Can I sell cakes and food I make at home?

Check that this guide covers you

This guide is for you if you make cakes, biscuits, bread or other food in your own kitchen and sell it, or plan to. The main sections cover England. You do not need a food hygiene certificate by law, but you must be trained and able to show it. The guide covers selling from your home, through social media or a website, and by delivery. If you sell from a market stall or a vehicle, other rules apply. Read What you need to sell at a craft fair, Christmas market or other market or Run a food truck, burger van or coffee van.

Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own sections lower down, because registration, hygiene ratings and allergen laws differ. The trading allowance and the Self Assessment registration trigger are the same across the UK.

Your council registers your home, inspects it and enforces the rules. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) runs the registration service and rating scheme in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Food Standards Scotland (FSS) does this in Scotland.

Work out whether you are a food business

Food law treats regular, organised selling as a food business, even when you work from home or sell only online. The box below explains the test. Cooking only for your own household is outside the law.

Register your home with your council

You must tell your council about your food business. In England the law behind this is Article 6(2) of Regulation (EC) 852/2004. Not notifying the council is a criminal offence in England. The timing in the box below is official guidance, not a figure in the law. Follow it, because the council needs time to process your registration before you start selling.

Work through these steps in order:

If you want to start selling before Christmas, work back from your first sale date, using the example dates in the box. Do not register much earlier than the lead time, because GOV.UK advises against it. For the full process, see Register your food business and Food business registration.

Meet the home kitchen standard

You do not need a commercial kitchen. The law sets a lighter standard for a home that is regularly used to prepare food for sale. Your council officer visits your home after you register and checks your food preparation areas and procedures.

Get trained, but you do not need a certificate

The law does not require a food hygiene certificate. It does require you to be trained and to show it. A recognised qualification is the usual proof. If you employ or are helped by anyone else, they need the same training. For more on courses, see Food handler training.

Expect a food hygiene rating

After the inspection your council gives you a food hygiene rating in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In England you can choose whether to display it, and no regulations require it. Wales and Northern Ireland require display by law. The box below sets out each nation and how your home address is protected online.

Give allergen information for every cake you sell

You must tell customers when food contains any of the 14 allergens. How you do it depends on how you sell. Natasha's Law applies only to food that your business packs before the customer orders it and sells directly to them, for example from your home or your own stall. It does not apply to every cake in a box.

Decide your route for each way of selling. In England the law is the Food Information Regulations 2014, as amended in 2019. The amendment has been in force since 1 October 2021.

If you pack cakes and another business sells them, the full prepacked food labelling rules apply. See Food labelling requirements, Allergen requirements and Allergen control systems and Natasha's Law for the detail. Where those guides discuss selling PPDS food online, follow the table above, which reflects the FSA technical guidance.

Sell online and deliver safely

Selling through a website, social media, text or phone counts as selling at a distance, and consumer law adds duties on what you tell customers before they buy. Tell your council if you start delivering. See Selling food online and Distance selling and e-commerce for the wider rules.

Check your home, mortgage, tenancy and insurance

Registering with the council does not give you permission from your mortgage provider, landlord or planning authority. Check each one before you start. Ask your insurer whether your home policy covers business use and whether you need public or product liability cover. Employers' liability insurance is a legal requirement once you employ staff, with one exception that the box below explains.

For more, see Running a business from home, Planning permission for a business and Business insurance basics.

Tell HMRC when your sales pass the trading allowance

Registering as a food business with your council does not register you with HMRC. The trading allowance lets you earn a small amount from selling without telling HMRC. The first 2 boxes below hold the amount and the registration trigger. GOV.UK's food business page says you need to register as self-employed when starting a food business. HMRC's own pages set the trigger at gross trading income over the allowance in a tax year. Follow the HMRC position.

Gross means your sales before you take off costs. The third box explains who cannot use the allowance and what you give up if you claim it.

The deadline to register for the 2025 to 2026 tax year (6 April 2025 to 5 April 2026) was 5 October 2026, and it has passed (in force, according to GOV.UK). If your gross trading income in that tax year went over the allowance and you have not registered, register now. HMRC may charge a penalty for registering late.

If you start selling at Christmas 2026, your sales count towards the 2026 to 2027 tax year (6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027). If your gross trading income passes the allowance in that year, you must register by 5 October 2027. That date follows the standing rule of 5 October after the end of the tax year, so it is not yet printed on the GOV.UK page.

For the allowance rules, see Use the trading allowance. To register, see Register as self-employed with HMRC.

If you sell in Wales

You register through the same FSA service as England. You must display your hygiene rating, and the Food Hygiene Rating (Wales) Act 2013 sets a fixed penalty if you do not. The allergen rules for packed-before-order food are in the Food Information (Wales) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2020, which have been in force since 1 October 2021. The England-only Food Information Regulations 2014 do not apply in Wales. Planning policy may differ from England. See Start a food business in Wales and Mandatory food hygiene rating in Wales.

If you sell in Scotland

You register directly with your local authority rather than through the FSA service. Scotland does not use the 0 to 5 rating. It uses the Food Hygiene Information Scheme, with results of Pass or Improvement Required. Ask your local authority whether you must display your result. The allergen rules for packed-before-order food are in the Food Information (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2021, in force since 1 October 2021. Scotland has its own allergen technical guidance from FSS. Business rates are set by your local assessor. See Food safety in Scotland: what differs.

If you sell in Northern Ireland

You register through the FSA service, which routes you to your council. You must display your hygiene rating under section 7 of the Food Hygiene Rating Act (Northern Ireland) 2016. The allergen rules for packed-before-order food are in the Food Information (Amendment No. 2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2020, which have been in force since 1 October 2021. Use the Safe Catering pack in place of Safer Food Better Business.

Who to ask

Ask your council's food safety team first. It is also called environmental health. The team registers your home, visits it and answers questions about whether your selling counts as a food business. Find your council on GOV.UK, then use the contact details on its food safety page. In Scotland, ask your local authority or Food Standards Scotland.

For tax questions, ask HMRC through Register as a sole trader on GOV.UK. For allergen and labelling questions, ask your council or the Food Standards Agency.