Selling pesto in Alaska

Q: What does Alaska say a home-made label must carry?

AS 17.20.332, Exemption for homemade food says: “(e) A homemade food packaged for individual sale must be clearly and prominently labeled with (1) the producer's name, current address, telephone number, and, if applicable, the producer's business license number; and (2) the statement: “This food was made in a home kitchen, is not regulated or inspected, except for meat and meat products, and may contain allergens.”” (AS 17.20.332, Exemption for homemade food, read October 24, 2026). AS 17.20.332, Exemption for homemade food says: “(e) A homemade food packaged for individual sale must be clearly and prominently labeled with (1) the producer's name, current address, telephone number, and, if applicable, the producer's business license number;” (AS 17.20.332, Exemption for homemade food, read October 24, 2026). AS 17.20.332, Exemption for homemade food says: “(g) Before a sale of an unpackaged homemade food under this section, a producer or third-party seller shall (1) inform the buyer that the unpackaged homemade food was prepared in accordance with AS 17.20.332 – 17.20.338 and is not subject to certain state certification, labeling, licensing, packaging, regulation, or inspection requirements; and (2) provide the buyer with the producer's name, current address, telephone number, and, if applicable, the producer's business license number.” (AS 17.20.332, Exemption for homemade food, read October 24, 2026). AS 17.20.332, Exemption for homemade food says: “A retail space selling a homemade food shall prominently display a sign indicating that the homemade food was made in a home kitchen, may contain allergens, and is not, except for meat and meat products permitted under (h) of this section, regulated or inspected.” (AS 17.20.332, Exemption for homemade food, read October 24, 2026). ShelfStep's summary of the rules and their sources, read October 24, 2026; not legal advice.

Q: Where do I go from here?

How to sell pesto to stores. Every step, its reason and its typical cost Selling food made at home in Alaska. All of Alaska's lines, what you may make, register and outgrow How do I find and choose a co-packer?. 5 min read How do I work out my shelf life and best-by date?. 4 min read Do I need to register with the FDA to sell my food product?. 4 min read ShelfStep's summary of the rules and their sources, read October 24, 2026; not legal advice.

Sources last read Oct 24, 2026

What Alaska's own pages say about making pesto 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.

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 pesto at home in Alaska?

Alaska's own pages, as ShelfStep read them on October 24, 2026, do not name pesto or foods like it, so this page cannot tell you whether a home kitchen in Alaska may make it. Ask the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation before you make it at home to sell. What the state allows and leaves out in general is on the Alaska page.

What rules does pesto come under beyond Alaska's?

Outside a home kitchen, ShelfStep's plan reads pesto as a refrigerated or frozen food. The plan's own line for it, a default and not a law:

ShelfStep’s plan default, not a lawFrozen or refrigerated (non-meat): cold chain, shelf-life / challenge study, "keep frozen/refrigerated" labeling.21 CFR 114.3

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 pesto

Acidified foods kept under refrigeration21 CFR 114.3(b) says:“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

Source to check: FDA food facility registration

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 Alaska?

Alaska's Homemade Food Exemption rules: where it may be soldAS 17.20.332, Exemption for homemade food says:“(b) The sale of a homemade food under this section (1) is only for personal consumption; (2) must occur in the state at a farmers' market, an agricultural fair, a farm, a ranch, the producer's home or office, the retail location of a third-party seller, or a location agreed on between the producer and the buyer; and (3) may not involve (A) interstate commerce;”AS 17.20.332, Exemption for homemade food · Read Oct 24, 2026
Alaska's Homemade Food Exemption rules: where it may be soldAS 17.20.332, Exemption for homemade food says:“(f) The seller of a potentially hazardous homemade food, except eggs, must also be the producer of the homemade food. The seller of eggs or a homemade food that is not a potentially hazardous homemade food may be the producer of the item, an agent of the producer, or a third-party vendor, including a retail shop or grocery store, as long as the sale is made in compliance with this section and all applicable federal and local laws.”AS 17.20.332, Exemption for homemade food · Read Oct 24, 2026
Alaska's Homemade Food Exemption rules: where it may be soldAS 17.20.332, Exemption for homemade food says:“(d) A homemade food may be sold from a retail space located at a ranch, farm, or home where the homemade food is produced or at a retail location of a third-party seller. ... A homemade food for sale at a retail location or grocery store may not be displayed or offered for sale on the same shelf or display as inspected food.”AS 17.20.332, Exemption for homemade food · Read Oct 24, 2026
Alaska's Homemade Food Exemption rules: where it may be soldAS 17.20.332, Exemption for homemade food says:“If a retail space selling a potentially hazardous homemade food is in any way associated with a commercial food establishment or offers for sale any inspected food, the retail space shall (1) maintain physical separation from the commercial food establishment with a separate door and separate cash register or point of sale; (2) display signs or other markings clearly indicating which separate spaces offer inspected foods and which offer uninspected foods and meat and meat products permitted under (h) of this section for sale; (3) maintain separate coolers, freezers, warehouses, or other storage areas to prohibit the intermingling of inspected foods with uninspected foods and meat and meat products permitted under (h) of this section; and (4) comply with any other requirements specified by the Department of Environmental Conservation relating to homemade food.”AS 17.20.332, Exemption for homemade food · Read Oct 24, 2026
Alaska's Homemade Food Exemption rules: where it may be soldAS 17.20.338, Definitions says:“(9) “personal consumption” means the use or ingestion of food by a buyer, an employee of the buyer, or a nonpaying guest of the buyer of homemade food;”AS 17.20.338, Definitions · Read Oct 24, 2026

What does Alaska say a home-made label must carry?

Alaska's Homemade Food Exemption rules: the home-made labelAS 17.20.332, Exemption for homemade food says:“(e) A homemade food packaged for individual sale must be clearly and prominently labeled with (1) the producer's name, current address, telephone number, and, if applicable, the producer's business license number; and (2) the statement: “This food was made in a home kitchen, is not regulated or inspected, except for meat and meat products, and may contain allergens.””AS 17.20.332, Exemption for homemade food · Read Oct 24, 2026
Alaska's Homemade Food Exemption rules: the home-made labelAS 17.20.332, Exemption for homemade food says:“(e) A homemade food packaged for individual sale must be clearly and prominently labeled with (1) the producer's name, current address, telephone number, and, if applicable, the producer's business license number;”AS 17.20.332, Exemption for homemade food · Read Oct 24, 2026
Alaska's Homemade Food Exemption rules: the home-made labelAS 17.20.332, Exemption for homemade food says:“(g) Before a sale of an unpackaged homemade food under this section, a producer or third-party seller shall (1) inform the buyer that the unpackaged homemade food was prepared in accordance with AS 17.20.332 – 17.20.338 and is not subject to certain state certification, labeling, licensing, packaging, regulation, or inspection requirements; and (2) provide the buyer with the producer's name, current address, telephone number, and, if applicable, the producer's business license number.”AS 17.20.332, Exemption for homemade food · Read Oct 24, 2026
Alaska's Homemade Food Exemption rules: the home-made labelAS 17.20.332, Exemption for homemade food says:“A retail space selling a homemade food shall prominently display a sign indicating that the homemade food was made in a home kitchen, may contain allergens, and is not, except for meat and meat products permitted under (h) of this section, regulated or inspected.”AS 17.20.332, Exemption for homemade food · Read Oct 24, 2026

How do I get pesto into a store in Alaska?

Alaska's Homemade Food Exemption rules: what applies beyond the home-kitchen rulesAS 17.20.336, Exceptions says:“Nothing in AS 17.20.332 – 17.20.338 (1) prevents the Department of Environmental Conservation from ... (D) regulating food or an establishment that is not exempt under AS 17.20.332 – 17.20.338;”AS 17.20.336, Exceptions · Read Oct 24, 2026
Alaska's Homemade Food Exemption rules: what applies beyond the home-kitchen rulesAS 17.20.336, Exceptions says:“Nothing in AS 17.20.332 – 17.20.338 ... (2) exempts a person from (A) applicable federal and local laws, regulations, and ordinances regarding food; or (B) brand inspection requirements under AS 03.40.250 or animal inspection requirements under AS 03.05.040 .”AS 17.20.336, Exceptions · Read Oct 24, 2026

From there, ShelfStep's standard plan for a refrigerated or frozen food has 20 steps. The first 6 help you find out where and how pesto 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.
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.
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.
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.
6.
Get a Process Authority's letter on how it is made safe
Ask a qualified reviewer which process and storage conditions your product needs. This is where you ask someone qualified, a Process Authority, to put in writing how the product is made safe. Buyers, insurers and inspectors may ask for that document, and it cannot be obtained after the fact for product you have already sold.
In the plan: Needs the pH first. Their letter sets out the process they ask you to hold to, and the storage line for your label.

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

1. Write the recipe down with exact amounts 2. Decide how it is kept: on a shelf, in the fridge or frozen 3. Work out how it stays cold from your kitchen to the shop 4. Find out where you are allowed to make it for sale 5. Have the pH and water activity of a finished batch measured 6. Get a Process Authority's letter on how it is made safe 7. Look into FDA registration 8. Choose the container and what seals it 9. Shortlist three co-packers or commercial kitchens 10. Work out what one batch, and one unit, costs to make 11. Set up lot codes and a recall plan 12. Make a first full-size batch 13. Find out how long it keeps 14. Get barcodes 15. Draft the label with everything it has to say 16. Set the wholesale and shelf price from the cost 17. Sell it at a market before you scale 18. Get product liability insurance 19. Make the one-page sheet a buyer reads 20. Name your first three stores

Where do I go from here?

How to sell pesto to storesEvery step, its reason and its typical cost Selling food made at home in AlaskaAll of Alaska's lines, what you may make, register and outgrow

How do I find and choose a co-packer?5 min read How do I work out my shelf life and best-by date?4 min read Do I need to register with the FDA to sell my food product?4 min read

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.

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