Utah: the home-kitchen movement
Food freedom Cottage food law · Microenterprise home kitchen (MEHKO-style) · Food freedom act
Utah runs three home-food regimes: (1) cottage food — shelf-stable, non-TCS foods only, registered with the state Dept. of Agriculture and Food ($100, food handler permit, inspection); (2) a microenterprise home kitchen program (HB 94, 2021; Utah Code 26B-7-401 et seq.) — the only MEHKO-style hot-meal law besides California's — permitting ready-to-eat and TCS foods through LOCAL health departments with annual, nontransferable permits; and (3) a food-freedom act (4-5a) allowing unregistered direct-to-consumer sales of homemade foods with labeling disclosures. No regime has a sales cap.
Where it stands
2025 — SB 315, 'Microenterprise Home Kitchen Amendments' (Sen. Vickers): signed; Laws of Utah 2025, Chapter 487; EFFECTIVE MAY 7, 2025. Key change: TCS (time/temperature-controlled) food no longer must be cooked and served the same day — operators may now cook and serve/distribute TCS food within 72 hours of preparation IF they keep a per-food time/temperature log (updated at least every 2 hours during operating hours), fridge/freezer logs (start/end of each day plus every 4 hours during operation), retain logs 90 days, and mark each item with a consistent sell-by/discard date. Also clarified: no on-site consumption of operator-provided food; pickup/delivery must occur within a safe time period based on holding capacity. 2026 — SB 217, 'Local Food Amendments' (Sen. Green): signed March 25, 2026; Chapter 433; EFFECTIVE MAY 6, 2026. Expanded the food-freedom act (4-5a): a producer's designated representative may now distribute, sell, deliver, or offer homemade food directly to informed consumers; relaxed the signage/segregation rules for direct-to-sale farmers markets (minor-only markets fully exempt); updated definitions; and added sales-and-use-tax exemptions for locally produced foods. 2026 — HB 432, 'Egg Amendments' (Rep. Shipp): passed the House February 23, 2026; would bar DHHS and local health departments from preventing sale of shell eggs from small producers (<3,000 layers) to end consumers unless the eggs are shown to be adulterated. FINAL STATUS (Senate passage/governor signature) could not be verified from primary sources. 2024: no substantive change to Utah's cottage-food, food-freedom, or microenterprise-home-kitchen laws could be verified from primary sources. Pending: none verified — the 2026 general session has adjourned; the next regular session begins January 2027.
Residents can find and support local kitchens through the Utah hub — browse kitchens, read the law guide, and see what is cooking near you.
How we got here
- 2025 — Cottage food law
2025 — SB 315, 'Microenterprise Home Kitchen Amendments' (Sen. Source - 2025 — Cottage food law
Vickers): signed; Laws of Utah 2025, Chapter 487; EFFECTIVE MAY 7, 2025. Source - — Cottage food law
Key change: TCS (time/temperature-controlled) food no longer must be cooked and served the same day — operators may now cook and serve/distribute TCS food within 72 hours of preparation IF they keep a per-food time/temperature log (updated at least every 2 hours during operating hours), fridge/freezer logs (start/end of each day plus every 4 hours during operation), retain logs 90 days, and mark each item with a cons Source - — Cottage food law
Also clarified: no on-site consumption of operator-provided food; pickup/delivery must occur within a safe time period based on holding capacity. Source
Supporters
On the public record supporting home kitchens in Utah.
Evan J. Vickers
State Senator; sponsor of SB 315 Microenterprise Home Kitchen Amendments (2025)
Source: https://pf.utleg.gov/public-web/sessions/2025GS/fiscal-notes/SB0
Institute for Justice
Worked on Utah HB 94, which expanded the food freedom law to allow permitted home sale of meals with meat
Source: https://ij.org/activism/a-timeline-of-recent-cottage-food-expans
COOK Alliance
Advocates for microenterprise home kitchen laws, including Utah's second-in-the-nation MEHKO law
Source: https://reason.com/2021/05/29/utah-second-state-to-adopt-microen
Opposition
No on-record opposition has been verified for this state yet.
The deciders
Governor
Office of the Governor of Utah (name not yet verified in this research pass)
Contact the deciders
A pre-written letter in Utah's own terminology. The buttons open it in your email — addressed by you to the office above. Nothing sends until you press send.