food exemption — passing the sales cap, selling wholesale, shipping across state lines, or making a food that needs refrigeration — and what changes the day you cross.