Selling a spice rub or blend in Georgia
What Georgia's own pages say about making a spice rub or blend at home, each line linked, and the path to a store when you want one to stock it.
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Can I make a spice rub or blend at home in Georgia?
Georgia's own pages name a spice rub or blend, or foods like it, among what Georgia says a home kitchen may make. ShelfStep found these lines by the words they use; whether they cover your product is for the Georgia Department of Agriculture to say. Those lines, as the state writes them:
- Georgia's Cottage Food rules: what may be made at homeGDA, Cottage Food says:“Cottage food products include: Loaf Breads, Rolls, and Biscuits Cakes Pastries and Cookies Candies and Confections Fruit Pies Jams, Jellies, and Preserves Dried Fruits Dry Herbs, Seasonings and Mixtures Cereals, Trail Mixes, and Granola Coated or Uncoated Nuts Vinegar and Flavored Vinegar Popcorn, Popcorn Balls, and Cotton Candy”GDA, Cottage Food · Read Oct 8, 2026
What rules does a spice rub or blend come under beyond Georgia's?
Outside a home kitchen, ShelfStep's plan reads a spice rub or blend 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 Georgia?
- Georgia's Cottage Food rules: where it may be soldGDA, Cottage Food FAQ says:“Yes. Under House Bill 398, Cottage Food Operators are permitted to conduct sales to the end consumer within Georgia. Additionally, they may sell their Cottage Food Products to other retailers and restaurants. It remains the responsibility of the Cottage Food Operator to ensure compliance with all applicable state and federal regulations. Operators should be aware that engaging in interstate commerce may subject them to oversight by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Should FDA regulations apply, a Manufactured Food Establishment License would be required; however, this license cannot be issued for foods prepared in a domestic kitchen.”GDA, Cottage Food FAQ · Read Oct 8, 2026
- Georgia's Cottage Food rules: where it may be soldGDA, Cottage Food Update: House Bill 398 & Frequently Asked Questions says:“Opt Out. Under HB 398, each city or county in Georgia may choose to pass an ordinance prohibiting cottage food operators from selling cottage food items through third-party vendors (ex. – grocery stores, restaurants, or convenience stores) within its jurisdiction. ... HB 398 also prevents cities or counties from prohibiting commercial delivery companies from delivering cottage food items.”GDA, Cottage Food Update: House Bill 398 & Frequently Asked Questions · Read Oct 8, 2026
- Georgia's Cottage Food rules: where it may be soldGDA, HB 398 – Cottage Food Law, O.C.G.A. 26-2-470 et seq. (as passed) says:“Cottage food production operations may only sell, or offer to sell, food items directly to a person, including online and by mail order, or to retail food sales establishments, including grocery stores and restaurants.”GDA, HB 398 – Cottage Food Law, O.C.G.A. 26-2-470 et seq. (as passed) · Read Oct 8, 2026
- Georgia's Cottage Food rules: where it may be soldGDA, HB 398 – Cottage Food Law, O.C.G.A. 26-2-470 et seq. (as passed) says:“(d) In addition to the labeling requirements provided in subsections (a) and (b) of this Code section, if the cottage food item is sold by a third-party vendor, the item shall be displayed in a separate section of the store or in a separate display case from non-cottage food items. The third-party vendor shall conspicuously label the separate section or display case as containing cottage food items that are exempt from state inspection.”GDA, HB 398 – Cottage Food Law, O.C.G.A. 26-2-470 et seq. (as passed) · Read Oct 8, 2026
What does Georgia say a home-made label must carry?
- Georgia's Cottage Food rules: the home-made labelGDA, HB 398 – Cottage Food Law, O.C.G.A. 26-2-470 et seq. (as passed) says:“(a) Except as provided in subsection (c) of this Code section, a cottage food operator or seller shall provide the following information to consumers of a cottage food item: ... (2) The following statement in at least 10 point font: 'This product was produced at a residential property that is exempt from state inspection. This product may contain allergens.'”GDA, HB 398 – Cottage Food Law, O.C.G.A. 26-2-470 et seq. (as passed) · Read Oct 8, 2026
- Georgia's Cottage Food rules: the home-made labelGDA, HB 398 – Cottage Food Law, O.C.G.A. 26-2-470 et seq. (as passed) says:“(1)(A) The business name, address, and telephone number of the cottage food operator; or (B) A cottage food operator or seller may elect, in lieu of providing an address pursuant to subparagraph (A) of this paragraph, to provide an identification number to be provided by the department upon written request; and”GDA, HB 398 – Cottage Food Law, O.C.G.A. 26-2-470 et seq. (as passed) · Read Oct 8, 2026
- Georgia's Cottage Food rules: the home-made labelGDA, HB 398 – Cottage Food Law, O.C.G.A. 26-2-470 et seq. (as passed) says:“(b) Such information shall be provided: (1) On a label affixed to the package, if the cottage food item is packaged; (2) On a label affixed to the container, if the cottage food item is offered for sale from a bulk container; (3) On a placard displayed at the point of sale, if the cottage food item is neither packaged nor offered for sale from a bulk container; or (4) On the webpage on which the cottage food item is offered for sale, if the cottage food item is offered for sale on the internet.”GDA, HB 398 – Cottage Food Law, O.C.G.A. 26-2-470 et seq. (as passed) · Read Oct 8, 2026
- Georgia's Cottage Food rules: the home-made labelGDA, HB 398 – Cottage Food Law, O.C.G.A. 26-2-470 et seq. (as passed) says:“(c)(1) If the cottage food item is sold by telephone or custom order, the seller may choose not to display the information required by subsection (a) of this Code section but shall disclose to consumers that the cottage food item: (A) Is produced at a residential property that is exempt from state inspection; and (B) May contain allergens. (2) The seller shall have the information required by paragraphs (1) through (3) of subsection (a) of this Code section readily available and shall provide it to consumers upon request.”GDA, HB 398 – Cottage Food Law, O.C.G.A. 26-2-470 et seq. (as passed) · Read Oct 8, 2026
How do I get a spice rub or blend into a store in Georgia?
- Georgia's Cottage Food rules: what applies beyond the home-kitchen rulesGDA, Cottage Food FAQ says:“Food manufacturing operations conducted in a rented kitchen (or Shared Kitchen) would require a Food Sales Establishment License to sell your products.”GDA, Cottage Food FAQ · 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 a spice rub or blend 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 a spice rub or blend 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.