Selling pesto in Nevada

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

NRS 580.600 (Nevada Legislature) says: “(d) Labeled with "MADE IN A COTTAGE FOOD OPERATION THAT IS NOT SUBJECT TO GOVERNMENT FOOD SAFETY INSPECTION" printed prominently on the label for the food item;” (NRS 580.600 (Nevada Legislature), read October 24, 2026). NRS 580.600 (Nevada Legislature) says: “(c) Affixed with a label which complies with the federal labeling requirements set forth in 21 U.S.C. § 343(w), 9 C.F.R. Part 317 and 21 C.F.R. Part 101;” (NRS 580.600 (Nevada Legislature), read October 24, 2026). NRS 580.600 (Nevada Legislature) says: “(e) Prepackaged in a manner that protects the food item from contamination during transport, display, sale and acquisition by consumers; and” (NRS 580.600 (Nevada Legislature), 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 Nevada. All of Nevada'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 Nevada'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.

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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 Nevada?

Nevada'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 Nevada may make it. Ask the Nevada Department of Agriculture and your local health authority before you make it at home to sell. What the state allows and leaves out in general is on the Nevada page.

What rules does pesto come under beyond Nevada'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 Nevada?

Nevada's Cottage Food Operation rules: where it may be soldNDA, Food Safety Program says:“A cottage food operation cannot prepare or sell food items at a permitted food establishment.”NDA, Food Safety Program · Read Oct 24, 2026
Nevada's Cottage Food Operation rules: where it may be soldNRS 580.600 (Nevada Legislature) says:“(a) Sold on the private property of the natural person who manufactures or prepares the food item or at a location where the natural person who manufactures or prepares the food item sells the food item directly to a consumer, including, without limitation, a farmers' market licensed pursuant to chapter 244 or 268 of NRS, flea market, swap meet, church bazaar, garage sale or craft fair, by means of an in-person transaction that does not involve selling the food item by telephone or via the Internet;”NRS 580.600 (Nevada Legislature) · Read Oct 24, 2026
Nevada's Cottage Food Operation rules: where it may be soldNRS 580.600 (Nevada Legislature) says:“(b) Sold to a natural person for his or her consumption and not for resale;”NRS 580.600 (Nevada Legislature) · Read Oct 24, 2026
Nevada's Cottage Food Operation rules: a yearly sales ceilingNRS 580.600 (Nevada Legislature) says:“(a) "Cottage food operation" means a natural person who manufactures or prepares food items in his or her private home or, if allowed by the food safety authority, in the kitchen of a fraternal or social clubhouse, a school or a religious, charitable or other nonprofit organization, for sale to a natural person for consumption and whose gross sales of such food items are not more than $100,000, as adjusted pursuant to subsection 6, per calendar year.”NRS 580.600 (Nevada Legislature) · Read Oct 24, 2026
Nevada's Cottage Food Operation rules: a yearly sales ceilingNRS 580.600 (Nevada Legislature) says:“Beginning with Fiscal Year 2026-2027, the amount of gross sales of a cottage food operation specified in paragraph (a) of subsection 7 must be adjusted for each fiscal year by the Department by adding to the amount the product of the amount multiplied by the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index (All Items) published by the United States Department of Labor from July 2025 to the July preceding the fiscal year for which the adjustment is calculated. The Department shall publish the adjusted amount on the Internet website of the Department on or before September 30 of each year.”NRS 580.600 (Nevada Legislature) · Read Oct 24, 2026

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

Nevada's Cottage Food Operation rules: the home-made labelNRS 580.600 (Nevada Legislature) says:“(d) Labeled with "MADE IN A COTTAGE FOOD OPERATION THAT IS NOT SUBJECT TO GOVERNMENT FOOD SAFETY INSPECTION" printed prominently on the label for the food item;”NRS 580.600 (Nevada Legislature) · Read Oct 24, 2026
Nevada's Cottage Food Operation rules: the home-made labelNRS 580.600 (Nevada Legislature) says:“(c) Affixed with a label which complies with the federal labeling requirements set forth in 21 U.S.C. § 343(w), 9 C.F.R. Part 317 and 21 C.F.R. Part 101;”NRS 580.600 (Nevada Legislature) · Read Oct 24, 2026
Nevada's Cottage Food Operation rules: the home-made labelNRS 580.600 (Nevada Legislature) says:“(e) Prepackaged in a manner that protects the food item from contamination during transport, display, sale and acquisition by consumers; and”NRS 580.600 (Nevada Legislature) · Read Oct 24, 2026

How do I get pesto into a store in Nevada?

Nevada's Cottage Food Operation rules: what applies beyond the home-kitchen rulesNRS 580.900 (Nevada Legislature) says:“Except as otherwise provided in this section, it is unlawful for any person to operate a food establishment unless the person possesses a valid permit issued to him or her by the food safety authority.”NRS 580.900 (Nevada Legislature) · 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 NevadaAll of Nevada'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.