Food category
Jams & Jellies
Fruit preserves, jams, jellies, marmalades, and fruit butters.
Informational only, not legal advice.
Status by state
- Arizona /AZ Allowed
- California /CA Allowed with limits
- Florida /FL Allowed with limits
- Georgia /GA Allowed with limits
- Illinois /IL Allowed
- Indiana /IN Allowed with limits
- Maryland /MD Allowed with limits
- Massachusetts /MA Allowed
- Michigan /MI Allowed with limits
- Missouri /MO Allowed with limits
- New Jersey /NJ Allowed with limits
- New York /NY Allowed with limits
- North Carolina /NC Allowed
- Ohio /OH Allowed
- Pennsylvania /PA Allowed
- Tennessee /TN Allowed
- Texas /TX Allowed
- Virginia /VA Allowed with limits
- Washington /WA Allowed
- Wisconsin /WI Allowed
Status comes from each state's allowed and prohibited lists, or from the state's own guidance where the lists don't settle it. "Allowed with limits" means the state allows some products in this category but not others. "Unclear" means the cited sources don't say either way.
Of the 20 states covered, 10 allow jams & jellies, 10 allow it with limits, 0 prohibit it, and in 0 the official sources don't settle it.
What each state's lists say
Arizona: Yes
Allowed list:
- Jams, jellies, pepper jellies, marmalades, fruit butters, fruit curds, and nut butters
California: Yes, with limits
Allowed list:
- Fruit butters, preserves, jams, and jellies made only from fruits listed in 21 CFR Part 150
Prohibited list:
- Jams or jellies made from fruits or vegetables not listed in 21 CFR Part 150
Florida: Yes, with limits
Allowed list:
- Jams, jellies and preserves
Prohibited list:
- Canned fruits and vegetables, chutneys, vegetable butters and jellies, flavored oils, hummus, garlic dip, salsas
Georgia: Yes, with limits
Allowed list:
- Jams, jellies, and preserves (except fruit butters whose commercial sterility may be affected by reduced sugar or pectin levels)
Prohibited list:
- Fruit butters whose commercial sterility may be affected by reduced sugar or pectin levels
Illinois: Yes
Illinois allows any cottage food not on its prohibited list, and no jams & jellies item is on it. Source: 410 ILCS 625/4 (Food Handling Regulation Enforcement Act, Sec. 4), subsec. (a), (b)(1.5)–(3), (12), (14) · Verified Sep 25, 2026
Indiana: Yes, with limits
Allowed list:
- Pies with high acid fruits or fillings, and pecan pies; pastries and doughnuts filled with commercially prepared jam or homemade high acid fruit jam
- Jams, jellies, preserves, and high acid fruit curds made with recipes using only acidic fruits, sugar, and pectin
Prohibited list:
- Low-acid or low-sugar jams, jellies, and preserves (e.g., pepper jelly, fig preserves, or those made with peppers, tomatoes, or mint)
Maryland: Yes, with limits
Allowed list:
- Hot-filled fruit jams, jellies, and preserves from fruits with a natural pH of 4.6 or below (e.g., apples, apricots, blackberries, blueberries, cherries, cranberries, grapes, oranges, peaches, raspberries, strawberries)
- Fruit butters made only from apples, apricots, grapes, peaches, plums, prunes, or quince
Prohibited list:
- Acidified or pickled products (e.g., corn relish, pepper jelly, pickled beets, pumpkin butter, salsa)
- Sugar-free fruit butters, jams, jellies, marmalades, preserves, and syrups
- Fruit butters other than apple, apricot, grape, peach, plum, prune, and quince (e.g., pear or pumpkin butter)
Massachusetts: Yes
Allowed list:
- Jams and jellies, including jams and jellies thermal-processed in hermetically-sealed containers
Michigan: Yes, with limits
Allowed list:
- Fruit jams and jellies (as defined in 21 CFR part 150) in glass jars that can be stored at room temperature
Prohibited list:
- Fruit butters and vegetable butters (e.g., apple butter, pumpkin butter)
- Vegetable jams or jellies (e.g., hot pepper jelly), low-sugar or no-sugar jams or jellies, and other non-fruit jams or jellies
Missouri: Yes, with limits
Allowed list:
- Canned jams or jellies
Prohibited list:
- "No Sugar Added," "Sugar Free," and hot pepper jams and jellies
New Jersey: Yes, with limits
Allowed list:
- Fruit jams, fruit jellies, and fruit preserves
Prohibited list:
- Pepper jelly, rhubarb jelly, and tomato jelly
- Fruit butters (e.g., apple, guava, fig), sesame butter, tahini, and nut butters with alcohol
New York: Yes, with limits
Allowed list:
- Fruit jams, jellies, and marmalades made with high-acid fruits
Prohibited list:
- Pepper, wine, vegetable, or flower jellies; chutneys; fruit or simple syrups
North Carolina: Yes
Allowed list:
- Jams, jellies, and preserves
Ohio: Yes
Allowed list:
- Jams
- Jellies
- Fruit butters
Pennsylvania: Yes
Allowed list:
- Jams, jellies, preserves, and fruit butters (standard recipes; new or altered recipes need soluble-solids testing)
Tennessee: Yes
Tennessee allows any cottage food not on its prohibited list, and no jams & jellies item is on it. Source: 2025 Tenn. Pub. Acts ch. 431 (SB 484 / HB 130), amending T.C.A. § 53-1-118, § 4 (T.C.A. § 53-1-118(b)(3)) · Verified Oct 5, 2026
Texas: Yes
Texas allows any cottage food not on its prohibited list, and no jams & jellies item is on it. Source: Texas DSHS — Texas Cottage Food Production · Verified Sep 15, 2026
Virginia: Yes, with limits
Allowed list:
- Jams and jellies not considered low-acid or acidified low-acid foods (e.g., blueberry, grape, peach, strawberry)
Prohibited list:
- Apple butter, banana jam, fig jam, lavender jelly, pepper jelly, and zucchini or carrot cake jam; low-sugar or no-sugar jams and jellies may also not qualify, depending on the recipe
Washington: Yes
Allowed list:
- Standardized jams, jellies, preserves, and fruit butters (21 CFR 150), with a cook step and sealed in sterilized containers
Wisconsin: Yes
Allowed list:
- Home-canned fruit based jams and jellies