Cottage food rules
Current Texas Cottage Food Law: What Home Bakers Need
The Texas cottage food rules in plain words, so you can bake and sell with confidence.
On this page
What to remember
- No permits, licenses, or inspections are required to start a cottage food business in Texas.
- A local health department or government cannot require fees or permits from cottage food producers.
- You must complete a basic food safety education or training program for food handlers.
- You may sell directly to consumers in Texas, but only foods that are not time and temperature control for safety foods.
- Labeling and preparation rules come from 25 Texas Administrative Code 229.661.
The rules live mostly in Chapter 437 of the Texas Health and Safety Code, the statute the legislature passed. If you ever need to point to the actual law, that is the chapter to name. On top of the statute sit the department rules for labeling and preparation. If you are also weighing what other states ask, our guide to a cottage food license in Georgia shows how differently things can work next door.
What you can sell, and to whom
Chapter 437 lets a cottage food production operation sell directly to consumers located in Texas a food other than a time and temperature control for safety food. That last phrase is the line that matters most in your kitchen. It is the reason a shelf stable loaf of bread or a box of decorated cookies fits and a food that needs careful temperature control does not. Texas also lets most home food sellers start without a state license, with a permit or registration reserved for certain foods or sales, so read your own situation carefully before you assume you are covered.
The training you actually have to do
An individual who operates a cottage food production operation must have successfully completed a basic food safety education or training program for food handlers accredited under Subchapter D, Chapter 438, Health and Safety Code. This is the one requirement most new bakers are surprised by, and it is the one most worth doing early. Keep your certificate somewhere you can find it, because buyers ask and you will want a straight answer ready.
Labels and a clean kitchen
The labeling and preparation side of this comes from 25 Texas Administrative Code 229.661, which implements Chapter 437 and requires the department to adopt those rules. The Texas Department of State Health Services publishes a Cottage Food Registration Guide that walks through the online registration process and points producers to its Retail Food Establishments page for the applicable rules and laws. Start there rather than with a blog you found in a search. When you are ready to put prices on what you bake, how to price your bakes will help you do the math without underselling yourself.
Read the statute and the department guide
Start with Chapter 437 of the Texas Health and Safety Code, then read the Texas Department of State Health Services Cottage Food Registration Guide for the process and the rules.
Check your food against the allowance
Chapter 437 covers foods other than time and temperature control for safety foods. Confirm yours fits before you sell it.
Finish your food handler training
Complete a basic food safety education or training program for food handlers accredited under Subchapter D, Chapter 438.
Set up your labels and your kitchen
Follow the labeling and preparation rules in 25 Texas Administrative Code 229.661.
Know that no permit or fee applies
No permits, licenses, or inspections are required to start, and a local health department or government cannot require fees or permits from cottage food producers.
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Rules change, and the wording of a statute is the only version that counts. Before you print labels or take a large order, read the current text yourself and ask the Texas Department of State Health Services if anything is unclear. If you sell in more than one state, our guide to a cottage food license in Alabama is a useful reminder that the answers do not travel with you.
Common questions
Do I need a license to sell baked goods from my home in Texas?
No. No permits, licenses, or inspections are required to start a cottage food business in Texas, and state law prohibits a local health department or government from requiring fees or permits for cottage food producers. You do still need food handler training and you must follow the labeling and preparation rules.
What training do I need?
You must have successfully completed a basic food safety education or training program for food handlers accredited under Subchapter D, Chapter 438, Health and Safety Code.
Can I sell anything I bake?
No. Chapter 437 allows a cottage food production operation to sell directly to consumers in Texas a food other than a time and temperature control for safety food. Foods that need temperature control to stay safe fall outside that allowance.
Who can I sell to?
The statute covers selling directly to consumers located in Texas. Read Chapter 437 and the department guide for your own situation before you branch out.
Where do the labeling rules come from?
25 Texas Administrative Code 229.661 implements Health and Safety Code Chapter 437, which requires the department to adopt rules for labeling and preparation in cottage food production operations.
Where do I start?
Read Chapter 437 of the Texas Health and Safety Code and the Texas Department of State Health Services Cottage Food Registration Guide, which covers the online registration process and points you to the Retail Food Establishments page for the applicable rules and laws.
Sources
This is general information about the current Texas cottage food law, not legal advice. Read Chapter 437 of the Texas Health and Safety Code and the Texas Department of State Health Services guidance for your own situation, and ask the department when anything is unclear.