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Selling salad dressing in Maryland

Sources last read Oct 8, 2026

What Maryland's own pages say about making salad dressing 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.

A sketch of Salad dressing in its bottle.
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 salad dressing at home in Maryland?

Maryland's own pages name salad dressing, 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 salad dressing come under beyond Maryland's?

Outside a home kitchen, ShelfStep's plan reads salad dressing as a shelf-stable acid or acidified food. The plan's own line for it, a default and not a law:

ShelfStep’s plan default, not a lawShelf-stable acid/acidified (sauces, salsa, pickles, dressings): FDA — a Process Authority letter, acidified-foods rules (21 CFR 114), a scheduled process, pH control.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 salad dressing
  • An acidified-food processor's FDA registration and process filing21 CFR 108.25(c) says:“(c)(1) Registration. A commercial processor, when first engaging in the manufacture, processing, or packing of acidified foods in any State, as defined in section 201(a)(1) of the act, shall, not later than 10 days after first so engaging, register and file with the Food and Drug Administration on Form FDA 2541 (food canning establishment registration) ... (2) Process filing. A commercial processor engaged in the processing of acidified foods shall, not later than 60 days after registration, and before packing any new product, provide the Food and Drug Administration information on the scheduled processes”21 CFR 108.25(c) · Read Oct 8, 2026
  • 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
  • Who sets an acidified food's scheduled process21 CFR 114.83 says:“The scheduled process shall be established by a qualified person who has expert knowledge acquired through appropriate training and experience in the acidification and processing of acidified foods.”21 CFR 114.83 · 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
Source to check: Acidified foods under a state's own rules
  • A state’s own rules for acidified foods21 CFR 108.25(i) says:“Wherever the Commissioner finds that any State regulates the commercial processing of acidified foods under effective regulations specifying at least the requirements of part 114 of this chapter, the Commissioner shall issue a notice stating that compliance with such State regulations shall constitute compliance with this section, if the State through its regulatory agency or each processor of acidified foods in the State files with the Food and Drug Administration the registration information and the processing information prescribed in paragraph (c) of this section.”21 CFR 108.25(i) · Read Sep 20, 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 salad dressing 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 shelf-stable acid or acidified food has 18 steps. The first 6 help you find out where and how salad dressing 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.

    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. 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. 5.

    Get a Process Authority's letter on how it is made safe

    For a sauce, 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.

  6. 6.

    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.

    In the plan: Look into registration with FDA. Any filing your Process Authority letter names belongs here too.

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

1. Write the recipe down with exact amounts2. Decide how it is kept: on a shelf, in the fridge or frozen3. Find out where you are allowed to make it for sale4. Have the pH and water activity of a finished batch measured5. Get a Process Authority's letter on how it is made safe6. Look into FDA registration7. 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 salad dressing 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
Does my sauce or salsa need a scheduled process?5 min readHow do I work out my shelf life and best-by date?4 min readHow do I find and choose a co-packer?5 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.