Can I sell eggs in Tennessee?

Do I need a license to sell eggs in Tennessee?

Tennessee's egg-license statute is gone. Public Chapter 727, signed June 22, 2020, repealed the Tennessee Egg Law, which had required a license to buy, sell, trade, or process eggs. Nothing read for this page puts a state egg license back.

The department's eggs page says the department inspects egg and poultry producers, processors, and handlers. It doesn't say a small flock needs a license, and it doesn't say a sale needs no license. University of Tennessee Extension, in a September 2021 publication still posted by a county office, says there are no longer specific egg regulations in the state and that producers follow the federal egg rules. Ask the department what that inspection means for a sale at your door.

Source: Tenn. Public Chapter 727 (2020), Tennessee Department of Agriculture, eggs and poultry and UT Extension PB 1898.

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

No state dozen limit turned up in the repeal, the department's page, or the extension publication. The line they describe is federal, and it is hens, not dozens. FDA's egg-safety rule covers a shell-egg producer with 3,000 or more laying hens at a farm that does not sell all of its eggs directly to consumers. The extension publication says a producer under 3,000 laying hens who owns and raises the hens and packs the eggs themselves is outside most of the federal rules, and may not pack or sell another producer's eggs and stay there.

The publication says that producer may sell to consumers, restaurants, and stores. That is the extension's reading of the federal rules, not a sentence on the department's page. Ask the department whether it treats a flock under 3,000 the same way.

Source: 21 CFR 118.1, UT Extension PB 1898 and TDA eggs and poultry.

Can I sell eggs at a farmers market in Tennessee?

The repealed egg law is gone, and neither the department's page nor Public Chapter 431 mentions a farmers market. The extension publication says a producer under 3,000 hens who packs only their own eggs may sell to any market, including straight to consumers, and it doesn't name a market permit. Public Chapter 431, effective July 1, 2025, is about homemade food, and the text doesn't mention shell eggs.

The sources don't say whether a county health department or a market requires a permit the state egg law no longer has. Ask the department, and the market, before your first stall.

Source: TDA eggs and poultry, UT Extension PB 1898 and Tenn. Public Chapter 431 (2025).

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

The extension publication says yes for a producer under 3,000 laying hens who owns and raises the hens and packs only those eggs: direct to consumers, restaurants, grocery stores, institutions, and convenience stores. Packing or selling another producer's eggs ends that reading. FDA's rule, read beside it, covers a farm with 3,000 or more laying hens that does not sell all its eggs directly to consumers.

The department's page doesn't say this. It says the department inspects producers, processors, and handlers. Ask the department before you sell to a store or a restaurant. Selling for resale is beyond what this directory is built for.

Source: UT Extension PB 1898, 21 CFR 118.1 and TDA eggs and poultry.

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

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 extension publication says that statement is required even for a producer under 3,000 hens, and that the federal rules it read add no other labeling requirement for that producer. It suggests, and does not say the rules require, the farm's name and address, and "Ungraded" if you don't grade.

The same publication says to pack only in new, unused, clean cartons. It labels that a suggested practice, not a rule it found. The department's page sets no carton rule. Ask the department before you reuse a carton.

Source: 21 CFR 101.17(h), UT Extension PB 1898 and TDA eggs and poultry.

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

The department's page sets no temperature. Federal rules hold shell eggs at a retail establishment at 45°F or colder. A retail establishment is a place that provides food directly to consumers. The extension publication says the federal rules it read add no refrigeration requirement for a producer under 3,000 hens, and it recommends, as a practice rather than a rule, storing and selling below 45°F.

The sources don't say whether a sale at your door is a retail establishment. Ask the department what temperature it expects.

Source: 21 CFR 115.50, UT Extension PB 1898 and TDA eggs and poultry.

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

The extension publication says that under the Egg Products Inspection Act and the FDA Food Code, an egg for these rules is generally the shell egg of a chicken, duck, goose, turkey, guinea, or quail, and that the small-producer exemption it describes applies to eggs from those birds. FDA's egg-safety rule, read beside it, is written for laying hens. The department's page doesn't mention other birds. Ask the department about duck and quail eggs.

Source: UT Extension PB 1898 and 21 CFR 118.1.

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

The extension publication says the federal rules it read don't add a cleaning or candling requirement for a producer under 3,000 hens who packs only their own eggs. It then spends several pages on suggested washing, and it says those are practices, not requirements. The department's page doesn't mention washing or candling.

Nothing in the repeal says a grade is required. Ask the department before you sell eggs unwashed.

Source: UT Extension PB 1898, TDA eggs and poultry and Tenn. Public Chapter 727 (2020).