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Michigan cottage food label generator

Fill in your product and print a sheet of labels with everything Michigan requires, including the “Made in a home kitchen” statement at 11-point type. Free, no account, and nothing leaves your browser.

1. Who made it

No P.O. boxes. Prefer to keep your address off the label? Register with the MSU Product Center (one-time fee up to $50) and use your phone and registration number instead.

2. What it is

Separate with commas. For anything store-bought, copy its ingredients into parentheses: chocolate chips (sugar, chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, soy lecithin).

Weigh the product without its packaging. We add the metric equivalent for you.

3. Allergens

Check every major allergen in the product, including the ones hiding in store-bought ingredients.

4. Label size

Prints on letter paper with dashed cut lines. Print at 100% scale (turn off “fit to page”) so the statement stays at 11-point.

Preview, actual size

[product name]

[business name and address, or phone and MSU registration no.]

Ingredients: [ingredients, heaviest first]

Net Wt. [amount]

Made in a home kitchen that has not been inspected by the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Michigan's required elements

  • Business name and home kitchen address
  • Product name
  • Ingredients, heaviest first
  • Net weight or volume with metric
  • Allergens (or none)
  • The required statement, 11-point or larger

What goes on a Michigan cottage food label

Michigan's cottage food law (MCL 289.4102) and MDARD's labeling page require six things on every product, labeled before it's sold. The generator lays out each one:

  1. Your name and the address of the home kitchen, or your name, phone number and MSU Product Center registration number. No P.O. boxes.
  2. The product name.
  3. Ingredients in descending order by weight, including the sub-ingredients of anything store-bought.
  4. Net weight or volume with its metric equivalent, such as “Net Wt. 6 oz (170 g)”. The generator does the conversion.
  5. Allergens under federal rules, with the specific nut, fish or shellfish named.
  6. The required statement in type at least 11-point (about 1/8 inch tall): “Made in a home kitchen that has not been inspected by the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.”

Each element is explained, with two complete example labels and the most common mistakes, in our guide to Michigan cottage food label requirements.

Printing tips

  • Print at 100% scale. “Fit to page” shrinks everything, including the statement, below the size the law requires.
  • Use full-sheet sticker paper and cut along the dashed lines, or plain paper for labels you tape to a box or bag.
  • Black text on a white or light label keeps the statement clearly contrasting, which MDARD also requires.
  • Changed a recipe or switched brands of chocolate chips? Update the ingredients and allergens before you print the next batch.

Cakes and other items that can't take a label

For wedding, birthday and other specialty cakes that can't easily be packaged, MDARD says to put all the label information on the invoice and deliver it with the cake. Use “Copy label text” above and paste it into your invoice. Smaller cakes go in a box with the label on the box.

Questions

Does the generator save what I type?

Only in your own browser, so the form is still filled in when you come back to print the next batch. It isn't sent to Ajinto. Use Clear to erase it.

Does using it make my label compliant?

It puts the required elements in the right form and flags common mistakes, but you supply the facts: a complete ingredient list in the right order, an accurate weight and every allergen. The product itself also has to be one Michigan allows; see what you can sell under Michigan cottage food law.

Do I need nutrition facts?

Not unless you make a nutrition claim (about fat, sugar or calories, for example). Then federal nutrition labeling applies.

General information, not legal advice. Checked against MCL 289.4102 and MDARD's cottage food labeling page. For the full rules, read our Michigan cottage food law guide.