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Selling beef jerky in Maryland

Sources last read Oct 8, 2026

What Maryland's own pages say about making beef jerky at home, each line linked, and the path to a store when you want one to stock it.

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A sketch of Beef jerky in its bag.
General information, not advice. This is written for small food makers and cites its sources, but it is not legal, regulatory or food-safety advice, and it cannot account for your product, your state or your facility. Rules change and thresholds are adjusted yearly. Confirm anything you are about to act on with your state agency, a Process Authority, or the FDA.

Can I make beef jerky at home in Maryland?

Maryland's own pages name beef jerky, or foods like it, among what Maryland says a home kitchen may not make. ShelfStep found these lines by the words they use; whether they cover your product is for the Maryland Department of Health to say. Those lines, as the state writes them:

  • Maryland's Cottage Food Business rules: what may not be made at homeMDH, Guidelines for Cottage Food Businesses (last updated 11/2025) says:“Examples of foods that cannot be allowed as cottage foods: ... Low-acid canned foods Acidified foods/pickled products such as corn relish, pickles, salsa, pepper jelly, barbeque sauce, mustard, or condiments Garlic and/or fresh/dried vegetables in oil mixtures Raw-seed sprouts, including but not limited to alfalfa sprouts or bean sprouts Fish or shellfish products Meat or meat products Poultry or poultry products Milk and dairy products Beverages”MDH, Guidelines for Cottage Food Businesses (last updated 11/2025) · Read Oct 8, 2026

What rules does beef jerky come under beyond Maryland's?

Outside a home kitchen, ShelfStep's plan reads beef jerky as a meat or poultry product. The plan's own line for it, a default and not a law:

ShelfStep’s plan default, not a lawMeat or poultry (e.g. egg rolls with meat, jerky, sausage): likely USDA-FSIS jurisdiction — federal/state grant of inspection or a co-packer under continuous inspection, the USDA mark of inspection on the label, and cold-chain handling. NOT the FDA path.9 CFR 304 (application for and grant of inspection)

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.

Source to check: the rules behind ShelfStep's plan for beef jerky
  • Meat inspection and retail stores9 CFR 303.1(d) says:“(d)(1) The requirements of the Act and the regulations in this subchapter for inspection of the preparation of products do not apply to operations of types traditionally and usually conducted at retail stores and restaurants, when conducted at any retail store or restaurant or similar retail-type establishment for sale in normal retail quantities or service of such articles to consumers at such establishments.”9 CFR 303.1(d) · Read Oct 8, 2026
  • State meat inspection programs9 CFR 321.1(a) says:“to cooperate with any State (including Puerto Rico) or any organized Territory in developing and administering the meat inspection program of such jurisdiction with a view to assuring that it imposes and enforces requirements at least equal to those under Titles I and IV of the Act, with respect to establishments at which products are prepared for use as human food solely for distribution within such jurisdiction”9 CFR 321.1(a) · 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 beef jerky 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 meat or poultry product has 18 steps. The first 6 help you find out where and how beef jerky can be made at all, so they come first:

  1. 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. 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. 3.

    Work out how it stays cold from your kitchen to the shop

    If your product needs refrigeration or freezing, plan how to keep it cold at every hand-off. Who keeps it cold at each hand-off, and how you would know if they did not, is what a buyer asks first.

  4. 4.

    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.

  5. 5.

    Confirm which agency's rules it falls under

    Which rules your product falls under decides every step after this one, and only the right authority can say. The plan says likely; this is where someone qualified says for certain.

  6. 6.

    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.

Every step, with its reason and what it typically costs, is on the beef jerky page:

1. Write the recipe down with exact amounts2. Decide how it is kept: on a shelf, in the fridge or frozen3. Work out how it stays cold from your kitchen to the shop4. Find out where you are allowed to make it for sale5. Confirm which agency's rules it falls under6. Have the pH and water activity of a finished batch measured7. Choose the container and what seals it8. Shortlist three co-packers or commercial kitchens9. Work out what one batch, and one unit, costs to make10. Set up lot codes and a recall plan11. Make a first full-size batch12. Get barcodes13. Draft the label with everything it has to say14. Set the wholesale and shelf price from the cost15. Sell it at a market before you scale16. Get product liability insurance17. Make the one-page sheet a buyer reads18. Name your first three stores

Where do I go from here?

How to sell beef jerky to storesEvery step, its reason and its typical costSelling food made at home in MarylandAll of Maryland's lines, what you may make, register and outgrow
How do I find and choose a co-packer?5 min readHow do I work out my shelf life and best-by date?4 min readWhat should I charge a store for my product?5 min read

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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.

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Something here out of date, or a state we should write up next? Email hello@shelfstep.com.