Texas cottage food law: what you can sell from home

What is a cottage food operation?

A cottage food production operation (CFPO) lets you make and sell food from your home kitchen. You don't need a commercial kitchen, a permit, or approval from your local health department. Texas law gives you this freedom if you meet the requirements.

This is a genuinely low-barrier way to start a food business: no commercial lease, no build-out, no inspection schedule. If you meet the requirements, you can cook or bake at home this week and sell at a market this weekend.

Here's the deal: you operate from a private residence. You're exempt from the Texas Food Establishment Rules. Your local health department cannot inspect you or charge you a fee. They keep authority only for emergency orders, recalls, and complaint records. That's it. No licensing. No inspections. No fees to operate.

You do need to stay under an annual gross income limit of $150,000. That's from all cottage food sales combined. Once you hit that threshold, the exemption ends and you'll need to move to a licensed facility.

New as of September 1, 2025: Senate Bill 541 expanded what you can make and sell. The law used to be tight. Now it's much broader. Before this law, home food producers were limited to shelf-stable goods like jams and baked items. That's changed.

What foods can you make and sell?

You can make almost anything from your home kitchen. The list of allowed foods is very long. But there are clear exceptions you must avoid.

You cannot sell these:

• meat and meat products
• poultry and poultry products
• seafood, fish, shellfish, and their products
• ice and ice products (shaved ice, ice cream, frozen custard, popsicles, gelato)
• low-acid canned goods
• products containing CBD or THC
• raw milk and raw milk products

Everything else is fair game. Jams, pickles, salsa, baked goods, candy, granola, hot sauce, nut butters, cookies, brownies. You name it. As long as it's not on the prohibited list, you can make it in your home kitchen and sell it.

But there's one major category that gets special rules: TCS foods.

TCS foods: time and temperature control for safety

TCS foods are foods that need refrigeration to stay safe. The acronym stands for time and temperature control for safety. Think of foods like cooked pasta salads, prepared desserts with cream, foods with dairy, anything that would spoil if left out at room temperature. These used to be completely off limits for cottage food operations. If you made them, you couldn't sell them as a CFPO.

Not anymore. Senate Bill 541 changed that.

Now you can make and sell TCS foods. This opens up a lot of possibilities. Cheesecakes. Cream pies. Refrigerated dips. Potato salad. Foods that people want to buy but that require careful temperature control. But they come with extra rules. Here's what you need to know:

First, you must register your operation with Texas DSHS if you sell TCS foods. Registration gives you a unique identification number you can use on labels instead of your home address. This protects your privacy while still allowing customers to report issues to the agency. Registration begins September 2, 2025. Check with Texas DSHS for the cost and the process.

Second, TCS foods cannot be wholesaled. You can only sell them directly to consumers. You can wholesale non-TCS foods, but only to a registered cottage food vendor who then sells them directly to consumers. This protects the food supply by making sure temperature-sensitive foods move directly to the consumer, not through a middleman.

Third, TCS foods cannot be donated. They're for direct consumer sales only. If you want to donate food, stick to non-TCS items.

Fourth, you must keep TCS foods at the right temperature. Either 41 degrees Fahrenheit or below when refrigerated, or 135 degrees Fahrenheit or above when kept hot. No in-between temperatures are allowed. This is critical. These temperatures keep harmful bacteria from growing.

And fifth, TCS foods require an extra label statement about safe handling. See the section below on labeling for the exact wording.

Labeling: what your label must say

Every product you sell must have a label. The label is how you tell your customer what they're buying and how to use it safely. Labels are not optional or decorative. They're required by law.

Your label must include:

• The operation name (your name or your business name)
• Your address OR a DSHS-issued unique identification number (you can use the unique ID instead of your home address if you register)
• The product common or usual name (like "Chocolate Chip Cookies" or "Dill Pickles")
• A disclosure of any major food allergens (peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, wheat, soy, and others that your product contains)
• The date made (required for TCS foods and when sold by a cottage food vendor)
• A batch number if the product is pickled, fermented, or acidified

The allergen disclosure is important. If your cookies contain walnuts, say so. If your salsa uses cilantro and has sesame oil, list those. People have allergies. They need to know.

And every single product must include this statement in all capitals:

THIS PRODUCT WAS PRODUCED IN A PRIVATE RESIDENCE THAT IS NOT SUBJECT TO GOVERNMENTAL LICENSING OR INSPECTION.

If your product is a TCS food, you must also include this statement:

SAFE HANDLING INSTRUCTIONS: To prevent illness from bacteria, keep this food refrigerated or frozen until the food is prepared for consumption.

These statements are not optional. They're the law. Use them exactly as written, word for word. Don't paraphrase. Don't shorten them. They must appear on every label. These exact statements are required because they inform the consumer about the nature of your operation and how to handle the food safely.

Food handler training: it's required

You must complete a food safety education or training program. It's a requirement, not a suggestion.

The program must be accredited under Texas Health and Safety Code Chapter 438. This ensures you have basic knowledge about how to handle food safely and prevent foodborne illness.

A Food Manager Certification also satisfies this requirement. Either way, you need training before you start selling.

This isn't about jumping through hoops. It's about knowing how to keep your customers safe. Foodborne illness is serious. Training teaches you the basics about temperature control, cross-contamination, and safe food handling practices.

Where and how you can sell

You have several options for where you sell. You can sell directly to consumers at farmers markets, farm stands, food service establishments, and retail stores. That's it. These are the only four venues where you can sell as a cottage food operator. If you try to sell through a distributor or wholesaler who isn't a registered cottage food vendor, you're breaking the law.

Farmers markets are the most common path. You rent a booth or table, show up every week, and sell directly to customers. Farm stands work the same way. You sell from your own stand or from someone else's property. Food service establishments like restaurants can sell your products if they're allowed under the rules. And retail stores can buy from you and resell to their customers.

You can also sell online if you do it the right way. Your customer buys online from you, directly. You or an employee or a household member personally delivers it to the customer. Not a shipping company. Not a delivery service. You or someone in your household. All labeling information must be posted on your website before the customer pays. That way they know what they're getting. And the address or unique identification number must be on the label after payment. Those rules matter. Follow them carefully if you sell online.

All sales must be within Texas. You cannot sell across state lines as a cottage food operation. Your products are for Texas customers only.

You cannot wholesale TCS foods. You can wholesale non-TCS foods only to a registered cottage food vendor. The cottage food vendor then sells them directly to consumers. So if you make shelf-stable pickles or granola, you can wholesale those to another vendor. But if you make a refrigerated dessert, you can't wholesale it at all.

Registration, confirmation, and where to learn more

If you sell TCS foods, you must register with the Texas DSHS Cottage Food Registry. Registration provides a unique identification number. You can use this number instead of your home address on labels. This is optional for non-TCS foods, but required if you sell TCS foods.

If you're a cottage food vendor who buys non-TCS foods at wholesale from a CFPO, you must also register.

Registration begins September 2, 2025. Check with Texas DSHS for current fees, the registration process, and any other details.

Senate Bill 541 is very new. The law changed on September 1, 2025. Rules and guidance may be updated as Texas DSHS implements the new law. This guide gives you the facts as they stand, but the safest move is to confirm the current details directly with Texas DSHS.

Refer to these official sources for the most current information. These are the authoritative sources for cottage food law in Texas:

• Texas Health and Safety Code Chapter 437
• The Texas DSHS Texas Cottage Food Production page
• The DSHS Cottage Food Registration Guide
• DSHS food establishments contact for questions

Before you start selling, confirm the details yourself. Call Texas DSHS or visit their website. Laws change. Guidance updates. You want to make sure you're following the current rules.

This is educational information, not legal advice. Texas's cottage food law and its rules change over time, so always confirm the current requirements with the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) before selling.