SB541

SB541 expands what Texas home-based food businesses may sell and creates a limited route for resale through cottage-food vendors. It replaces the old list of permitted foods with a broader rule, but still excludes meat and poultry products; seafood; ice and ice products, including ice cream; low-acid canned goods; products containing CBD or THC; and raw milk and raw-milk products. The operation may be an individual working at home or a qualifying 501(c)(3) nonprofit working at a director’s or officer’s home. The annual limit rises from $50,000 to $150,000 in gross food-sales income, with annual CPI-U inflation adjustments—not $150,000 in profit or a permanently fixed ceiling. Final law, Sections 1–2.

Foods needing temperature control have extra conditions. For otherwise allowed foods that need time and temperature control for safety, direct sellers must register with the Department of State Health Services, store and deliver food at temperatures necessary to prevent illness-causing bacterial growth, and follow labeling requirements. These foods cannot be wholesaled through cottage-food vendors. Being allowed to use an ingredient does not by itself make the finished product exempt from temperature-control requirements. Definitions and Sections 6–7.

Food must be packaged to prevent contamination, with an exception for items too large or bulky for conventional packaging. Labels identify the operation and state: “THIS PRODUCT WAS PRODUCED IN A PRIVATE RESIDENCE THAT IS NOT SUBJECT TO GOVERNMENTAL LICENSING OR INSPECTION.” Registration allows a department-issued unique number to replace the home address, not the operation’s name. Temperature-controlled foods need a date-made label and the specified safe-handling statement in at least 12-point type on the label, invoice or receipt. Section 5 labeling provisions.

A cottage-food vendor must be located in Texas, have a contract with the producer, and sell non-temperature-controlled cottage foods directly to Texas consumers on the producer’s behalf. Vendors may sell at farmers’ markets, farm stands, food-service establishments and retail stores. They must display the private-residence disclosure and use date-made labels; vendors buying wholesale must register. The producer receives an exemption from the state food-manufacturer licensing requirements for this wholesale activity. This is not unrestricted wholesale permission for any food or buyer. Sections 1, 3, 6 and 7.

Online purchases still require personal delivery, now by the operator, an employee or a household member. Required labeling information must appear on the operation’s website before payment, with the address or registered identification number on the delivered label; the home address need not be displayed before payment. The act removes the mail-order wording—it does not authorize mailing food or delivery by any unrelated courier. Producers may offer samples anywhere in Texas under the incorporated sanitary safeguards and donate non-temperature-controlled foods for event sale or service to the same extent individuals may. Sales, samples and donations.

Local authorities cannot regulate cottage-food production or require the prohibited licenses, permits or fees for the covered production, sales and consumer sampling. A local authority may not employ or continue to employ someone who knowingly requires or attempts to require a prohibited license or permit. State registration requirements still apply where specified. Signed May 30, 2025, the act took effect September 1, 2025. Sections 4 and 9; Official history.