United Kingdom cottage food laws

Home baking in the UK is governed by the same general food law as a coffee shop or restaurant. The headline regulator is the Food Standards Agency (FSA), and day-to-day inspection is run by your local council's Environmental Health team. The two pieces of legislation that matter most for a home baker: the Food Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013 (covering kitchen hygiene, registration, and inspections; Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland have near-identical equivalents), and the Food Information Regulations 2014 (covering what must appear on the label).

You do not need a licence to bake at home. You don't pay a fee. You just have to register your food business with the local authority at least 28 days before you start trading. Registration is mandatory the first time you sell, give away, or barter food you've made at home, regardless of scale. There's no minimum threshold below which you're exempt.

Since October 2021, Natasha's Law applies to anything you sell that is prepacked for direct sale (PPDS), meaning packaged on the same premises from which it's being sold. PPDS items must carry a name, a full ingredients list with the 14 allergens emphasised, and (where required) a 'use by' or 'best before' date. Most home bakers selling pre-packaged cookies, brownies, cake slices, and tray bakes fall under PPDS.

The UK does not have a single 'cottage food' allowed-foods list like Texas. Instead, almost everything is allowed if you can produce it safely. Two products that carry extra requirements: anything containing raw milk (extra approval) and anything classified as a 'novel food' (regulator pre-clearance). Almost every cake, biscuit, brownie, bread, pastry, jam, chocolate, and traybake a home baker would make is allowed without further approvals.

There is no UK 'cottage food' sales cap. You can earn as much as you want from home baking. Two thresholds to watch as you grow: (1) once your turnover crosses £90,000 in any rolling 12-month period (2026 threshold; HMRC adjusts annually) you must register for VAT and start charging it on taxable sales, and (2) once you have employees or use commercial premises, additional regulations kick in (PAYE, employer's liability insurance, business rates).

There is no legal requirement to hold a food hygiene certificate before you start baking from home, but it is strongly recommended and Environmental Health inspectors will check whether the people handling food are 'instructed and/or trained in food hygiene matters commensurate with their work activity.' The industry-standard credential for a home baker is the Level 2 Food Hygiene and Safety for Catering certificate. It's an online course, takes 1–2 hours, costs £10–£25, and never expires (though many bakers refresh it every 3 years). Hold a copy on file in case your council asks.

Register your food business with your local council at least 28 days before you start trading. It's free, takes about 15 minutes, and is done online through GOV.UK (which routes you to the right council based on your postcode). You'll need your name, address, the food activities you'll do (preparing, packing, selling, etc.), and an estimate of when you'll start. After registering, Environmental Health will typically visit your home kitchen within 28 days to give you a Food Hygiene Rating (0–5). The rating goes on the FSA's public register and you can display the sticker in your kitchen / on your website. In Wales and Northern Ireland it's mandatory to display your rating; in England it's voluntary but customers expect it.