CottageFoodTool Texas

Texas · Cottage Food Production Operation

Texas cottage food label requirements and permit checklist

Answer a few plain-English questions about what you make and how you want to sell it. We check it against Texas's current cottage food law — including the 2025 SB 541 overhaul that raised the sales cap and opened the door to TCS foods — flag anything that isn't allowed, and build you a personalized checklist and a printable food label.

Free permit walk-through Free label generation Free checklist
Free customized label/checklist after walk-through completion

Built from the public Texas Health & Safety Code and DSHS guidance. Not legal advice and not state approval — rules can change, so verify final requirements with Texas DSHS before selling.

  • Free permit walk-throughSee right away if a choice would block you from selling under Texas's cottage food exemption.
  • Free checklistYour answers folded into Texas's current requirements, ready to print or save as PDF.
  • Free label generationThe required Texas disclosure statement plus name, address, and product details, assembled into a printable draft.

Can I sell homemade food in Texas?

Often yes — Texas's cottage food exemption needs no permit, license, or inspection for most home-produced foods, up to $150,000 in annual gross sales (raised from $50,000 by SB 541, effective September 1, 2025). That same law opened the door to TCS (refrigerated/frozen) foods for the first time, but only with DSHS registration and direct-to-consumer sales. Meat, seafood, ice products, low-acid canned goods, raw milk, and CBD/THC products are still excluded. The wizard below checks the choices that commonly change the answer.

Texas Health & Safety Code Ch. 437 Texas DSHS Cottage Food Production

Texas label requirements

  • Product name and ingredients in descending order by weight
  • Major allergens
  • Net weight or volume
  • Your name/business name and home address (or DSHS registration ID)
  • “THIS PRODUCT WAS PRODUCED IN A PRIVATE RESIDENCE THAT IS NOT SUBJECT TO GOVERNMENTAL LICENSING OR INSPECTION”
  • TCS items: an added safe-handling statement and production date

Common Texas cottage food blockers

  • Meat, poultry, seafood, fish, or shellfish products
  • Ice, ice cream, or other frozen desserts
  • Low-acid canned goods, raw milk products, or CBD/THC products
  • Shipping online orders through a commercial carrier instead of personal delivery
  • Wholesaling a TCS food, or wholesaling without a registered cottage food vendor
  • Selling to customers outside Texas
  • Annual gross sales above $150,000