Selling granola in Maryland
What Maryland's own pages say about making granola at home, each line linked, and the path to a store when you want one to stock it.
Run the free rules check for it: no account, no AI.
Can I make granola at home in Maryland?
Maryland's own pages, as ShelfStep read them on October 8, 2026, do not name granola or foods like it, so this page cannot tell you whether a home kitchen in Maryland may make it. Ask the Maryland Department of Health before you make it at home to sell. What the state allows and leaves out in general is on the Maryland page.
What rules does granola come under beyond Maryland's?
Outside a home kitchen, ShelfStep's plan reads granola as a baked good, snack or dry mix. The plan's own line for it, a default and not a law:
What the rules behind it say, in their own words, with the page and the day ShelfStep read each. ShelfStep does not decide which of them apply to your product.
- Acidified foods: the definition and its exclusions21 CFR 114.3(b) says:“(b) Acidified foods means low-acid foods to which acid(s) or acid food(s) are added; these foods include, but are not limited to, beans, cucumbers, cabbage, artichokes, cauliflower, puddings, peppers, tropical fruits, and fish, singly or in any combination. They have a water activity (aw) greater than 0.85 and have a finished equilibrium pH of 4.6 or below. ... Carbonated beverages, jams, jellies, preserves, acid foods (including such foods as standardized and nonstandardized food dressings and condiment sauces) that contain small amounts of low-acid food(s) and have a resultant finished equilibrium pH that does not significantly differ from that of the predominant acid or acid food, and foods that are stored, distributed, and retailed under refrigeration are excluded from the coverage of this part.”21 CFR 114.3(b) · Read Oct 8, 2026
- FDA's definition of a food facility21 CFR 1.227 says:“Facility means any establishment, structure, or structures under one ownership at one general physical location, or, in the case of a mobile facility, traveling to multiple locations, that manufactures/processes, packs, or holds food for consumption in the United States. ... The private residence of an individual is not a facility.”21 CFR 1.227 · Read Oct 8, 2026
Where may food made at home be sold in Maryland?
- Maryland's Cottage Food Business rules: where it may be soldMaryland Code, Health–General §21-301 (Maryland General Assembly) says:“(b–2) "Cottage food product" means a nonhazardous food, as specified in regulations adopted by the Department, that is sold in the State in accordance with § 21–330.1 of this subtitle and regulations adopted by the Department: (1) Directly to a consumer from a residence, at a farmer’s market, at a public event, by personal delivery, or by mail delivery; or (2) To a retail food store, including a grocery store, or a food cooperative.”Maryland Code, Health–General §21-301 (Maryland General Assembly) · Read Oct 8, 2026
- Maryland's Cottage Food Business rules: a yearly sales ceilingMaryland General Assembly, 2026 Laws of Maryland Chapter 320 (HB 535) says:“(b–1) "Cottage food business" means a business that: ... (3) Has annual revenues from the sale of cottage food products in an amount not exceeding [$50,000] $100,000. ... SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect October 1, 2026.”Maryland General Assembly, 2026 Laws of Maryland Chapter 320 (HB 535) · Read Oct 8, 2026
- Maryland's Cottage Food Business rules: where it may be soldMDH, Guidelines for Cottage Food Businesses (last updated 11/2025) says:“Interstate sales or sales outside of Maryland are prohibited.”MDH, Guidelines for Cottage Food Businesses (last updated 11/2025) · Read Oct 8, 2026
What does Maryland say a home-made label must carry?
- Maryland's Cottage Food Business rules: the home-made labelMaryland Code, Health–General §21-330.1 (Maryland General Assembly) says:“(c) The owner of a cottage food business may sell only cottage food products that are: ... (2) Prepackaged with a label that contains: ... (ii) The following statement printed in 10 point or larger type in a color that provides a clear contrast to the background of the label: "Made by a cottage food business that is not subject to Maryland’s food safety regulations."; and”Maryland Code, Health–General §21-330.1 (Maryland General Assembly) · Read Oct 8, 2026
- Maryland's Cottage Food Business rules: the home-made labelMaryland Code, Health–General §21-330.1 (Maryland General Assembly) says:“(c) The owner of a cottage food business may sell only cottage food products that are: (1) Stored on the premises of the cottage food business; and (2) Prepackaged with a label that contains: (i) The following information: 1. A. The name and address of the cottage food business; or B. The name and phone number of the cottage food business and the identification number assigned to the cottage food business under subsection (d) of this section; 2. The name of the cottage food product; 3. The ingredients of the cottage food product in descending order of the amount of each ingredient by weight; 4. The net weight or net volume of the cottage food product; 5. Allergen information as specified by federal labeling requirements; and 6. If any nutritional claim is made, nutritional information as specified by federal labeling requirements;”Maryland Code, Health–General §21-330.1 (Maryland General Assembly) · Read Oct 8, 2026
- Maryland's Cottage Food Business rules: the home-made labelMaryland Code, Health–General §21-330.1 (Maryland General Assembly) says:“(iii) For a cottage food product offered for sale at a retail food store: 1. The phone number and e–mail address of the cottage food business; and 2. The date the cottage food product was made.”Maryland Code, Health–General §21-330.1 (Maryland General Assembly) · Read Oct 8, 2026
How do I get granola into a store in Maryland?
- Maryland's Cottage Food Business rules: what applies beyond the home-kitchen rulesMDH, Guidelines for Cottage Food Businesses (last updated 11/2025) says:“Foods that cannot be offered under cottage foods require a health department food license.”MDH, Guidelines for Cottage Food Businesses (last updated 11/2025) · Read Oct 8, 2026
From there, ShelfStep's standard plan for a baked good, snack or dry mix has 18 steps. The first 6 help you find out where and how granola can be made at all, so they come first:
- 1.
Write the recipe down with exact amounts
Cost, price, nutrition and the label are all worked out from this. Write it in the units you actually use; ShelfStep converts for the label. What matters is that someone else could make the same batch from what is written.
- 2.
Decide how it is kept: on a shelf, in the fridge or frozen
The planned storage helps the reviewer assess the process, shelf life and packaging.
In the plan: It decides which rules you follow.
- 3.
Find out where you are allowed to make it for sale
This finds out whether the state’s rules allow making this in a home kitchen or point to a commercial one — and that changes the cost and the timeline of everything after it. It is much cheaper to find out now than after buying packaging.
In the plan: Your state's home-kitchen rules, in its own words. Whether they cover your product is for your state's agency to say.
- 4.
Have the pH and water activity of a finished batch measured
These measurements give your reviewer information about the batch; they do not establish safety or storage conditions on their own.
In the plan: The two numbers the acidified-food rules name. Measured on the finished product, once it has settled.
- 5.
Look into FDA registration
Registration is how FDA knows your facility exists; the plan is what an inspector or a buyer’s audit asks to see. Both are far easier to do now than during either.
- 6.
Choose the container and what seals it
The container decides the label size, how many fit a case, what shipping costs, and whether the process authority’s answer still holds. Changing it later re-opens all four.
In the plan: How it will be packed, what will seal it and what one will cost. Not sure yet is an answer.
Every step, with its reason and what it typically costs, is on the granola page:
Where do I go from here?
Check the rules for yours, then keep it
The rules check runs the same deterministic engine ShelfStep uses inside the app, on your answers, and quotes the sentences each rule rests on, with their links and the day ShelfStep read them. It does not decide which apply. It is free, needs no account and uses no AI. A ShelfStep workspace then keeps your plan, your records and the dates, free for one product.