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Read. Follow. Verify.Maryland Senate Bill 838 exempts home bakeries with under $50,000 in annual revenue from health department licensing
Last action · February 11, 2026: Hearing 2/25 at 1:00 p.m.Sponsor: Justin Ready
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What This Bill Would Do
Senate Bill 838 exempts home bakeries making up to $50,000 annually from Maryland Department of Health licensing requirements, provided they comply with specific labeling, storage, and food safety rules. The measure redefines s to include nonpotentially hazardous foods and applies existing cottage food regulations to home bakeries starting October 1, 2026.
Home bakers with annual revenues under $50,000 can legally sell baked goods directly to consumers and retail stores without paying for a commercial kitchen license, while remaining subject to consumer complaints, label disclosures, and health department investigations.
- Maryland regulates cottage food sales and commercial food establishments through the Department of Health under Title 21 of the Health-General Article. context
Who It Would Affect
Groups the bill's text would affect if enacted, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
home bakery owners
Home bakery owners with under $50,000 in annual revenue are exempt from health department licensing fees and permits, provided they adhere to strict labeling and training mandates.
Maryland Department of Health
The Department is required to issue unique identification numbers, review product labels and food safety course certificates, investigate consumer complaints, and report annually to legislative committees.
retail food stores
Retail stores and grocery cooperatives may stock home bakery products, provided the items include production dates, contact phone numbers, emails, and proper warning labels.
Key Facts
- Defines a home bakery as a business producing or packaging baked goods in a residential kitchen with annual revenues not exceeding $50,000.
- Exempts home bakeries and cottage food businesses from Department of Health licensing if they comply with specific storage, labeling, and training rules.
- Allows home bakeries to sell items directly to consumers at residences, farmers' markets, public events, or via personal and mail delivery, as well as to grocery stores and food cooperatives.
- Requires home bakery product labels to include ingredients in descending order by weight, net weight or volume, allergen and nutritional information, and a 10-point contrast statement disclosing that the item is made in an unlicensed facility.
Show all 7 facts
- Requires home bakery owners selling products to retail food stores to submit proof of completing an approved food safety course and a copy of their product label to the Department of Health.
- Grants the Department of Health authority to investigate consumer complaints, inspect premises, and sample products to check for adulteration or misbranding.
- Specifies that home bakeries remain fully subject to all applicable county and municipal laws as well as state and federal tax laws.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do home bakers need a license from the Maryland Department of Health under this bill?
What types of products can a home bakery sell?
Where can home bakery products be sold?
What information must appear on a home bakery product label?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Currently filed. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Committee.
Procedural history
2 actions- Feb 11, 2026SenateHearing 2/25 at 1:00 p.m.
- Feb 6, 2026SenateIntroducedFirst Reading Finance
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Expansion of Cottage Food Framework to Home Bakeries
The legislation formally integrates home bakeries into the existing regulatory structure previously reserved for cottage food businesses, updating definitions from nonhazardous to nonpotentially hazardous foods.
Connected Entities
Sources
mgaleg.maryland.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance60How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy15Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz30Current news / social attention level
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