Selling homemade food online in Arkansas

Can I sell my Arkansas homemade food online and ship it to buyers?

Confirm the product is non-TCS and made at your residence
Put the five disclosures on the product's own web page
Label the package itself before it ships
Choose a carrier: yourself, your agent, or a third-party carrier
Keep the sale direct to an end consumer who will not resell
Check federal law and the destination state before any out-of-state shipment

Yes, and the website carries the label

Yes. The Food Freedom Act defines a transaction as buying and selling in person, by telephone or online, and delivery by the producer, an agent, a third-party vendor or a third-party carrier.

Online sales carry one extra rule the market stall does not: the website must include the labeling information, and the package itself must still be labeled. Both, not one or the other.

The disclosure rule for online sales comes from the Department of Health's guide and mirrors Arkansas Code § 20-57-505(b)(3). Practically it means every product page carries the production date, producer contact or ID number, product name, ingredients in descending order, and the required statement, the same five items the labeling page prints for a jar lid.

Arkansas Code § 20-57-503(9) defines a transaction under the Food Freedom Act as buying and selling in person, by telephone or online, and the delivery of the product. — Arkansas General Assembly (Act 1040 of 2021), retrieved 2026-09-29

Arkansas Code § 20-57-503(9) defines a transaction under the Food Freedom Act as buying and selling in person, by telephone or online, and the delivery of the product. — Arkansas Department of Health, retrieved 2026-09-29

What shipping by carrier means

Delivery includes mail and parcel post, per the Department's guide: the producer, an agent, a third-party vendor or a third-party carrier may carry the product to the buyer.

Every common carrier works: the quick reference confirms shipping using a commercial carrier is part of the Food Freedom Act's may-do column. Pack for shelf stability, because the product must survive the trip unrefrigerated by law, and a jar that needs cold to stay safe was never eligible.

Two practical cautions sit on top. Glass in transit is a packaging problem you own, since the state exempts you from packaging requirements but no law exempts you from a refund. And heat degrades quality even in a shelf-stable product, so summer shipping of chocolate is a business decision, not a legal one.

The Arkansas Department of Health states that delivery of the product can be by the producer, an agent of the producer, third-party vendor, or third-party carrier including mail and parcel post. — Arkansas Department of Health, retrieved 2026-09-29

The Arkansas Department of Health's quick reference confirms products under the Food Freedom Act may be shipped using a commercial carrier. — Arkansas Department of Health, retrieved 2026-09-29

Selling out of state: allowed, with a warning attached

The Act permits sales in another state if the seller complies with all applicable federal laws. That is a real permission with a real condition, and the state's own guidance treats the condition as the hard part.

The Department of Health tells producers to contact the FDA and the destination state's public health authorities before any out-of-state sale. The University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture says the same: once food crosses state lines, the FDA has oversight, and it is up to the producer to ensure out-of-state sales do not violate other state or federal laws.

Many states allow only narrower product lists than Arkansas, and some bar shipped homemade food entirely. For an online shop with national reach, the practical rule is to sell and ship inside Arkansas until you have checked the destination state, and to geo-limit the storefront or confirm each state manually.

Arkansas Code § 20-57-504(b)(2) allows a transaction to occur in Arkansas or in another state if the seller complies with all applicable federal laws. — Arkansas General Assembly (Act 1040 of 2021), retrieved 2026-09-29

The Arkansas Department of Health advises producers to contact the FDA and the state and local public health authorities of the destination state prior to any out-of-state sale to ensure compliance. — Arkansas Department of Health, retrieved 2026-09-29

The University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture states once food crosses state lines the FDA has oversight, and the producer must ensure out-of-state sales violate no law. — University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture (FSPPC318, May 2026), retrieved 2026-09-29

Marketplaces, group orders and the reseller line

A marketplace platform that takes the payment and hands you the order is compatible with the Act: the platform is a channel, the buyer is still the end consumer, and the sale stays direct.

What the platform cannot do is become the buyer. If it buys your stock to resell under its own name, that is a wholesale transaction with an intermediary, and it is outside the exemption. The same line answers the group-order question: one person paying for twenty jars for a club is buying as a consumer, but a person or business buying to resell is not.

Grocery and retail placement is the one intermediary the Act names as lawful. The grocery store page covers that route, including the separation rule that applies when the store also sells inspected food.

Arkansas Code § 20-57-504(b)(1) requires the transaction to be directly between the seller and the informed end consumer; the seller may be the producer, an agent, or a third-party vendor. — Arkansas General Assembly (Act 1040 of 2021), retrieved 2026-09-29

The online storefront's own to-do list

Five disclosures on every product page, production dates kept current, ingredients updated with every recipe change, and the required statement in the same place a buyer reads the price.

Then the money side, which the exemption never touched. An online seller with steady receipts owes the same taxes as the market stall: the tax page covers self-employment tax on net earnings of $400 or more, the state grocery tax change from January 1, 2026, and what stays taxable, like candy and soft drinks.

Finally, the food itself travels to a buyer who cannot ask questions at a stall. Answer the questions in advance on the page: allergens, shelf life, storage and the batch number for acidified products, per the batch records page. The informed end consumer has to be informed somewhere, and online that somewhere is your product page.

$400The IRS requires Schedule SE when net earnings from self-employment are $400 or more, at 15.3 percent combining 12.4 percent social security and 2.9 percent Medicare. — Internal Revenue Service, retrieved 2026-09-29

Questions

Can I use a website builder or marketplace to sell homemade food?

Yes. The Act defines transactions to include online sales, and the platform is just the channel. The product page must carry the five disclosures, and the package must still be labeled before it ships.

Is a credit card fee or sales tax platform a problem under the exemption?

No. Payment processing is not a resale. The exemption is about who buys the food and where it is made, not about who moves the money.

Can I sell online to buyers in other states?

The Act allows it if you comply with all applicable federal laws, but the Department of Health and the University of Arkansas both advise checking with the FDA and the destination state first. Some states bar shipped homemade food outright, so confirm each state before shipping.