Near every country in the country at present allows certain foods to be produced in dwelling kitchens and sold direct to consumers.  What y'all tin can make, nether what weather, and where you tin can sell varies widely from state to state.

This is not legal advice.  Y'all should inquiry the laws in your own state and consult an attorney licensed to practice in your state if you lot have questions.

Texas Cottage Food Police force (every bit of September 1, 2019)

Click here to download a printable PDF version of this commodity .

The Texas Cottage Nutrient Law has continued to evolve and aggrandize since commencement passed in 2011, with the virtually sweeping revisions made past the Texas Legislature in 2019.

Prior to 2011, it was illegal to sell whatever food that a person prepared in a habitation kitchen. Simply that twelvemonth, the Subcontract and Ranch Freedom Alliance (FARFA) worked to pass the showtime Texas Cottage Nutrient Police, allowing people to sell a few specific low-take chances foods to consumers who could merely purchase the foods by traveling to the producers' homes. The police force was expanded in 2013, and now the latest revisions, filed as SB 572, go into effect on September 1, 2019.

The Texas Cottage Food Police allows individuals to sell sure foods made in home kitchens, without having to get a food manufacturers' license, use a commercial kitchen, or exist bailiwick to inspections by the state or local health departments.

These common questions are covered within this page (apply the links to jump to that topic):

  • What are the requirements for a cottage food operation?
  • What are the "allowed foods?"
  • Do cottage food products have to be tested?
  • What are the new rules for pickles and ferments?
  • What still cannot be sold?
  • What is "direct-to-consumer?"
  • Are there labeling requirements?
  • What is a "nutrient-handlers' bill of fare?"
  • What powers do my local health department and HOA take?
  • Do I demand insurance? What taxes apply? And other common business bug.
  • Can I provide samples?

What are the requirements for a cottage food functioning?

Under the newly expanded law, cottage food operations must run into all of the following requirements. Several are covered in more detail inside this publication.

  • Sell but foods that are not "time and temperature controlled for safety" (non-TTCS) foods, previously referred to as "non-potentially hazardous," or "NPH," foods.
  • Sell directly to consumers.
  • Gear up the foods in your habitation kitchen (i.e. not in a split building or facility), using appliances meant for residential use.
  • Sell no more than $50,000 of such foods annually.
  • Have a current food handler's carte du jour.
  • Package the nutrient so as to foreclose contagion, unless the item is too large or bulky to fit conventional packaging, such as a wedding cake.
  • Label the products with the producers' data, allergen data, and specific language informing the consumer that the nutrient was prepared in an uninspected kitchen.

What foods are allowed under the 2019 law?

In 2019, the Texas Cottage Food Law made a significant shift, from allowing only specifically listed foods to allowing any not-TTCS food to be prepared at domicile and sold directly to consumers. The foods listed in the neb are now examples, rather than an exclusive list.

Not-TTCS foods are foods with what'southward chosen "low water activity" (somewhat like "moisture content" but a more scientific calculation of wet available to support growth of bacteria and mold) and a depression pH level, which too inhibits the growth of dangerous micro-organisms. Basically, non-TTCS foods are those that you would not ordinarily keep in the refrigerator. Just non all shelf-stable foods are non-potentially hazardous, as discussed in the next section.

The new law lists these as allowed foods:

  • Baked goods that do not require refrigeration, such as cakes, cookies, breads, and pastries. See more data*
  • Candy (including chocolate, chocolate-dipped pretzels, etc.).
  • Coated and uncoated nuts.
  • Unroasted nut butters.
  • Fruit butters.See more than information**
  • Canned jams and jellies.
  • Fruit pies.
  • Dehydrated fruits and vegetables, including dried beans.
  • Popcorn and popcorn snacks.
  • Cereal, including granola.
  • Dry mixes.
  • Vinegar.
  • Mustard.
  • Roasted coffee or dry tea.
  • Dried herbs or herb mixes.
  • Pickled fruits and vegetables, bailiwick to some boosted requirements.
  • Acidified, plant-based canned foods, subject to some additional requirements.
  • Fermented vegetables, subject to some additional requirements.
  • Frozen raw and uncut fruits and vegetables, subject to some additional requirements.
  • Whatsoever other non-Fourth dimension and Temperature Controlled for Prophylactic (non-TTCS) food.

*Baked GOODS: While many broiled goods are clearly not-TTCS, sometimes information technology depends on the precise recipe used, such as cream cheese frostings. Kelley Masters, a home baker and one of the atomic number 82 activists who helped laissez passer the cottage food law in Texas, has published a PDF eastward-book with recipes she has had tested to determine if they are TTCS or non. Visit TexasCottageFoodLaw.com for more information.

**FRUIT BUTTERS: You will need to decide if your fruit butter is loftier-acrid, low-acid, or acidified:

  • High-acrid fruit butters may be sold past cottage food producers without additional requirements. These include apple tree, apricot, grape, peach, plum, quince, and prune butters.
  • Low-acid fruit butters may not be sold by cottage food producers. This would include pumpkin, assistant, and pear butters.
  • Acidified fruit butters may exist sold by cottage nutrient producers if the concluding equilibrium pH is 4.6 or lower. (See the section on acidified canned appurtenances for more than data.)

Do cottage foods need to be tested before sold?

Nigh cottage food products practise not demand to be tested, nor do the recipes need to be approved by any health authority. Testing is merely required if (ane) it is unclear if it truly is a non-TTCS food, or (2) for pickled, acidified canned, or fermented foods (discussed in side by side department). If you are faced with either situation, in that location are several labs in Texas that can perform the testing. The Texas Department of Land Health Services (DSHS) keeps a list online at https://dshs.texas.gov/foodestablishments/cottagefood/default.aspx .

  • A&B Labs, Houston, ablabs.com
  • Analytical Food Labs, Inc., Chiliad Prairie, afltexas.com
  • Food Safety Net Services, San Antonio and Dallas, food-safetynet.com
  • I.E.H. – Quanta Labs, Selma, quantalab.com
  • Silliker Inc., G Prairie, merieuxnutrisciences.com

What are the new rules for pickles, acidified canned foods, & fermented vegetables?

The Texas Cottage Food Law includes specific requirements for pickles, acidified canned foods, and fermented foods in club to address concerns well-nigh food condom risks; in item, botulism.

What foods are allowed:

  • Pickled fruits or vegetables that are preserved in vinegar, brine, or a similar solution at an equilibrium pH value of 4.half-dozen or less.
  • Plant-based acidified canned foods, i.e. nutrient with a finished equilibrium pH value of four.vi or less that is thermally (rut) processed earlier being placed in an airtight container.
  • Fermented vegetable products, defined as a depression-acrid vegetable food product discipline to the action of certain microorganisms that produce acid during their growth and reduce the pH value of the final product to iv.6 or less. These products can exist refrigerated for quality (i.eastward. to wearisome the fermentation process once the necessary pH is accomplished).

The following pickled or fermented foods are Not immune under the Cottage Food Constabulary:

  • Whatsoever type of meat production
  • Pickled eggs
  • Fermented tofu
  • Fermented fruits
  • Kombucha
  • Kefir or other fermented dairy products

Use of canonical recipes:

For pickled, acidified canned, or fermented foods, a cottage food producer must either use a recipe that (1) is from a source approved by DSHS; (2) has been tested past an appropriately certified lab to confirm the final equilibrium pH; (3) is approved by a qualified process authorisation, or (4) is tested in your ain home.

As of July 2019, DSHS has approved the following sources for recipes:

  • USDA Complete Guide to Dwelling house Canning, 2015 Revision
  • University of Georgia Cooperative Extension So Easy to Preserve Book, 6thursday edition
  • Ball Bluish Book Guide to Preserving, 37th Edition
  • The All New Ball Book of Canning and Preserving: Over 350 of the Best Canned, Jammed, Pickled, and Preserved Recipes, May 13, 2016
  • Ball Canning Dorsum to Basics: A Foolproof Guide to Canning Jams, Jellies, Pickles, and More, July 4, 2017

The bureau has the approved recipe sources, process authorities, and accredited laboratories posted at https://dshs.texas.gov/foodestablishments/cottagefood/default.aspx.

If yous employ selection 4, you must test each batch of product with a calibrated pH meter to confirm that the final product has an equilibrium pH of 4.six or less. You tin purchase a calibrated pH meter from food manufacturing supply stores, or fifty-fifty on Amazon, relatively inexpensively.

Labeling and record-keeping for this category of foods:

For each batch of pickles, ferments, or acidified canned foods, y'all must:

  • Label the batch with a unique number; and
  • For a period of at least 12 months, keep a tape that includes:
    1. The batch number;
    2. The recipe used by the producer;
    3. The source of the recipe or testing results;
    4. The appointment the batch was prepared.

Pickled cucumbers are exempted from the requirements gear up out above. This is due to an odd historical twist, in which pickled cucumbers (but no other pickles) were allowed under the before cottage food laws without whatever additional regulation.

What almost frozen fruits & vegetables?

Frozen fruits or vegetables that are raw and uncut are also allowed under the cottage nutrient constabulary. Two boosted requirements apply:

  • They must be stored and delivered at an air temperature of non more than than 32 degrees Fahrenheit, and
  • They must be labeled or accompanied past an invoice that includes the following statement in at least 12-point font: "Condom Handling INSTRUCTIONS: To preclude illness from bacteria, keep this food frozen until preparing for consumption."

Types of foods that CANNOT exist sold nether the Cottage Food Police

In addition to the foods that cannot be pickled or fermented to be sold under the Cottage Food Law foods that are Non allowed under the Cottage Food Constabulary include:

  • Meat, poultry, or seafood products, including beef jerky. (Fifty-fifty though hasty is shelf-stable, the fact that it is a meat-based product ways that it is field of study to USDA regulations and cannot be within the state's cottage food law.)
  • Dairy products.
  • Raw seed sprouts.
  • Broiled goods that require refrigeration, such as cheesecake, tres leches block, pumpkin pie, and meringue pies.
  • Beverages: juices, coffee, tea, etc. (Note that coffee beans and tea numberless are allowed, just not the ready-to-serve beverages.)
  • Water ice products.
  • Whatever other food that needs time or temperature controls to prevent the growth of bacteria.

Pet Nutrient: Although pet nutrient is unremarkably non-TTCS, information technology is not included in the cottage food law. Animal food is regulated past the Role of the Texas State Chemists, Texas Feed and Fertilizer Control Service. You can contact them at (979) 845-1121 or visit their website at http://otscweb.tamu.edu for more information.

Remember, when we talk over what is "non allowed under the cottage food police," we are referring to things that cottage food producers – people making food in their habitation kitchens – cannot legally do. These products can still legally be fabricated and sold in commercial kitchens with advisable health section licensing.

What is considered "direct-to-consumer?"

Previously cottage food operations were express to selling at specific locations. That limitation has been removed by SB 572. Cottage nutrient operators tin sell anywhere within the state of Texas so long as it is direct-to–consumer. A cottage food functioning may too deliver products to its customers.

We have gotten multiple questions virtually what "direct to consumer" means.  The producer of the nutrient — the person making it in their home kitchen — must be selling directly to the consumer.  Household members are generally considered part of a CFO.   Since cottage nutrient operations can have employees, the CFO would too include an employee of the operation. An employee is someone who you pay to do a specific chore; the employer must pay at to the lowest degree minimum wage, is liable for the actions of the employee within the scope of the employment, and typically has to withhold payroll taxes, etc. An employee is not another concern (such as another cottage food operator), an independent contractor, or other third parties.

Annotation that the power to sell at any location refers to health department regulations. It does non mean that general city ordinances exercise not utilise. For instance, if your city doesn't permit people to ready a tent by the side of the road to sell things in general, you tin can't do it simply because you are a cottage nutrient functioning.

Cottage nutrient operations cannot sell wholesale, which means yous cannot sell to restaurants, grocery stores, or other businesses.

Internet & postal service order sales:

Previously, net sales by cottage food producers were banned. Under SB 572, net sales are immune nether certain atmospheric condition, which are easier to empathise if y'all showtime think about the basic concept of the cottage food law: The direct producer-to-consumer relationship creates transparency and accountability, so that the health departments don't demand to exist involved in transactions betwixt modest businesses and their customers. Long-distance net or mail social club transactions, where the consumer and producer have never met, don't fit that model, fifty-fifty if they are technically "direct-to-consumer."

Nether SB 572, cottage food operations can take orders and payment over the cyberspace or by post club if:

  • The cottage food operator personally delivers the food to the consumer (and so that there is at to the lowest degree 1 portion of the interaction that is in person), and
  • Earlier accepting payment for the food, the operator provides the required labeling information (discussed next) to the consumer. This can exist done by posting it on your website, publishing it in your mail lodge catalog, or "otherwise communicating" the information to the consumer.

Yous do not have to include your abode address on your website or in your post order itemize. Your accost does still need to exist on the product'due south label, as required for all cottage food transactions (come across next section).

The statute specifically provides that cottage food operators can deliver to their customers in full general. Thus, if the transaction is fabricated in person (rather than through the cyberspace or by postal service order), it is reasonable to use delivery options such as aircraft or hiring a driver. But if the transaction is made remotely, the delivery must exist in person, equally discussed above.

What are the labeling requirements?

All cottage food products must have a label on their bundle with the post-obit information:

  • Name and concrete address of the cottage food product operation;
  • The mutual or usual proper name of the product;
  • If a food is made with a major food allergen – such as eggs, nuts, soy, peanuts, milk, or wheat – that ingredient must be listed on the label; and
  • The following statement: "This nutrient is fabricated in a habitation kitchen and is not inspected by the Section of State Health Services or a local health section."

The label must be legible and must be fastened to the parcel. For large or bulky items that are not packaged, you must provide an invoice or receipt that has the aforementioned information. For internet or mail order sales, the data (other than the producer's dwelling accost) must be provided to the consumer before payment is taken.

If you lot are selling frozen fruits and vegetables, the label or invoice must besides include the following statement in at to the lowest degree 12-point font: "SAFE HANDLING INSTRUCTIONS: To prevent affliction from bacteria, keep this food frozen until preparing for consumption."

(For pickles, ferments, and acidified canned appurtenances, please meet special labeling instructions in that section of this document.)

**Selling honey & honey mixtures

The originally filed version of the 2019 cottage foods bill explicitly required cottage food producers selling honey to comply with the labeling requirements in the Texas Agriculture Code, Chapter 131, Subchapter Due east.  While the terminal nib did not include that provision, information technology likewise does non exempt cottage nutrient producers from the Agriculture Lawmaking — so it even so applies.  In brief, a person cannot sell a product "identified on its label equally 'dearest,' 'liquid or extracted honey,' 'strained honey,' or 'pure honey' unless the product consists exclusively of pure beloved."  A person also cannot sell any product that "resembles love and that has on its characterization a picture or cartoon of a bee, hive, or comb unless the products consists exclusively of pure honey."  And if you sell a product that consists of beloved mixed with other ingredients, your ingredient list has to exist clear and "dear" cannot boss. Read the statute here.

What are the rules for a food handler's card and for employees?

A cottage nutrient producer must accept and consummate an canonical nutrient handler's course. This course is offered by many local agencies and can be taken online. The grade typically costs $ten to $20 for the online version; in-person courses ordinarily cost more. A nutrient handler'southward carte du jour is good for two years, and information technology must be kept current.

A cottage food producer needs only to take and pass the grade. Yous practise not demand to register your food handler's license with the local health department in gild to sell under the Cottage Food Police force.

A cottage food production operation may have employees. Anyone who is handling or preparing the food must either accept a food handler's menu of his or her own, or be nether the producer's straight supervision.  Members of the producer's household are exempt from the requirement for direct supervision.

What is my local health department'southward function?

A cottage nutrient performance does non need to get a license from the state or local health department or to register with the country or local health section.

The country and local health departments are directed to proceed a tape of any complaints that are made near cottage food operations. They do not have authority to investigate such complaints or conduct inspections.  The only exception is that the land and local health departments retain jurisdiction to close any business concern – including a cottage food operation – that poses a serious and firsthand threat to human life and health.

A cottage food operator is non required to allow the health department to come into the dwelling house and do an inspection unless they have a warrant.

If the land or local wellness department claims that y'all cannot sell home-produced goods, the first step is to print out the law and testify it to the person with whom you have been communicating. If that does not resolve the effect, the next step is to contact the City Council or County Commissioners. Exist sure to get documentation of all conversations in writing. In extreme cases, y'all may need to obtain legal representation. FARFA provides guidance to its members in navigating this process.

Exercise local zoning laws and HOA rules affect operators?

The 2013 cottage nutrient police specifically prohibits a county or municipality from banning a cottage food operation on the basis of zoning. A cottage nutrient operation does not need to get a zoning permit or business license from the metropolis.

Neighboring property owners nonetheless have the right to have activity for nuisances or other legal claims confronting the cottage food operation.

The law does not accost restrictions by private homeowners' associations (HOAs). Ordinarily, HOAs are concerned about the outside appearance of the dwelling house, and they are not concerned with activities within the home. For example, there are many people who sell Mary Kay products or other items from their homes. If your HOA has restrictions on dwelling-based businesses, you may be able to avoid a confrontation by keeping the outside of your habitation and m free of any advertising or other obvious signs of your cottage food operation.

What other business problems should be considered?

The following topics are not addressed in the land police force just are oftentimes asked about past cottage nutrient producers.

Insurance:

While y'all do not have to have liability insurance, it is important to protect your assets. Some farmers' markets, and event/wedding venues require proof of liability insurance from all nutrient vendors. There are many companies that offering insurance, and nosotros encourage y'all to compare options. One company, American National, has an insurance policy specifically designed for cottage nutrient producers. Contact Eileen Coleman, Coleman Bureau, at Eileen.Coleman@american-national.com or (512) 250-2168 for more than information.

Advert:

There is no brake on your power to advertise. You can advertise through a website or Facebook, putting business organization cards or flyers out at local retail outlets (with the retailer's permission), or any other legal means.

Sales tax:

In Texas, most food items are not subject to sales tax. Yet, some food items, such as processed, are taxable. If y'all are unsure if your items are taxable, contact the State Comptroller for more information. You can visit the Comptroller's site at www.window.state.tx.us/taxinfo/sales or call 1-800-531-5441.

Income tax:

The cottage food police has no outcome on federal income tax law. Normal IRS rules apply; consult a tax professional.

Rendition revenue enhancement:

Counties can require a rendition tax on your business assets and equipment; application and enforcement vary canton to county.

Private entities:

If you wish to sell at a farmers' marketplace, farm stand up, or nonprofit event, y'all must get permission from the event organizers. The cottage food police governs your rights with respect to the authorities, simply not with respect to private entities. The marketplace, farmer, or nonprofit may impose whatever rules or fees they wish.

What are the rules on providing samples?

Nether HB 1694, any farmer or vendor at a farmers' market can prepare and provide samples on-site then long as they meet some basic sanitation requirements:

  • Samples must exist distributed in a sanitary manner.
  • A person preparing produce samples on-site must either clothing clean, disposable plastic gloves while, or wash their easily in soap and water prior to, preparing the samples.
  • Drinkable water must be available for washing.
  • Utensils and cut surfaces used for cutting samples must be shine, nonabsorbent, and easily cleaned or disposed of.

Note that the sampling police contains two additional requirements that would not exist applicable to cottage food producers:

  • Produce intended for sampling must exist washed in potable h2o to remove whatsoever soil or other visible material; and
  • If the samples are potentially hazardous (such equally cut produce), they must exist either kept at 41 degrees or colder or tending of inside two hours of preparation.

Cottage nutrient operations can only provide samples of foods that they can legally sell. In other words, y'all can provide samples of your baked appurtenances, jams, pickles, etc. But while you tin can sell java beans, you tin't sell liquid java and therefore you can't provide samples of liquid coffee.

Exterior of a farmers' market place, the regular health department regulations employ. This poses a trouble, since a temporary food establishment (TFE) permit requires that it serve nutrient simply from "approved sources," and many jurisdictions do non translate that to include cottage food operations.

The all-time way effectually that problem (if y'all're not a farmers' market place vendor) is to package and label sample-size portions in your home. At your sale location, you can provide these pre-packaged, pre-labeled samples with no farther requirements or regulation.

Looking beyond the Cottage Food Law

The cottage food police force is intended to let small businesses making low-risk foods to start up without facing the burdens of all-encompassing health department regulation.

If y'all wish to make foods that are not allowed nether the cottage food police or are set up to abound across the $50,000 cap, and then you need to talk with the wellness department nigh the requirements for a commercial kitchen and nutrient manufacturing license.

Acknowledgements

Special thanks become to Representative Eddie Rodriguez and Senator Lois Kolkhorst, the sponsors of SB 572. Both accept been long-fourth dimension champions for cottage nutrient producers in this state. Thank you besides become to Kelley Masters of Texas Bakers' Bill for her tireless piece of work for cottage food producers, equally well equally to the hundreds of people who attended the committee hearings and FARFA'south lobbying days, or who wrote or called their legislators to assistance laissez passer these of import bills.

FOR Boosted INFORMATION, Email JUDITH@FARMANDRANCHFREEDOM.ORG OR Phone call 254-697-2661.