Selling dried sourdough starter in Maine

If you keep a jar going in Maine, selling dried sourdough starter is a different cottage-food question than selling bread. The product is flour and water that you fermented, then dried. Official pages almost never use the words “dried starter.” This post only repeats what the current statute, agency page, or extension guide actually says — and where that source is silent.

Dried starter is not automatically a baked good

A loaf is baked. Dried starter is a dry culture. Some states publish a closed allowed-foods list (baked goods, jams, dried herbs). Some allow non-TCS / non-potentially-hazardous foods as a class. A few name baking mixes, dry mixtures, or — in Kansas — dehydrated sourdough starter. We do not stretch a baked-goods line into a dry-culture line unless a source supports that read.

The quick facts

Where in-state sales usually go

From the Crosodo statute row: Under the statewide Home Food Processor License, producers may sell at any venue including restaurants, retail stores, farmers markets, and online, with no sales limit; indirect wholesale and retail channels are allowed once licensed and kitchen-inspected.

County zoning, market manager rules, and home-occupation permits still apply on top of the state food rule. Start with the Maine state guide and your county page.

Labeling

Under the statewide license, label requirements apply for packaged products sold away from the home; however, no label is required for products sold directly from the producer's home. Labels for retail/market sales must include standard food labeling information. The Food Sovereignty Act municipal ordinance pathway may have different local requirements.

Walk the fields in the Maine cottage food labeling guide. Do not copy another state's disclaimer.

Interstate / shipping across state lines

Cottage-food / homemade-food exemptions are in-state instruments. They do not, by themselves, authorize interstate commerce. Confirm manufactured-food licensing with the state agency and FDA facility registration for your facts. We do not invent a permit name or a fee.

Cottage-food exemptions are state instruments. They do not replace federal rules that apply when food enters interstate commerce. If you want to ship out of state, ask the state manufactured-food program and confirm FDA facility registration for your situation. We do not invent a license name or a fee here.

Official sources

Every number and product claim on this page is tied to a source opened on 2026-10-15, plus the Crosodo statute row and — where we have them — the regulations library notes for Maryland, Colorado, and Virginia.

• Maine DACF home food processor — last verified 2026-10-15
• 7 M.R.S.A. §282 (Food Sovereignty Act)
• Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry
• Maine extension
• Maine cottage food state guide
• Selling cottage food in Maine
• Maine labeling guide
• All 50 states — dried starter hub