Cottage Food Laws by State
Texas Cottage Food Laws
Texas lets people make most foods at home and sell them without a commercial kitchen, local permit, or inspection. Since September 1, 2025, gross income can reach $150,000 a year, adjusted annually for inflation, and nonprofits qualify too. You do need a food handler course, and you must register with the state health department if you sell foods that need temperature control.
Annual sales cap
$150,000
Permit
Optional
Training
Required
Home inspection
No
Online sales
Allowed
Shipping
Not allowed
Wholesale
Allowed
Verified against official sources on 2026-10-21.
Where You Can Sell in Texas
You can sell directly to consumers or wholesale non-refrigerated foods to registered cottage food vendors, who resell at farmers markets, farm stands, food service establishments, and retail stores. Online orders are allowed, but you or someone from your household or staff must deliver them personally, and your label details go on your website before payment. Local governments cannot charge fees or require permits.
| Channel | Status |
|---|---|
| Farmers markets |
Conditions apply
Through a cottage food vendor with a contract with you, who must post the private-residence sign. |
| Roadside stands |
Conditions apply
Farm stands, through a cottage food vendor with a contract with you. |
| Online orders |
Conditions apply
The buyer orders from you online and you, an employee, or a household member delivers in person; required labeling must be on your website before payment. |
| Retail stores |
Conditions apply
Through a cottage food vendor; the vendor sells non-TCS food only. |
| Wholesale |
Conditions apply
Only non-TCS foods, and only to a registered cottage food vendor. |
| Restaurants |
Conditions apply
Food service establishments, through a cottage food vendor; the vendor sells non-TCS food only. |
What You Can Sell in Texas
The rule is broad: any food is fine except meat and poultry, seafood, ice and ice cream products, low-acid canned goods, CBD or THC items, and raw milk products. Foods that need refrigeration, such as cream pies, can be sold if you register with DSHS, keep them cold, and add the date made and a safe handling statement. Those foods cannot be wholesaled or donated.
Any food you make at home except meat, poultry, seafood, ice products, low-acid canned goods, CBD or THC products, and raw milk products.
Allowed with conditions
- Time and temperature control for safety (TCS) foods — Operation must register with DSHS, store and deliver at safe temperatures, add the date made and a safe handling statement; TCS foods cannot be wholesaled or donated.
Not allowed
Limits and Requirements
Annual sales cap
$150,000
- Gross income from these sales must stay at or under $150,000, adjusted yearly for inflation
- Food must be made in the operator's home (or the home of a director or officer of a nonprofit)
- Sell directly to consumers or to a cottage food vendor
- Internet sales require personal delivery by operator, employee, or household member
- TCS foods require DSHS registration and cannot be wholesaled or donated
- Food must be packaged to prevent contamination, unless too large or bulky
Local rules: Local governments, including local health departments, may not regulate cottage food production, inspect, or require any license, permit, or fee to produce or sell these foods directly to consumers or vendors.
How to Start Selling in Texas
-
1
Take a food handler course
Complete a basic food safety course for food handlers accredited under Health and Safety Code Chapter 438; DSHS lists Texas A&M AgriLife Extension options.
-
2
Decide if you sell TCS foods
If you will sell refrigerated or other TCS foods, register through the DSHS Online Licensing Registry before selling.
-
3
Optionally register for an ID number
Registration lets you put a DSHS-issued ID number on labels in place of your home address.
-
4
Label every product
Include name, address or ID number, product name, allergens, and the private-residence disclosure; add date made and safe handling text for TCS foods.
-
5
Choose sales channels
Sell directly, deliver online orders yourself, or contract with a registered cottage food vendor to resell non-TCS foods.
What a Compliant Texas Label Looks Like
Quickly Cottage builds your ingredient list, detects allergens, and adds the required disclosure automatically.
Product
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake Pops
Sunflower Home Bakery
412 Maple Ave, Springfield, TX
Ingredients:
Enriched Bleached Flour (Wheat Flour, Niacin, Iron, Thiamin Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Sugar, Cocoa (Processed with Alkali), Leavening (Baking Soda, Sodium Aluminum Phosphate, Monocalcium Phosphate), Corn Starch, Salt, Soybean Oil; Sugar, Unsweetened Chocolate, Cocoa Butter, Milkfat, Soy Lecithin, Vanilla; Sugar, Corn Starch, Vegetable Oil (Palm), Confectioner's Glaze, Carnauba Wax, FD&C Colors; Water, Propylene Glycol, FD&C Red 40.
Contains:
THIS PRODUCT WAS PRODUCED IN A PRIVATE RESIDENCE AND IS NOT SUBJECT TO GOVERNMENTAL LICENSING OR INSPECTION.
Label Requirements
Every cottage food product sold in Texas must have a label that includes the following.
| Required field |
|---|
| All 9 FDA major allergens present |
| Complete ingredient list, in descending order by weight |
| Business name |
| Business address |
| Product name |
| "Not inspected" disclosure statement |
Texas Labeling Notes
- TCS foods also need the date made on the label and, on the label or receipt, 'SAFE HANDLING INSTRUCTIONS: To prevent illness from bacteria, keep this food refrigerated or frozen until the food is prepared for consumption' in at least 12-point font.
- A unique batch number is required for pickled fruit or vegetables, fermented vegetable products, and plant-based acidified canned goods.
- Unpackaged foods: give the label information on an invoice or receipt.
- Cottage food vendors must show the same disclosure on a sign near the point of sale, and vendor-sold products need the date made.
Required Label Disclosure
This exact text must appear on every label you sell in Texas.
THIS PRODUCT WAS PRODUCED IN A PRIVATE RESIDENCE AND IS NOT SUBJECT TO GOVERNMENTAL LICENSING OR INSPECTION.
Quickly Cottage adds this to your label automatically.
Generate your Texas label in minutes
Ingredient lists, allergens, and the required disclosure — built in automatically.
Texas Cottage Food — Common Questions
No license or permit is needed, and local governments cannot require one; you must register with DSHS only if you sell time and temperature control foods, and registration is optional otherwise (it lets you print an ID number instead of your address).
The limit is $150,000 in gross sales.
Complete an accredited basic food handler course (Texas A&M AgriLife Extension is listed by DSHS); DSHS does not state a course cost.
Online sales are allowed. Shipping is not allowed. The buyer orders from you online and you, an employee, or a household member delivers in person; required labeling must be on your website before payment.
Not allowed: Meat, 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.
Resources and Law History
Who to contact
Texas DSHS, Public Sanitation and Retail Food Safety Unit
512-834-6753
Agency website2025
SB 541, effective September 1, 2025: cap raised from $50,000 to $150,000 with inflation adjustment, nearly all foods allowed, TCS foods allowed with registration, wholesale to cottage food vendors, nonprofits included, new label disclosure wording.
Law reference: Texas Cottage Food Law (Texas Health and Safety Code Chapter 437 as amended by SB 541 (2025)) · Last updated 2026 · Always verify requirements with your state's department of agriculture before selling.
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