Can I sell homemade food on Facebook Marketplace?
Meta publishes no rule that names homemade or cooked food. Across its Commerce Policies overview and 27 category pages, read 2026-10-02, food appears three times: raw fish, meat or eggs, food or drinks with health claims, and alcoholic drinks, all listed as not allowed. TikTok Shop prohibits all homemade food. Your state's cottage food law still decides.
Su Lee · Founder, MenuPhotoLab
Six years photographing Atlanta restaurants, and two running SocialLee, uploading their menus to DoorDash, Uber Eats and Grubhub.
Sources last read · 13 sources
Does Facebook Marketplace allow homemade food?
Meta's rules do not say yes and do not say no. Every Marketplace listing has to follow Meta's Commerce Policies, and those policies never mention homemade, cooked or baked food. I read the overview and all 27 category pages on 2026-10-02. Food comes up in three of them, each time as a specific kind of product.
Facebook Marketplace
Not named
Meta's Commerce Policies publish no rule naming homemade or cooked food. Raw meat, fish and eggs, alcohol, and food with health claims are listed as not allowed.
Buy and sell groups
Same rules
Meta says listings in buy and sell groups must follow the same Commerce Policies as Marketplace.
Shops on Facebook and Instagram
Same rules
The Commerce Policies name Shops as covered, and Meta sets separate eligibility requirements to sell as a business.
Instagram food order button
Partner needed
The button sends the buyer to a partner's website, and you have to set up food orders with one of the partners Instagram offers.
TikTok Shop
No
TikTok Shop's US Prohibited Products Policy lists "All homemade food products".
Your state and county
Decides
A platform's silence is not permission. Your cottage food law sets what you may sell, where, and with what label.
Products listed on Facebook Marketplace must comply with Meta's Commerce Policies and the Facebook Community Standards. Buyers and sellers are also responsible for complying with all applicable laws and regulations.
| Meta policy page | What it lists as not allowed | What it leaves unsaid |
|---|---|---|
| Land, Animals, and Animal Products | "Some products from animals intended for consumption, such as raw fish, meat, or eggs" | Which products count as "some", and whether a cooked dish that contains meat is covered |
| Medical and Healthcare Products | "Products, including food or drinks, that make health or medical claims", "Infant and adult nutritional formula", and ingestible supplements such as "Protein powder" and "Vitamins" | What wording counts as a health claim |
| Alcohol | "Alcoholic drinks of any kind" and "Kits for making alcohol" | Food made with alcohol, such as a rum cake |
| Recalled Products | "recalled or banned products" | The examples are all household goods; no food is named |
Some seller guides state that Marketplace bans fresh, cooked or perishable food. I could not find that rule: the words homemade, cooked, baked and perishable appear on none of the 28 policy pages. What Meta does publish is how enforcement works. It reviews listings "when our systems detect a potential violation or when someone reports them", and a rejected listing can be sent for review within 180 days.
The policies also say "Facebook Marketplace is intended for consumer-to-consumer sales." The restrictions on selling in a business capacity are named only for the European Economic Area, the Philippines and India.
Can I sell homemade food on Instagram?
Instagram runs on the same Commerce Policies. Meta's overview names "Shops on Facebook and Instagram" next to Marketplace, and selling as a business adds five eligibility requirements, starting with complying with its policies and representing your business and your domain.
The feature that sounds made for food sellers is the Order food button. It does not take orders itself.
When someone taps the Order food button on your Instagram profile or the Food orders sticker in your Instagram story, they’ll be directed to your partner’s website to order food delivery or take-out from your business.
The setup page adds that you must "set up food orders with a partner using the instructions on the partner’s site", and that the feature is being introduced gradually. So most home sellers do what the home kitchen guide describes: post the food, and take orders through a link in bio to a page they control.
Does TikTok Shop allow homemade food?
No, and it is the one platform here that says so in plain words. TikTok Shop's Prohibited Products Policy for the United States, dated 2026-09-29, has a section called Various Food Products. It lists four kinds of food as prohibited, in TikTok's wording:
"Certain perishable food items"
"Prepackaged food for children under 3 years old"
"Food items that are not packaged, labeled, or intended for retail sale in the US"
"All homemade food products"
Its Shelf-Stable Food and Beverages Requirements, dated 2026-09-01, repeat the rule as "Homemade food or beverage products" and add "Products packaged in non-durable containers, such as wrappers or carry-out boxes". Manufacturers must submit proof of FDA registration, cGMP certification or a GFSI recognized certificate. Foods with 0.5% or more alcohol by volume are out too, "even when the alcohol is described as cooked off or reduced".
These are rules for products listed in TikTok Shop. They are not rules about posting a video of your food.
If the platform does not ban it, is it legal?
No. Meta puts that on you: sellers are responsible for complying with "all applicable laws and regulations". Which foods you may sell from home, and whether you may take orders online, are set by your state's cottage food law and often by your county. The home kitchen guide covers Georgia and California from their agencies' own pages.
One county shows how specific the rules get. Los Angeles County says a permitted home restaurant, a MEHKO, may advertise through online platforms and social media, and that the advertisement should include the name of the agency that issued the permit, the permit number, and the statement "Made in a Home Kitchen" in a clear, visible font. A Marketplace listing or an Instagram post for that kitchen is an advertisement.
What is the route that works?
Confirm what your permit covers
Which foods your state lets a home kitchen sell, whether online orders are allowed, and what statement a listing must carry. This step decides everything after it.
Check the food against Meta's food rules
No raw meat, fish or eggs. No alcoholic drinks. No health or medical claims in the title or description. Nothing recalled. Describe the food, not what it does for the body.
List exactly what the buyer receives
The item, the quantity, the pickup arrangement, and any statement your permit requires. Meta says it may choose your cover photo based on "photo/video quality and listing accuracy".
Use your own photos of the real batch
Meta's tip to sellers is to use "multiple, original photos of the item rather than a photo from a company website". For food, that means the batch you are selling, not a picture from a recipe site.
Keep an ordering page you control
A listing can be rejected and Marketplace access limited. A page of your own, on Square or similar, keeps your regulars reachable.
What should the listing photos look like?
Meta's article on selling an item gives no pixel size, aspect ratio or photo limit. What it does say is short, and each line matters for food.
"Use a photo that clearly shows the item and its condition." For food, that is the whole item in the packaging it leaves in, so the buyer sees the portion.
Meta may pick the cover. "We may select a cover photo for your listing based on photo/video quality and listing accuracy." Every photo in the listing should be good enough to go first.
Meta may change your photos. "We may enhance your listing photos and videos to improve their quality." Start bright and true to color, so there is less to change.
Shoot at your phone's default 3:4, with room around the food. The same file posts to Instagram uncropped, and a centered square comes out of it for an ordering page. The sizes are in the home kitchen guide.
Fix the light before the camera. A window at your side and the overhead kitchen light off. The usual failures are in the guide to dark and yellow food photos.
Do not post a generated picture of food you did not make. A listing is a promise about one real item, and the delivery apps reject AI-generated food images outright, as the guide to AI-generated food photos sets out.
What this means if you sell in more than one place
The strictest platform sets your wording. Keep health claims out of every description. Meta lists food with health or medical claims as not allowed, and the same text gets reused everywhere.
TikTok is for showing, not for a Shop listing. A homemade product cannot be listed in TikTok Shop under its current US policy.
One original photo, several crops. Keep the uncropped phone photo. Marketplace, Instagram and your ordering page each take a different shape from it.
The delivery apps are a different step. DoorDash's virtual brand rules exclude residential kitchens, including those with Cottage Food permits. That route starts with a licensed kitchen, and the ghost kitchen guide covers the photos it needs.
I started MenuPhotoLab for restaurants on the delivery apps, and the same work helps a home seller: you take the photo on your phone, and MenuPhotoLab fixes the light, color and background and prepares the shapes for Instagram and your ordering page. I never generate food or change what is in the box, because the photo has to be what your buyer picks up.
Frequently asked questions
Is it against Facebook's rules to sell baked goods on Marketplace?
Meta publishes no rule that names baked goods. Its Commerce Policies, read 2026-10-02, mention food only as raw fish, meat or eggs, as food or drinks that make health or medical claims, and as alcoholic drinks, all listed as not allowed. Meta also says sellers must comply with all applicable laws, so your state's cottage food rules still decide what you may sell.
Can I sell raw meat, fish or eggs on Facebook Marketplace?
Meta's Land, Animals, and Animal Products policy lists "Some products from animals intended for consumption, such as raw fish, meat, or eggs" as not allowed, and its Marketplace help article says selling animals or animal products is not allowed. The policy does not define which products count as "some", so treat raw meat, fish and eggs as not listable.
Why was my food listing removed from Marketplace?
Meta says it reviews listings when its systems detect a potential violation or when someone reports them, and rejects those that do not follow its Commerce Policies or Community Standards. Your profile status shows the reason under Marketplace, and you can request a review there. Meta says the option may be missing if more than 180 days have passed or a review was already requested.
Is homemade food banned from TikTok Shop in the United States?
Yes. TikTok Shop's US Prohibited Products Policy, dated 2026-09-29, lists "All homemade food products" under Various Food Products, and its Shelf-Stable Food and Beverages Requirements list "Homemade food or beverage products" as not allowed. Sellers who manufacture packaged shelf-stable food must submit proof of FDA registration, cGMP certification or a GFSI recognized certificate.
Do I need a permit to sell food on Facebook Marketplace?
Meta's published pages ask for no food permit to create a listing. They do make buyers and sellers responsible for complying with all applicable laws and regulations. Whether you need a permit is set by your state's cottage food law and your county, and some permits also require a statement in the advertisement. Los Angeles County asks for "Made in a Home Kitchen" and the permit number.
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Su Lee
Founder, MenuPhotoLab · Atlanta, Georgia
I have photographed Atlanta restaurants for six years as a food creator, and for the last two my sister and I have run SocialLee, shooting and uploading menus for independent restaurants around metro Atlanta. I wrote this page the way I wish the platforms had written theirs: every number read off their own documentation, with the date I read it, and where they contradict themselves I say so.
Sources
- Meta, Commerce Policies overview (consumer-to-consumer line; responsibility for applicable laws; full list of prohibited and restricted categories), read
- Meta, Commerce Policies: Land, Animals, and Animal Products (raw fish, meat, or eggs, quoted), read
- Meta, Commerce Policies: Medical and Healthcare Products (food or drinks with health claims; formula; ingestible supplements), read
- Meta, Commerce Policies: Alcohol, read
- Meta, Commerce Policies: Recalled Products, read
- Facebook Help Center, Things that can't be listed for sale on Facebook Marketplace (quoted; "animals or animal products" summary), read
- Facebook Help Center, Sell something on Facebook Marketplace (buy and sell groups; cover photo; photo enhancement; seller tips, which sit in a collapsed section of the page), read
- Facebook Help Center, My Marketplace listing was rejected (how listings are reviewed; 180-day review window), read
- Meta Business Help Center, Commerce eligibility requirements (JavaScript page; read as rendered text), read
- Instagram Help Center, Food orders for businesses on Instagram (JavaScript page; read as rendered text), read
- TikTok Shop Seller Center (US), Prohibited Products Policy, dated 09/29/2026 (Various Food Products; alcohol in food), read
- TikTok Shop Seller Center (US), Shelf-Stable Food and Beverages Requirements, dated 09/01/2026, read
- Los Angeles County Public Health, Microenterprise home kitchen operation FAQ (where a MEHKO may advertise, and what the advertisement should include), read
Platform requirements change. This page carries the date each source was last checked.
Not affiliated with Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, DoorDash, Square.