TCS (time/temperature-controlled) · food 36 of 42
Can I sell cheesecake from home?
cheesecake is prohibited under cottage food law in 50 of 51 US jurisdictions. The other 1 allow it conditionally, usually with a scheduled process, pH test, or acidified-foods training requirement.
Frequently requested; almost never allowed
Free with a Crosodo account. 5-page national report with all 51 US jurisdictions.
National picture
Allowed outright0
Conditional1
Prohibited50
Out of 51 US jurisdictions
Why it's treated this way
The food-safety reasoning
TCS = 'time/temperature control for safety'. These foods (dairy fillings, cream, custard, cream cheese frosting, moist meat products) support rapid pathogen growth between 41°F and 135°F. Any home kitchen without a commercial walk-in and documented cooling logs will fail a safety audit.
What can go wrong
Real risks in a home kitchen
Salmonella and Listeria proliferation. Even a 2-hour delivery window in a warm car crosses the 'danger zone' threshold. This is why states restrict TCS to permitted commercial kitchens with temperature logs and health inspections.
Jump to state law
Where cheesecake is most often sellable
Open the full state guide for sales caps, registration, and county pages — then download that state's label template before market day.
All 51 US jurisdictions
Cheesecake — Allowed / Conditional / Not allowed
Click any state name for the full cottage food guide (cap, registration, counties). Pair with a state label template once you know you can sell.
| State | Verdict | Notes | Statute |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alaska Okay | No | TCS food. Most states prohibit cottage sale; licensed commercial kitchen usually required. | AS 17.20.332 |
| Alabama Good | No | TCS food. Most states prohibit cottage sale; licensed commercial kitchen usually required. | Ala. Code §22-20-5.1 |
| Arkansas Freedom | No | TCS food. Most states prohibit cottage sale; licensed commercial kitchen usually required. | A.C.A. §20-57-201 (Act 1040 of 2021) |
| Arizona Great | No | TCS food. Most states prohibit cottage sale; licensed commercial kitchen usually required. | A.R.S. §36-931 / §36-932 |
| California Good | No | TCS food. Most states prohibit cottage sale; licensed commercial kitchen usually required. | Cal. Health & Safety Code §113758 |
| Colorado Great | No | TCS food. Most states prohibit cottage sale; licensed commercial kitchen usually required. | C.R.S. §25-4-1614 |
| Connecticut Okay | No | TCS food. Most states prohibit cottage sale; licensed commercial kitchen usually required. | Conn. Gen. Stat. §21a-62a |
| District of Columbia Okay | No | TCS food. Most states prohibit cottage sale; licensed commercial kitchen usually required. | D.C. Code §7-742.02 |
| Delaware Good | No | TCS food. Most states prohibit cottage sale; licensed commercial kitchen usually required. | 16 Del. Admin. Code 4458A |
| Florida Great | No | TCS food. Most states prohibit cottage sale; licensed commercial kitchen usually required. | Fla. Stat. §500.80 |
| Georgia Okay | No | TCS food. Most states prohibit cottage sale; licensed commercial kitchen usually required. | O.C.G.A. §26-2-470 et seq. (eff. July 2025); prior: GA R&R 40-7-19 |
| Hawaii Poor | No | TCS food. Most states prohibit cottage sale; licensed commercial kitchen usually required. | HAR §11-50-3 |
| Iowa Good | No | TCS food. Most states prohibit cottage sale; licensed commercial kitchen usually required. | Iowa Code §137F.1 / §137F.20 |
| Idaho Great | No | TCS food. Most states prohibit cottage sale; licensed commercial kitchen usually required. | IDAPA 16.02.19 (Idaho Food Code, cottage food provisions) |
| Illinois Great | No | TCS food. Most states prohibit cottage sale; licensed commercial kitchen usually required. | 410 ILCS 625/4 (Food Handling Regulation Enforcement Act, §4) |
| Indiana Great | No | TCS food. Most states prohibit cottage sale; licensed commercial kitchen usually required. | Ind. Code §16-42-5.2 |
| Kansas Great | No | TCS food. Most states prohibit cottage sale; licensed commercial kitchen usually required. | K.S.A. §65-657 |
| Kentucky Okay | No | TCS food. Most states prohibit cottage sale; licensed commercial kitchen usually required. | KRS §217.137 |
| Louisiana Okay | No | TCS food. Most states prohibit cottage sale; licensed commercial kitchen usually required. | La. R.S. §40:4.13 |
| Massachusetts Okay | No | TCS food. Most states prohibit cottage sale; licensed commercial kitchen usually required. | 105 CMR 590.009(D) |
| Maryland Good | No | TCS food. Most states prohibit cottage sale; licensed commercial kitchen usually required. | MD COMAR 10.15.03.27 |
| Maine Freedom | No | TCS food. Most states prohibit cottage sale; licensed commercial kitchen usually required. | 7 M.R.S.A. §282 (Food Sovereignty Act) |
| Michigan Great | No | TCS food. Most states prohibit cottage sale; licensed commercial kitchen usually required. | MCL §289.4102 |
| Minnesota Great | No | TCS food. Most states prohibit cottage sale; licensed commercial kitchen usually required. | Minn. Stat. §28A.152 |
| Missouri Great | No | TCS food. Most states prohibit cottage sale; licensed commercial kitchen usually required. | Mo. Rev. Stat. §196.298 |
| Mississippi Good | No | TCS food. Most states prohibit cottage sale; licensed commercial kitchen usually required. | Miss. Code Ann. §75-29-951 |
| Montana Freedom | No | TCS food. Most states prohibit cottage sale; licensed commercial kitchen usually required. | Mont. Code §50-50-116 and §50-50-117 (cottage food); Mont. Code §§50-49-201 et seq. (Local Food Choice Act) |
| North Carolina Good | No | TCS food. Most states prohibit cottage sale; licensed commercial kitchen usually required. | 02 NCAC 9C.0307 |
| North Dakota Freedom | No | TCS food. Most states prohibit cottage sale; licensed commercial kitchen usually required. | N.D. Cent. Code §23-09.5-01 through §23-09.5-02 |
| Nebraska Good | No | TCS food. Most states prohibit cottage sale; licensed commercial kitchen usually required. | Neb. Rev. Stat. §81-2,280 (producer of food at private home); §81-2,239 et seq. (Nebraska Pure Food Act) |
| New Hampshire Good | No | TCS food. Most states prohibit cottage sale; licensed commercial kitchen usually required. | RSA §143-A:12 |
| New Jersey Poor | No | TCS food. Most states prohibit cottage sale; licensed commercial kitchen usually required. | N.J.A.C. 8:24-11 et seq. |
| New Mexico Great | No | TCS food. Most states prohibit cottage sale; licensed commercial kitchen usually required. | NMSA §25-12-3 (Homemade Food Act) |
| Nevada Okay | No | TCS food. Most states prohibit cottage sale; licensed commercial kitchen usually required. | NRS §446.866 (repealed 2025; superseded by AB352/chapter 420 & 512, Statutes of Nevada 2025) |
| New York Good | No | TCS food. Most states prohibit cottage sale; licensed commercial kitchen usually required. | N.Y. Agric. & Mkts. Law §251-z-4; 1 CRR-NY 276.4 |
| Ohio Good | No | TCS food. Most states prohibit cottage sale; licensed commercial kitchen usually required. | O.R.C. §3715.023; §3715.025; Ohio Admin. Code Ch. 901:3-20 |
| Oklahoma Freedom | No | TCS food. Most states prohibit cottage sale; licensed commercial kitchen usually required. | 2 O.S. §5-4.1 through §5-4.6 (Homemade Food Freedom Act) |
| Oregon Good | No | TCS food. Most states prohibit cottage sale; licensed commercial kitchen usually required. | ORS §616.723 |
| Pennsylvania Good | No | TCS food. Most states prohibit cottage sale; licensed commercial kitchen usually required. | 3 Pa.C.S. §§5721–5737 |
| Rhode Island Poor | No | TCS food. Most states prohibit cottage sale; licensed commercial kitchen usually required. | R.I. Gen. Laws §21-27-6.2 |
| South Carolina Good | No | TCS food. Most states prohibit cottage sale; licensed commercial kitchen usually required. | S.C. Code §44-1-145 |
| South Dakota Good | No | TCS food. Most states prohibit cottage sale; licensed commercial kitchen usually required. | SDCL §34-18-35 |
| Tennessee Good | No | TCS food. Most states prohibit cottage sale; licensed commercial kitchen usually required. | Tenn. Code §53-1-125 (Food Freedom Act) |
| Texas Great | Conditional | Refrigerated baked goods allowed under HB 970 amendments if labeled and sold direct-to-consumer only.· state override | Tex. Health & Safety §437.001 et seq. |
| Utah Freedom | No | TCS food. Most states prohibit cottage sale; licensed commercial kitchen usually required. | Utah Code §4-5-501 |
| Virginia Good | No | Virginia excludes TCS foods from home food processor exemption.· state override | Va. Code §3.2-5130 |
| Vermont Okay | No | TCS food. Most states prohibit cottage sale; licensed commercial kitchen usually required. | 18 V.S.A. §4351; Act 42 (2025) cottage food operator exemption |
| Washington Good | No | TCS food. Most states prohibit cottage sale; licensed commercial kitchen usually required. | RCW §69.22.010–.040 |
| Wisconsin Freedom | No | TCS food. Most states prohibit cottage sale; licensed commercial kitchen usually required. | Wis. Stat. §97.29 |
| West Virginia Good | No | TCS food. Most states prohibit cottage sale; licensed commercial kitchen usually required. | W. Va. Code §19-40-1 through §19-40-6 (Article 40, Cottage Foods, enacted 2026); §19-35-6 (Nonpotentially hazardous foods at farmers markets) |
| Wyoming Freedom | No | TCS food. Most states prohibit cottage sale; licensed commercial kitchen usually required. | Wyo. Stat. §11-49-101 through §11-49-104 (Wyoming Food Freedom Act) |
Take it with you
Get the cheesecake report as a PDF
5-page national report — verdict tiles, food-safety reasoning, and the complete 51-jurisdiction table with statute citations.
Download the PDFOr read the deeper writeup on the blog post.
Related foods
More cottage food verdicts
TCS (time/temperature-controlled)
Can I sell cream cheese icing?
0 yes · 0 conditional · 51 no
TCS (time/temperature-controlled)
Can I sell cream pies?
0 yes · 0 conditional · 51 no
TCS (time/temperature-controlled)
Can I sell custard?
0 yes · 0 conditional · 51 no
TCS (time/temperature-controlled)
Can I sell flavored butter?
0 yes · 2 conditional · 49 no
Want all 42 foods in one PDF?
Can I Sell This? The Cottage Food Rulebook
A single 100+ page reference — every food, every state, every verdict, with the sanitation reasoning behind each yes, no, and conditional. Same data as this page, plus 41 other foods.
Fine print
This is a summary of state cottage food statutes as of July 2026, not legal advice. Statutes change; municipal zoning codes update quarterly. Verify with your state's department of agriculture, your local health department, and your city or county's planning office before selling. Crosodo is a clothing brand for cottage bakers, not a law firm.