What has to be on a maple syrup label in Illinois?

Cottage food: the name of the cottage food operation and the unit of local government where it's located Cottage food: the registration number from the local health department and the municipality or county where the registration was filed The common or usual name of the product ("maple syrup") All ingredients in descending order by weight Cottage food: the phrase, in prominent lettering, "This product was produced in a home kitchen not inspected by a health department that may also process common food allergens. If you have safety concerns, contact your local health department." Cottage food: the date the product was processed Allergen labeling as specified under federal rules An accurate statement of the quantity of contents and the name and place of business of the manufacturer, packer or distributor (Illinois Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act; IDPH's cottage food checklist lists "net weight") Cottage food sellers must also post the home-kitchen notice at the point of sale — a placard at a stand, or a message on an online sales page

Illinois · selling rules

Selling maple syrup in Illinois

Yes, but Illinois has no special maple exemption — syrup is treated like any other bottled food. The small-producer route is the cottage food law: register with your local health department (up to $50 a year), bottle at home, and sell straight to consumers inside Illinois. Selling to stores or restaurants is wholesale, and since July 1, 2026 that takes a state food processing plant permit.

License needed?Yes

Home kitchen OK?Yes

Last checked

October 5, 2026

Some points to confirm with the agency

Licenses & registration

We found no Illinois statute that exempts maple syrup the way the state exempts small honey producers. The state's farmers market guide (Illinois Department of Public Health and partners, May 2023) says maple syrup "must be bottled in an inspected facility or under the cottage food regulations." That leaves three routes. (1) Cottage food: register every year with the local health department where you live (the fee can't exceed $50), and the person preparing or packaging must be a certified food protection manager (410 ILCS 625/4). Maple syrup isn't on the law's prohibited list, and the state's cottage food guide lists it as allowed. (2) Direct sales from a facility inspected by your local health department, which regulates retail (direct-to-consumer) sales. (3) Wholesale: no one may operate a food processing plant — a facility making or packing food for another business to resell — without a permit and inspection from the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH); the fee table shows a one-time $250 application fee plus $700 a year (77 Ill. Adm. Code 730.2010 and Table A, amended effective March 31, 2026; IDPH says the permit requirement began July 1, 2026).

Official pageYour local health department (cottage food registration; retail sales) — or the Illinois Department of Public Health, Manufactured Food program, for the wholesale food processing plant permit

Where you can make it

Yes, under the cottage food law, which covers food produced or packaged "in a kitchen located in that person's primary domestic residence or another appropriately designed and equipped kitchen on a farm" for direct sale. If you aren't on municipal water, the local health department may require a water test. The law provides for inspecting a cottage food kitchen after a complaint, an outbreak or a suspected violation rather than routinely. A home kitchen can't be used for wholesale: the state's definition of a food processing plant excludes "a residential kitchen in a private home." Neither the statute nor the state guides say how a backyard evaporator or separate sugarhouse fits the "kitchen" wording — ask your local health department before you register.

Grade & density

Golden

75% or more

Amber

50–74.9%

Dark

25–49.9%

Very Dark

under 25%

We found no Illinois law or rule that sets maple syrup grades or a density range: the word "maple" doesn't appear in the Food Handling Regulation Enforcement Act, the Sanitary Food Preparation Act or the Illinois Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, and the state's food labeling code mentions it only in an example about blended breakfast syrups. Grading therefore follows the voluntary USDA standards, and the federal minimum of 66% soluble solids applies (see the national notes). Illinois law treats a food as misbranded if its labeling is false or misleading, so any grade you print must be accurate.

Syrup grades explained · check your density

What goes on the label

Cottage food: the name of the cottage food operation and the unit of local government where it's located
Cottage food: the registration number from the local health department and the municipality or county where the registration was filed
The common or usual name of the product ("maple syrup")
All ingredients in descending order by weight
Cottage food: the phrase, in prominent lettering, "This product was produced in a home kitchen not inspected by a health department that may also process common food allergens. If you have safety concerns, contact your local health department."
Cottage food: the date the product was processed
Allergen labeling as specified under federal rules
An accurate statement of the quantity of contents and the name and place of business of the manufacturer, packer or distributor (Illinois Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act; IDPH's cottage food checklist lists "net weight")
Cottage food sellers must also post the home-kitchen notice at the point of sale — a placard at a stand, or a message on an online sales page

Where you can sell

Cottage food syrup may only be sold directly to consumers for their own use, not for resale: at farmers markets, fairs, festivals and public events, online, by pickup from your home or farm, by delivery, and through mobile farmers markets. It may be shipped within Illinois if sealed in a way that reveals tampering, but "shall not be shipped out of State." One registration covers sales statewide. Stores, restaurants and other resellers are wholesale and need the IDPH food processing plant permit; IDPH adds that FDA also has jurisdiction over products sold across state lines (see the national notes). Farmers markets are regulated by local health departments, which may not set market rules stricter than the state's.

Food-safety requirements

Cottage food: the preparer must be a certified food protection manager; a private-well water test may be required; and the state or local health department can inspect the home kitchen, charge for the inspection and stop sales after a complaint, an outbreak, or a finding that product is misbranded or adulterated (410 ILCS 625/4). Permitted food processing plants are held to 77 Ill. Adm. Code Part 730; IDPH's wholesale guide describes its sanitary requirements as based on the federal good manufacturing practice rule (21 CFR Part 117). We found no Illinois maple-specific equipment, lead or bottling-temperature rule.

Worth confirming: Illinois has no maple-specific statute, so this entry rests on general food law plus two state guides. IDPH's older farmers market bulletin (2013) and a University of Illinois Extension page still say maple syrup must come from "an inspected facility" without mentioning cottage food; the May 2023 state guide and the 2024 cottage food guide are newer and add the cottage food route. The link to the 2023 guide on IDPH's own farmers market page was broken when we checked, so we read a copy hosted by the Cook County Farm Bureau. The IDPH permit notice lists $950 as the initial cost for a plain food processing plant ($250 application plus $700 annual) — the same figures as the rule's fee table. Whether boiling in an outdoor or backyard sugarhouse satisfies the cottage food law's "kitchen" wording, and what a local health department requires to inspect a non-home facility for retail sales, vary by county — confirm with your local health department. Local zoning can also restrict home pickup.

Across the US

There's no federal license to sell maple syrup in the US — whether you need a license, where you can boil and where you can sell are decided by your state. Federal rules still set the floor for every jar: the FDA defines what "maple syrup" is and what a food label must say, and USDA publishes grade standards that are voluntary at the federal level.

FDA standard of identity: "maple syrup" (or "maple sirup") is made by concentrating and heat-treating maple sap and must contain at least 66% soluble solids by weight (21 CFR 168.140).
Every packaged food label needs the product's name on the front panel (21 CFR 101.3), the net quantity of contents in fluid measure (21 CFR 101.7), and the name and place of business of the maker, packer or distributor, including city, state and ZIP code (21 CFR 101.5).
Nutrition Facts panels are often not required for small producers: direct-to-consumer sellers with $50,000 or less a year in food sales to consumers (or $500,000 or less in total sales to consumers) are exempt if the label makes no nutrition claims (21 CFR 101.9(j)(1)). A separate low-volume exemption covers firms with fewer than 100 full-time-equivalent employees selling fewer than 100,000 units, and firms under 10 employees selling under 10,000 units don't have to file a notice (21 CFR 101.9(j)(18)).
USDA's grade standards (2015) are voluntary at the federal level: Grade A comes in four color/taste classes — Golden (Delicate), Amber (Rich), Dark (Robust) and Very Dark (Strong) — at 66–68.9% solids (°Brix). Processing Grade must be packed in containers of 5 gallons or larger and can't go into retail-size containers. Some states make grade labeling mandatory under state law (in this guide: Maine, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont, and Wisconsin for licensed processors), while others leave it voluntary — see your state's page.
FDA facility registration: FDA treats boiling sap into syrup as "manufacturing/processing", so a dedicated sugarhouse generally has to register with FDA unless an exemption applies — for example, it's a retail food establishment, meaning its direct-to-consumer food sales are worth more than its sales to all other buyers (sales at roadside stands, farmers markets, CSAs, fairs and by mail or online from a farm or farm-operated business all count as direct), or the syrup is made in your home or in an outbuilding that's still used the way a normal home building would be (FDA facility-registration Q&A, 7th ed., 2018).
Licenses, home-kitchen rules and sugarhouse inspections are state matters, and federal rules apply on top of them — USDA's grade standards say they don't excuse failure to comply with state law. Rules move: Illinois, for example, requires a state permit for every wholesale food operation from July 1, 2026 (see the Illinois page).

Elsewhere

Other states & provinces

Getting ready for the season? When to tap in Illinois

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