Required Label Elements
West Virginia Code §19-35-6 spells out exactly what must appear on every cottage food label. These elements apply whether your product is packaged, sold from a bulk container, or sold online. Missing any one of them is a labeling violation.
-
Producer's Name, Address, and Phone
Your full name (or business name), home address, and a working phone number. This is a consumer safety requirement — if anyone has a complaint or concern, they need to reach you directly.
Jane Smith · 123 Main Street · Charleston, WV 25301 · (304) 555-0100
-
Common or Usual Name of the Food
Call it what it is. "Chocolate Chip Cookies," "Strawberry Jam," "Honey Oat Granola." Avoid fanciful brand names as the primary identifier — your brand name can appear, but the common name must also be present.
Smith's Harvest Granola — Honey Oat & Almond
-
Ingredients in Descending Order of Predominance
List every ingredient, heaviest first. Include sub-ingredients in parentheses when a component has its own recipe (like enriched flour or vanilla extract). Be specific — "spices" alone isn't enough; list each one.
INGREDIENTS: Rolled oats, honey, almonds, coconut oil, brown sugar, vanilla extract (vanilla bean extract, alcohol, sugar), salt, cinnamon.
-
Major Allergens
The nine federally recognized major food allergens must be called out clearly — either bolded within the ingredient list or summarized in a separate "Contains:" statement directly below the ingredients.
CONTAINS: Wheat, Milk, Eggs, Tree Nuts (Almonds).
-
State-Required Disclaimer Statement
The exact West Virginia cottage food disclaimer must appear verbatim. See the full wording in the next section.
-
Net Weight (for Packaged Products)
State the net weight or quantity in both U.S. customary (ounces, pounds, fluid ounces) and metric (grams, milliliters). The WV Division of Labor, Weights and Measures office can help if you're uncertain about calculation.
NET WT 8 OZ (227g)
Where the label goes: The WV statute lets you display required information in four different ways depending on how the product is sold. On a label affixed to the package. On a placard at the point of sale. On the product webpage for online orders. Or on a receipt/document provided to the customer. The details must appear somewhere the customer can see them before purchase — but the method is flexible.
The West Virginia Cottage Food Disclaimer
West Virginia requires a specific disclaimer statement on every cottage food product. The wording is set by the statute and must appear exactly as written. No paraphrasing, no softening, no substitutions.
Required Verbatim
Exact Required Wording
"This product was produced at a private residence that is exempt from State licensing and inspection. This product may contain allergens."
This disclaimer is the reason West Virginia can offer such an open cottage food pathway — it puts the consumer on notice that the product didn't go through state inspection, and it puts the responsibility for informed purchase on the buyer.
Where to place it: Directly on the package label, on a placard at a farmers market stand, on the product page of an online listing, or on a receipt included with the product. Anywhere the buyer sees the product information, the disclaimer must be present.
Allergen Labeling
West Virginia follows federal FDA rules for allergen labeling. The Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act (FALCPA) and the 2021 FASTER Act recognize nine major food allergens that must be clearly disclosed on any packaged food label.
🥛Milk
🥚Eggs
🐟Fish
🦐Shellfish
🌰Tree Nuts
🥜Peanuts
🌾Wheat
🫘Soybeans
🌱Sesame
Two Acceptable Formats
Option 1 — Inline bolding: Bold the allergen directly within the ingredient list, typically in parentheses after the ingredient name.
INGREDIENTS: Enriched flour (wheat), butter (milk), sugar, eggs, chocolate chips (milk, soy), almonds, vanilla extract.
Option 2 — "Contains" statement: A separate line directly below the ingredient list that summarizes all major allergens in the product.
CONTAINS: Wheat, Milk, Eggs, Soy, Tree Nuts (Almonds).
Cross-contact warnings: If your home kitchen handles multiple allergens, consider adding a "May contain" or "Produced in a facility that also processes" statement. These are voluntary under federal law but strongly recommended — they protect buyers with severe allergies and protect you from liability. Example: "Produced in a home kitchen that also processes peanuts and tree nuts."
Net Weight & Measurement Rules
Packaged products must show net weight — the weight of the food only, not including packaging. The measurement must appear in both U.S. customary and metric units.
-
●
Solid products: ounces (oz) and pounds (lb), with grams (g) equivalent — e.g., NET WT 8 OZ (227g)
-
●
Liquids: fluid ounces (fl oz) with milliliters (mL) equivalent — e.g., NET 12 FL OZ (355 mL)
-
●
Countable items: state the count — e.g., 12 Cookies or 24 Count (Net Wt 10 oz / 283g)
-
●
Placement: Net weight belongs on the Principal Display Panel — the main front-facing side of the package — in the bottom 30% of the panel
For help with accurate net-weight measurement, the WV Division of Labor, Weights and Measures office offers guidance. They can also verify your scales are properly calibrated — especially useful for higher-volume producers who sell by weight.
Honey — Special Label Requirements
Honey has its own set of label rules under the WV Farmers Market Vendor Guide, beyond the general cottage food requirements:
-
●
All standard cottage food label elements apply
-
●
Net weight must appear prominently on the label
-
●
Required warning statement: "Please do not feed to infants under 1 year of age."
The infant warning is a federally-recommended statement for all honey products because of the small risk of infant botulism. West Virginia makes it mandatory for honey sold under the cottage food pathway. Honey producers must also register separately as an apiarist with the WVDA.
Font Size and Readability
The WV statute for non-PHF cottage food under §19-35-6 doesn't specify a minimum font size. It requires only that the information be "easily legible to the average person." That's a practical, not a mechanical, standard — if a typical shopper squints to read your label, it's too small.
For acidified foods sold at farmers markets under §19-35-5, the label standard is stricter: the phrase "MADE IN A WV _____ KITCHEN" must appear in capital, bold, 10-point type or larger, with the blank filled in for home, farm, community, or commercial kitchen.
Practical readability guidelines most cottage food producers use:
-
●
Product name: 12pt+ on a Principal Display Panel
-
●
Ingredient list & disclaimer: 8pt minimum, 9–10pt preferred
-
●
Allergen "Contains" statement: same size as ingredient list, bold
-
●
Net weight: at least 1/16 inch tall, bold, bottom 30% of display panel
Sample West Virginia Cottage Food Label
Here's how all the required elements come together on a compliant cottage food label.
Sample Compliant Label
Mountain State Granola
NET WT 12 OZ (340g)
Ingredients
Rolled oats, WV wild honey, almonds, pecans, coconut oil, brown sugar, vanilla extract, cinnamon, salt.
Contains
Tree Nuts (Almonds, Pecans).
Produced By
Jane Smith · 123 Main Street
Charleston, WV 25301
(304) 555-0100
This product was produced at a private residence that is exempt from State licensing and inspection. This product may contain allergens.