Can I sell eggs in South Carolina?

Do I need a license to sell eggs in South Carolina?

The statute and the department don't say it the same way. The statute exempts three groups from the whole egg chapter: hatching eggs, shipments in interstate commerce, and persons who sell eggs at a roadside stand near the farm where the eggs were produced. It doesn't mention a license for anyone else by the word "producer." It does say a wholesaler or a distributor needs a license from the Commissioner, at no fee.

The department's egg-license guide, dated July 15, 2026, says a farm that sells eggs straight to the end consumer at the farm where they were gathered is exempt from the egg law, and that an egg license is required by state law to sell raw shelled eggs at any location other than where they were harvested. The statute sets no fee for that license. You send a proof of the label or placard, and the department reviews it before you sell. The guide doesn't use the statute's words "roadside stand near the farm." Ask the department whether a sale off the porch, with no roadside stand, is the exemption.

Source: S.C. Code § 39-39-170, § 39-39-121 and SCDA egg license quick guide.

How many eggs can I sell without a license in South Carolina?

South Carolina's egg law sets no dozen limit and no hen limit. The department's guide doesn't add one. What the guide says brings a license is the place of the sale, not how many eggs you sell.

Federal egg-safety rules start at 3,000 laying hens, for a farm that does not sell all its eggs straight to consumers.

Source: S.C. Code § 39-39-170, SCDA egg license quick guide and 21 CFR 118.1.

Can I sell eggs at a farmers market in South Carolina?

Not under the exemption the statute writes down. A farmers market is not a roadside stand near the farm, and it is not one of the other two exemptions. The department's guide says an egg license is required at any location other than where the eggs were harvested, and it lists the rules that come with the license: wash, refrigerate at 45°F, candle and grade, size, and a label the department has reviewed. A license holder is subject to inspection.

The sources don't say a county health department adds a permit of its own. Ask the department, and the market, before your first stall.

Source: S.C. Code § 39-39-170 and SCDA egg license quick guide.

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

Not without the license, on the department's guide: offering eggs to other businesses requires the egg license and the rules under it. The statute's "distributor" is a person who offers eggs to a retailer, a cafe, a restaurant, or another place that serves eggs to the public, and a distributor needs a license. A producer, as the statute defines one, is not a distributor. The sources don't say a producer may sell to a restaurant without becoming a distributor. Ask the department. Selling for resale is beyond what this directory is built for.

Source: SCDA egg license quick guide, S.C. Code § 39-39-110 and § 39-39-121.

Do I need to grade or label my eggs in South Carolina?

For a sale the license covers, the department's guide says only a new or unused carton, with no other producer's or distributor's information on it. The label shows the packer's or distributor's business name, address, city, and zip code, the grade, the size, and either a packed-on date or an expiration date 45 days after packing. It also says "Keep Refrigerated at 45° or Below" or similar words, on the label or on the carton. The statute adds that the grade and size are in letters at least a quarter-inch high, the wording is in English, and the department approves it before you use it. Abbreviations of the grade and size are prohibited.

Federal rules put the "Safe Handling Instructions" statement on every carton of shell eggs, in a box, on the top, a side panel, or inside the lid. If it is inside the lid, "Keep Refrigerated" goes on the outside.

The guide's "new or unused" rule is one of the requirements it says do not apply to a sale at the farm where the eggs were gathered. The statute's labeling section is in the chapter, and the roadside-stand exemption is an exemption from the chapter. The sources don't set a label for that exempt sale. Ask the department what, if anything, goes on a carton sold at the farm.

Source: SCDA egg license quick guide, S.C. Code § 39-39-140, § 39-39-170 and 21 CFR 101.17(h).

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

For a licensed sale, yes, at 45°F. The statute says a shell-egg producer refrigerates eggs upon gathering, and that after washing, processing, and packaging they are transported, stored, and displayed at an ambient temperature not over 45°F until sold at retail. The guide says to refrigerate each egg quickly to 45°F or below and keep them there.

Those sections are in the chapter. A person exempt from the chapter is exempt from them, and the guide says its requirements don't apply to a sale at the farm where the eggs were gathered. Federal rules hold shell eggs at a retail establishment at 45°F or colder. The sources don't say whether a stand at the farm is a retail establishment. Ask the department what temperature it expects there.

Source: S.C. Code § 39-39-135, § 39-39-170, SCDA egg license quick guide and 21 CFR 115.50.

Can I sell duck, quail or other eggs in South Carolina?

The statute's "eggs" are the shell eggs of a domesticated chicken, turkey, duck, goose, or guinea hen. Duck eggs are in the chapter. Quail eggs are not. The department's guide says it regulates raw shelled eggs from chicken, duck, turkey, and guinea fowl, and it doesn't mention goose or quail. The statute and the guide don't list the same birds. Ask the department about quail, and about goose eggs, before you sell them.

Source: S.C. Code § 39-39-110 and SCDA egg license quick guide.

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

For a licensed sale, yes to both, on the department's guide. Wash in a 150 to 200 ppm chlorine solution, about one tablespoon of regular 5 percent bleach per gallon of water, then rinse. Candle each egg for blood spots, chicks, cracks, and air-cell size, and don't sell eggs below U.S. Consumer Grade B. The statute says standards are determined by candling, as the federal standards define it, and that eggs are graded and packed within a reasonable time after gathering.

The guide says those requirements don't apply when the eggs are sold at the farm where they were gathered, and the roadside-stand exemption takes the seller out of the chapter. The sources don't say an exempt seller must wash or candle. Ask the department before you sell eggs unwashed at the farm.

Source: SCDA egg license quick guide, S.C. Code § 39-39-110, § 39-39-135 and § 39-39-170.