Can I sell eggs in Maine?

Do I need a license to sell eggs in Maine?

No source names a license that a farm needs to sell the eggs of its own hens. The egg subdivision of the statute (7 M.R.S. §§631 to 643) sets up no license, permit or fee for selling eggs, and it says: “Producers selling eggs of their own production direct to consumers are exempt from sections 631-A to 635 for those sales” (§636, sub-§1). Those sections are the grades, the grade-and-size label and the descriptive terms. The Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry’s Farm Stand FAQ (2026) answers “Can I sell eggs?” with “Yes, small-scale producers may sell eggs directly to consumers, but labeling and handling requirements still apply.” It does not define “small-scale” or say which labeling and handling, and its “Learn more” link goes to the Department’s laws page for the egg subchapter and Chapter 111.

The food law requires a license for a “food establishment,” “a factory, plant, warehouse or store in which food and food products are manufactured, processed, packed, held for introduction into commerce or sold” (22 M.R.S. §§2152, sub-§4-A, and 2167). It excludes “Establishments such as farm stands and farmers’ markets primarily selling fresh produce not including dairy and meat products” (§2152, sub-§4-A, ¶D). That list does not name eggs, and neither does the licensing text. The Department’s Home Food License 101 and Mobile Vendor License 101 sheets (both from 2021) each say the license “is not required for selling only fresh produce, fresh eggs from a farm with fewer than 3,000 birds, or a poultry producer operating under a Fewer than 1,000 Bird Exemption.” That names two licenses. No source says in words whether a farm’s egg stand needs the retail food establishment license, which Chapter 330 prices at $20 a year for 0 to 10 employees. Ask the Department’s Quality Assurance and Regulations division.

Maine’s Food Sovereignty Act adds a local answer. A municipality or plantation may adopt an ordinance on “direct producer-to-consumer transactions,” and “the State shall recognize such ordinances by not enforcing those laws or implementing rules with respect to” the transactions the ordinance governs (7 M.R.S. §284). Food there includes eggs, and the exchange may be “on the property or premises owned, leased or rented by the food producer; at roadside stands, fundraisers, farmers’ markets and community social events” (§282, sub-§§1 and 2). The Act keeps the Department’s meat and poultry inspection program whole (§285). Public Law 2025, chapter 309 amended it. Whether your town or plantation has such an ordinance, and what it covers, is the town’s answer; the sources read do not list them.

Source: Maine 7 M.R.S. §636, Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, Maine Farm Stand FAQ, Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, Maple Syrup, Apple, Potato, and Egg laws and rules, Maine 22 M.R.S. §2152, Maine 22 M.R.S. §2167, Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, Home Food License 101, Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, Mobile Vendor License 101, 01-001 C.M.R. ch. 330, License Fees to Manufacture and Sell Food and Beverages, Maine 7 M.R.S. §282, Maine 7 M.R.S. §284 and Maine 7 M.R.S. §285.

How many eggs can I sell without a license in Maine?

No dozen limit appears in the egg subdivision (7 M.R.S. §§631 to 643), in Chapter 111 or on the Department’s pages, and the FAQ’s “small-scale” has no number. The exemption in §636 turns on who buys, “direct to consumers,” not how many. The one number in the sources is 3,000 hens. The Department’s Salmonella Enteritidis rule (01-001 C.M.R. ch. 213, effective July 20, 2024) applies to a “commercial egg producer,” one that “owns or leases 3,000 or more adult laying hens,” and adopts the federal Egg Safety Rule, which covers a shell egg producer with 3,000 or more laying hens at a farm “that does not sell all of your eggs directly to consumers” (21 CFR 118.1). The Department’s Home Food License and Mobile Vendor License sheets say “fewer than 3,000 birds,” the same line from below. A farm near that line should ask the Department.

Source: Maine 7 M.R.S. §636, 01-001 C.M.R. ch. 111, Official Standards for Egg Grades, Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, Maine Farm Stand FAQ, 01-001 C.M.R. ch. 213, Salmonella Enteritidis Risk Reduction and Surveillance Program, Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, Home Food License 101, Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, Mobile Vendor License 101 and 21 CFR 118.1.

Can I sell eggs at a farmers market in Maine?

The egg statute does not name a farmers market, and its direct-sale exemption names no place: “direct to consumers” (7 M.R.S. §636, sub-§1). The farmers’ market statute defines a market as “a building, structure or place used by 2 or more farmers for the direct sale of farm and food products to consumers,” and its list of farm and food products includes eggs (§415, sub-§1). At a market labeled “farmers’ market,” a seller must have grown or processed “at least 75% of the products offered,” and a product from another farmer must be bought from that farmer and identified by farm name and location (§415, sub-§2, ¶B). A market may set stricter rules (§415, sub-§4). The Food Sovereignty Act names farmers’ markets among the places for a direct producer-to-consumer transaction (§282, sub-§1).

One rule follows the eggs off the farm. “A person may not sell restricted eggs except that an egg producer or packer may sell restricted eggs on that producer’s or packer’s premises directly to a household consumer” (§635-A), and a restricted egg is “any check, dirty egg, incubator reject, inedible, leaker or loss” (§631, sub-§1-A). On those words a cracked, dirty or leaking egg is for sale at the producer’s own premises, to a household consumer, and not at a stall.

The Department’s Mobile Vendor License 101 sheet (2021) says that license “is not required for selling only fresh produce, fresh eggs from a farm with fewer than 3,000 birds.” The same sheet lists “Egg packaging requirements”: “Size and Grade (minimum grade ‘B’) must be listed,” “Keep refrigerated at 45ºF or below,” and “Recycled cartons must have the USDA shield and grade declarations obliterated.” It does not say whom that list reaches, and §636 excuses a direct sale from the grade and size label. The sources read do not say whether the Department asks a farm selling its own eggs at a market for a size and a grade. Ask the Department, the market’s organizer and the town.

Source: Maine 7 M.R.S. §636, Maine 7 M.R.S. §415, Maine 7 M.R.S. §282, Maine 7 M.R.S. §635-A, Maine 7 M.R.S. §631 and Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, Mobile Vendor License 101.

Can I sell eggs to a restaurant, a store or someone who resells them in Maine?

The direct-sale exemption is for sales “direct to consumers.” The statute defines “retail” as “selling direct to consumer” and “wholesale” as “selling to retailers” (7 M.R.S. §631, sub-§§2 and 3). A second sentence lets “an egg producer” “ship eggs to a wholesaler or to another shipper without labeling and grading the eggs in accordance with sections 631-A to 635,” and says eggs marked with a grade and size must be marked accurately (§636, sub-§2). Neither sentence names a producer selling straight to a store or a restaurant. Every other egg “sold or offered for sale for human consumption” “shall be labeled with the grade and size designation as set forth in the Maine consumer grades” (§632), and the size and grade appear “in clearly legible letters on the container” (§634). The statute does not define “consumer,” so the sources do not say whether a restaurant is one under §636.

The Food Sovereignty Act defines a consumer as “an individual who acquires food or food products directly from a food producer of the individual’s choosing solely for consumption by the individual or the individual’s family” (7 M.R.S. §282, sub-§1-A), which a store or a restaurant is not. A licensed store or restaurant is held to the Food Code, which says “Food shall be obtained from sources that comply with Law” (3-201.11(A)) and that raw eggs are received at an ambient air temperature of 45°F or less (3-202.11(C)). The sources read do not say whether a restaurant or store may buy eggs from a producer relying on §636. Ask the Department, and confirm with the buyer’s own licensing authority.

Source: Maine 7 M.R.S. §631, Maine 7 M.R.S. §632, Maine 7 M.R.S. §634, Maine 7 M.R.S. §636, Maine 7 M.R.S. §282 and 01-001 C.M.R. ch. 331, State of Maine Food Code 2013.

Do I need to grade or label my eggs in Maine?

For a sale direct to a consumer, §636 lifts the grade and size label. Section 632 says all eggs sold “shall be labeled with the grade and size designation as set forth in the Maine consumer grades, except as otherwise provided,” section 634 puts the size and grade “in clearly legible letters on the container,” and section 635 keeps words such as “fresh eggs,” “farm fresh eggs,” “native eggs” and “nearby eggs” for eggs that meet “Maine consumer Grade A.” All three fall inside “sections 631-A to 635.” The exemption stops there. Eggs that have been in storage or processed carry a notice reading “cold storage eggs” or “processed eggs,” and cannot be called “fresh” (7 M.R.S. §§640, sub-§3, and 641). The egg subdivision sets no name-and-address rule and no rule on reused cartons.

The Maine Fair Packaging and Labeling Act says: “No person shall distribute or cause to be distributed in commerce any packaged consumer commodity unless the commodity bears a label specifying the identity of the commodity, the name and place of business of the manufacturer, packer or distributor, the net quantity of contents in terms of weight, measure or numerical count” (7 M.R.S. §524). A consumer commodity includes any food (§523, sub-§3), and a package labeled under federal regulations complies (§528). The sources read do not say whether a carton a farm fills for its own direct sale is “distributed in commerce” under it. Federal rules put the "Safe Handling Instructions" statement on every carton of shell eggs (21 CFR 101.17(h)), and the Food Code says the same for licensed establishments (3-201.11(G)).

The Department’s pages read further than the statute. The FAQ says “labeling and handling requirements still apply.” The Mobile Vendor License 101 sheet lists “Size and Grade (minimum grade ‘B’) must be listed” and “Recycled cartons must have the USDA shield and grade declarations obliterated.” Chapter 111 names the grades as AA, A and B. The sources read do not say which of these the Department holds a farm selling its own eggs to, or what a reused carton needs beyond that. Ask the Department.

Source: Maine 7 M.R.S. §632, Maine 7 M.R.S. §634, Maine 7 M.R.S. §635, Maine 7 M.R.S. §636, Maine 7 M.R.S. §640, Maine 7 M.R.S. §641, Maine 7 M.R.S. §524, Maine 7 M.R.S. §528, 21 CFR 101.17(h), 01-001 C.M.R. ch. 331, State of Maine Food Code 2013, Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, Maine Farm Stand FAQ, Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, Mobile Vendor License 101 and 01-001 C.M.R. ch. 111, Official Standards for Egg Grades.

Do eggs have to be refrigerated to sell in Maine, and at what temperature?

The egg statute sets no temperature. The State of Maine Food Code 2013, a joint rule of the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry (01-001 C.M.R. ch. 331) and the Department of Health and Human Services (10-144 C.M.R. ch. 200), says “Eggs that have not been treated to destroy all viable Salmonellae shall be stored in refrigerated Equipment that maintains an ambient air temperature of 7°C (45°F) or less” (3-501.16(B)), and that raw eggs are received at 45°F or less (3-202.11(C)). It is written for the food and eating establishments the two departments license. The Department’s Mobile Vendor License 101 sheet lists “Keep refrigerated at 45ºF or below” among its egg requirements.

A federal rule says “all shell eggs, whether in intrastate or interstate commerce, held for retail distribution” are stored and displayed under refrigeration at an ambient temperature “not greater than 7.2 °C (45 °F)” at a retail establishment (21 CFR 115.50). The rule defines a retail establishment as “an operation that stores, prepares, packages, serves, vends, or otherwise provides food for human consumption directly to consumers” (21 CFR 115.50(a)), so a stand that sells eggs to a consumer meets that definition on its words, and the 45°F line follows for eggs it holds. No Maine source read says whether a farm’s egg stand is an establishment the Food Code binds, or whether §636 changes the temperature for a direct sale. Ask the Department.

Source: 01-001 C.M.R. ch. 331, State of Maine Food Code 2013, Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, Mobile Vendor License 101 and 21 CFR 115.50.

Can I sell duck, quail or other eggs in Maine?

The egg statute says “eggs” and “shell eggs” without naming a species, and §636 excuses “eggs of their own production” (7 M.R.S. §636, sub-§1). Chapter 111 adopts the United States Department of Agriculture’s standards for shell eggs, effective June 30, 1975. The Food Code defines “Egg” as “the shell egg of avian species such as chicken, duck, goose, guinea, quail, ratites or turkey,” and leaves out a balut, a reptile’s egg and an egg product (01-001 C.M.R. ch. 331, 1-201). The Salmonella rule speaks of “laying hens” and “egg-type flocks” (ch. 213). The sources read do not say whether the grades, the Department’s sheets or the food license treat duck, quail or goose eggs differently from a hen’s. Ask the Department about the species you raise.

Source: Maine 7 M.R.S. §636, 01-001 C.M.R. ch. 111, Official Standards for Egg Grades, 01-001 C.M.R. ch. 331, State of Maine Food Code 2013 and 01-001 C.M.R. ch. 213, Salmonella Enteritidis Risk Reduction and Surveillance Program.

Do I have to wash or candle eggs to sell them in Maine?

The statute says “The final determination of the grades is made by candling” (7 M.R.S. §633), and defines candling as “the common practice of examining the interior of an egg by holding and twirling the same before a light passing through an aperture in an opaque shield” (§631, sub-§1). Chapter 111 says the same, and it adds that Maine’s grades are AA, A and B. Section 633 falls inside the sections that §636 lifts from a direct sale, so no source read requires a farm selling its own eggs direct to consumers to candle them. Nothing read sets a washing method.

What is left is condition. A restricted egg, “any check, dirty egg, incubator reject, inedible, leaker or loss,” may be sold only at the producer’s or packer’s premises to a household consumer (§§631, sub-§1-A, and 635-A). For licensed establishments the Food Code says eggs “shall be received clean and sound and may not exceed the restricted egg tolerances for U.S. Consumer Grade B.” The sources read do not say how a small farm shows an egg is not restricted without candling. Ask the Department what a small flock is expected to have.

Source: Maine 7 M.R.S. §633, Maine 7 M.R.S. §631, 01-001 C.M.R. ch. 111, Official Standards for Egg Grades, Maine 7 M.R.S. §635-A and 01-001 C.M.R. ch. 331, State of Maine Food Code 2013.