What the Arkansas Food Freedom Act allows

Yes, if the food is non-TCS and the sale is direct

Yes. Homemade food or drink that does not need time or temperature control for safety is exempt from Arkansas licensure, certification, inspection and labeling requirements when you sell it direct to an informed end consumer.

That is the whole Food Freedom Act in one sentence, and both halves matter equally. A shelf-stable loaf sold to a restaurant fails the second half. A cheesecake sold at a farmers market fails the first.

The Act is Arkansas Code § 20-57-501 et seq., passed as Act 1040 of 2021. It replaced the narrower Cottage Food Act of 2017, which allowed only a short list of products sold in a few places. The allowed-foods page carries the product lists, and the labeling guide carries the buyer-disclosure rules.

Act 1040 of 2021Act 1040 of 2021 created the Food Freedom Act, exempting homemade food or drink products from state licensure, certification, inspection, and packaging and labeling requirements. — Arkansas General Assembly (Act 1040 of 2021), retrieved 2026-09-29

A homemade food or drink product under the Act must be non-TCS food, processed at the producer's private residence, including a farm or ranch where the producer resides. — Arkansas General Assembly (Act 1040 of 2021), retrieved 2026-09-29

Act 399 of 2017A homemade food or drink product under the Act must be non-TCS food, processed at the producer's private residence, including a farm or ranch where the producer resides. — Arkansas Department of Health, retrieved 2026-09-29

What non-TCS means, in practice

A non-TCS food does not need refrigeration or holding heat to slow pathogenic growth. A TCS food does. The Department of Health's rules define both, and the Act folds pickles and other acidified vegetables into the non-TCS side under conditions.

The TCS list is short and concrete: raw or heat-treated animal foods, heat-treated plant foods, raw seed sprouts, cut leafy greens, cut tomatoes and garlic-in-oil mixtures. Dairy joins them by rule, and Act 698 of 2025 governs raw milk separately.

Nothing on the TCS list can be sold under the exemption. The pH testing page covers the one conditional route, where acid treatment and a 4.6 or lower pH reading pull pickled vegetables into the allowed column.

Arkansas Code § 20-57-503Arkansas Code § 20-57-503 defines TCS food to include raw or heat-treated animal food, heat-treated plant food, raw seed sprouts, cut leafy greens, cut tomatoes and garlic-in-oil. — Arkansas General Assembly (Act 1040 of 2021), retrieved 2026-09-29

The Arkansas Department of Health lists dairy products, cheeses, deli salads, casseroles, cream or custard pies and cheesecakes as common examples of TCS food. — Arkansas Department of Health, retrieved 2026-09-29

Who counts as an informed end consumer

The exemption covers direct sales to an informed end consumer: the last buyer, who does not resell, and who has been told the food is not state-regulated or inspected.

The definition does the work of the old location limits. A grocery store can resell your loaf as a third-party vendor because the buyer at the till is still the end consumer. A restaurant cannot buy it as an ingredient, because that use is not an end consumer sale.

Being informed is not a vibe. It is the five disclosure items on the labeling page, given on a label, a placard or your website. No disclosure, no exemption.

Arkansas Code § 20-57-503 defines an informed end consumer as the last purchaser, who does not resell, and who has been informed the product is not state-regulated or inspected. — Arkansas General Assembly (Act 1040 of 2021), retrieved 2026-09-29

Arkansas Code § 20-57-503 defines an informed end consumer as the last purchaser, who does not resell, and who has been informed the product is not state-regulated or inspected. — Arkansas General Assembly (Act 1040 of 2021), retrieved 2026-09-29

Arkansas Code § 20-57-503 defines an informed end consumer as the last purchaser, who does not resell, and who has been informed the product is not state-regulated or inspected. — Arkansas Department of Health, retrieved 2026-09-29

Where the sale may happen

Sales may occur in Arkansas, from your home, farm or ranch retail space, or at a third-party vendor's retail location. Online and telephone sales count, and so does delivery by carrier.

Out-of-state sales are allowed under the Act, but the Act itself warns the path: the seller must comply with all applicable federal laws, and the other state's laws apply too. The Department's guide tells producers to contact the FDA and the destination state's authorities before any out-of-state sale.

For most producers the practical answer is simple: sell in Arkansas and the location rules barely bind. The farmers market guide and the online sales page cover the two busiest channels.

Under Arkansas Code § 20-57-504(b), a transaction may occur in Arkansas or another state if the seller complies with all applicable federal laws, and delivery may use a third-party carrier. — Arkansas General Assembly (Act 1040 of 2021), retrieved 2026-09-29

Under Arkansas Code § 20-57-504(b), a transaction may occur in Arkansas or another state if the seller complies with all applicable federal laws, and delivery may use a third-party carrier. — Arkansas Department of Health, retrieved 2026-09-29

What the exemption never covers

The Act lists what it does not touch, and the list is longer than the exemption itself.

It does not impede the Department of Health investigating foodborne illness. It does not exempt you from tax law, federal law, or another state's laws. It does not stop adulteration enforcement under the Arkansas Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. And it preempts counties and cities from banning or regulating the production and sale, but not from their general business licensing.

The University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture adds the point producers most often miss: the Act provides no liability protection, so a customer who is harmed can still sue the person who made the food. Complaints can also go to the Department of Health. The cost page and the LLC page pick up that thread.

Arkansas Code § 20-57-507Arkansas Code § 20-57-507 states the Act does not impede Department of Health foodborne illness investigations and does not exempt producers from tax or federal law. — Arkansas General Assembly (Act 1040 of 2021), retrieved 2026-09-29

Arkansas Code § 20-57-507 states the Act does not impede Department of Health foodborne illness investigations and does not exempt producers from tax or federal law. — Arkansas General Assembly (Act 1040 of 2021), retrieved 2026-09-29

The University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture states the Food Freedom Act provides no liability protection, so anyone injured by a homemade product can still sue the maker. — University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture (FSPPC318, May 2026), retrieved 2026-09-29

What to do before your first sale

Work the checklist once, in order, and the exemption is yours to keep.

First, place your product on the Department's allowed, prohibited or exception table, and ask the environmental health specialist at your local health unit when it lands on an exception. Second, write the label with the five disclosures. Third, decide whether an LLC or a sole proprietorship holds the business, using the structure comparison. Fourth, price in the taxes and filings that survive the exemption, on the tax page.

Keep the dated recipe, the batch log and the pH readings if pickles are involved. Those records are not homework; they are what makes the acidified route lawful, and the batch records page shows the four entries each batch needs.

The Arkansas Department of Health's guide directs producers whose food does not fall into a listed category to the Environmental Health Specialist at their local health unit. — Arkansas Department of Health, retrieved 2026-09-29

Questions