Illinois: the home-kitchen movement
Cottage food (restricted) Cottage food law
Illinois' cottage food law (the Home-to-Market Act, 410 ILCS 625/4) lets home kitchens sell nearly any homemade food or drink directly to Illinois consumers, with no state sales cap — but everything except a list of 14 prohibited high-risk foods is allowed only if operators are certified food protection managers and register annually with their county health department.
Where it stands
P.A. 103-0903 (SB2617, signed 8/9/2024, effective 1/1/2025) — the most recent amendment to 410 ILCS 625/4: (a) requires counties without a local health department to contract with an adjacent county's health department to register cottage food operations; (b) modernized terminology, replacing 'non-potentially hazardous' with 'not a time/temperature control for safety food'; (c) added definitions (cut leafy greens, microgreen, sprout, low-acid canned food, TCS food) and removed the old pH ≤4.6 / water-activity ≤0.92 product-assessment safe harbor. IDPH and Illinois Extension released the 2026 Cottage Food Guide (plus an addendum to the 2024 guide) clarifying rules on frostings, cheese baked goods, freeze-dried foods, reusable packaging, pop-up sales inside licensed establishments, and labeling (full production date + net weight). Pending in the 104th General Assembly (2025–2026): no cottage-food-substantive bill found — HB3701 (Good Food Purchasing Act), which touched the 'Illinois-grown/Illinois-sourced' packaging designation in the cottage food section, stalled in committee (re-referred to Rules 4/11/2025); SB1288 (gluten/celiac food-handler training) became P.A. 104-0090 but does not change cottage food rules. Illinois has no MEHKO/microenterprise home kitchen program and no food freedom act.
Residents can find and support local kitchens through the Illinois hub — browse kitchens, read the law guide, and see what is cooking near you.
Cottage food fight in Illinois
1 supporter(s) and 0 opposition entr(ies) on this page carry this track tag — see Supporters / Opposition below.
How we got here
- 2024 — Cottage food law
103-0903 (SB2617, signed 8/9/2024, effective 1/1/2025) — the most recent amendment to 410 ILCS 625/4: (a) requires counties without a local health department to contract with an adjacent county's health department to register cottage food operations; (b) modernized terminology, replacing 'non-potentially hazardous' with 'not a time/temperature control for safety food'; (c) added definitions (cut leafy greens, microgr Source - 2026 — Cottage food law
IDPH and Illinois Extension released the 2026 Cottage Food Guide (plus an addendum to the 2024 guide) clarifying rules on frostings, cheese baked goods, freeze-dried foods, reusable packaging, pop-up sales inside licensed establishments, and labeling (full production date + net weight). Source - 2025 — Cottage food law
Pending in the 104th General Assembly (2025–2026): no cottage-food-substantive bill found — HB3701 (Good Food Purchasing Act), which touched the 'Illinois-grown/Illinois-sourced' packaging designation in the cottage food section, stalled in committee (re-referred to Rules 4/11/2025); SB1288 (gluten/celiac food-handler training) became P.A. Source - — Cottage food law
104-0090 but does not change cottage food rules. Source
Supporters
On the public record supporting home kitchens in Illinois.
Institute for Justice Cottage food fight
Aided SB 2007 (Home-to-Market Act), which ended the farmers-market-only restriction on cottage food sales
Source: https://ij.org/activism/a-timeline-of-recent-cottage-food-expans
Opposition
No on-record opposition has been verified for this state yet.
The deciders
Governor
Office of the Governor of Illinois (name not yet verified in this research pass)
Contact the deciders
A pre-written letter in Illinois's own terminology. The buttons open it in your email — addressed by you to the office above. Nothing sends until you press send.