Can you ship food in the mail? What USPS, UPS and state law allow

Can you ship food in the mail?

You can ship most food in the mail. USPS Publication 52 is the rulebook for hazardous, restricted and perishable mail. It defines perishable matter as anything that can deteriorate in the mail, and it lets you send mailable perishables at the mailer‘s own risk when they are packed as required and can arrive before they go bad.

What decides the answer is the food itself. Dry, shelf-stable foods such as cookies, hard candy, granola and dried fruit usually fall outside that definition when they are well packed. Food that needs refrigeration can travel only if your packing and the delivery speed keep it cold until it arrives. Food that cannot survive the trip is not allowed at all.

The table sorts common foods by what USPS and the USDA say about them. It covers domestic mail inside the US. International food shipments follow the destination country's import rules as well, which this page does not cover.

This page is general information, not legal advice. Food rules vary by state, county and city, so check with your state agency before you sell food by mail.

Can you ship food through USPS? The perishable rules

You can ship food through USPS with Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail or USPS Ground Advantage. USPS charges a Live Animal and Perishable Handling Fee on all live animals and perishable items mailed with those services. The fee is nonrefundable once the item is entered into the network.

USPS lists the fee as $15.00 on its Priority Mail page and $7.50 on its Priority Mail Express page. Check the amount in the USPS price calculator when you buy the label, because the two pages state different figures.

Speed matters more than price for anything that needs to stay cold. Priority Mail lists a delivery time of 2-3 Days. Priority Mail Express lists 1–3 days with a money-back guarantee. USDA FSIS advises that perishable food be delivered ideally, overnight, and that it not sit between 40 and 140 °F for longer than 2 hours.

• Shelf-stable food: Ground Advantage or Priority Mail is usually enough, and the perishable rules do not apply if nothing in the box can spoil.
• Refrigerated food: Priority Mail Express, with gel packs and an insulated box, so it arrives below 40 °F.
• Frozen food: Priority Mail Express with dry ice. Dry ice is permitted to be sent in domestic mail as a refrigerant, with a limit of 5 pounds per package when it flies.

Can you ship food through UPS?

You can ship food through UPS, and UPS publishes its own packing guide for it. For perishables UPS advises you to plan for a maximum transit time of 30 hours. UPS Next Day Air® service is recommended, and UPS 2nd Day Air may suit foods that require minimal temperature control.

UPS suggests dry ice for foods you want to keep frozen and gel packs to keep food between 32 and 60 degrees F. UPS notes restrictions on air shipments with more than 5.5 pounds of dry ice, so read the dry ice rules before you book a frozen order by air. Its packing advice is to use a new, sturdy corrugated box and at least 2 to 3 inches of protection around the food.

How to ship food to another state: cottage food or commercial kitchen

Carrier rules decide whether a package can travel. State food law decides whether you may sell the food in it. Many home cooks sell under a state cottage food law, which covers certain foods made in a home kitchen. Some of those laws stop at the state line, as the table shows.

The federal side is FDA food facility registration. FDA regulations require that food facilities register with FDA, and registered facilities renew every other year. Under 21 CFR 1.227 a facility is a place that manufactures/processes, packs, or holds food, and the private residence of an individual is not a facility. A commercial or shared kitchen that ships food usually falls under the registration rule. Pennsylvania's agriculture department tells home processors: if you sell across state lines, you may also need FDA registration.

The table shows how differently states treat mail order. These are examples, not a full list. Read your own state's program before you take an order from out of state.

If your state keeps cottage food in-state, the usual route to out-of-state customers is a licensed kitchen: your own inspected space, a shared commercial kitchen, or a co-packer. Rules vary by state and city, and this is general information, not legal advice.

How to ship food in the mail, step by step

These steps follow the USDA FSIS mail-order guidance and the UPS food packing guide. They apply to any carrier.

1. Check the food and your license

   Confirm the food is mailable under Publication 52 and that your state allows you to sell it by mail to the buyer's state.

2. Wrap the food airtight

   UPS advises: Wrap cupcake holders, tins and other containers in plastic to make them airtight. This keeps heat and moisture out.

3. Insulate and add a cold source

   Use foam or heavy corrugated cardboard and pack with frozen gel packs or dry ice. For food that should stay cool but unfrozen, surround it with gel packs within an insulated container. It helps to precool your insulated container first.

4. Pad the box

   Fill the space so nothing moves, with at least 2 to 3 inches of protection, inside a new, sturdy corrugated box.

5. Label the outside

   Mark perishables "Keep Refrigerated". If you use dry ice, write "Contains Dry Ice" and follow the carrier's dry ice markings.

6. Pick the service and the day

   Choose a service fast enough for the food, and ship at the beginning of the week so the box does not sit in a facility over the weekend.

How to ship food overnight

USDA FSIS advises that perishable food be delivered as quickly as possible, ideally, overnight. With USPS the fastest option is Priority Mail Express, which lists 1–3 days with a money-back guarantee. It is not a guaranteed overnight service everywhere, so check the delivery date the label shows for your ZIP code pair. With UPS, UPS Next Day Air® service is recommended for perishables.

Ship at the beginning of the week, hand the package over before the day's last pickup, and send the tracking number to the buyer so someone can bring the box inside on arrival.

How to ship chocolate without melting

Chocolate is a dry food, so the main risk in the mail is heat. A box can sit in a hot truck or on a porch, and chocolate that softens on the way can arrive marked or out of shape.

In cool weather, a sealed tin, padding and Priority Mail are usually enough. In warm weather, treat chocolate as a cold shipment: wrap it airtight, place it in an insulated container or a thermal mailer, and add gel packs, which UPS suggests for keeping food between 32 and 60 degrees F. Keep the gel packs from touching the chocolate, so condensation does not mark it.

• Seal the chocolate in plastic or a tin so moisture cannot reach it.
• Use an insulated liner or one of the Thermal bubble mailers UPS mentions, inside a sturdy outer box.
• Add gel packs for warm routes; chocolate rarely needs dry ice, which brings its own packing and marking rules.
• Ship at the beginning of the week and use the fastest service you can afford, such as Priority Mail Express or UPS Next Day Air.
• Tell buyers in hot regions when you pause shipping or switch to a faster service.

Where Nation fits

Questions about shipping food