im seeing it on fb everywhere but im not understanding..did the texas cottage food law pass??is it legal now for homebakers??what happend?? i dont understand all the legal jumbo im seeing..can someone just break it down for me??

It has passed the Senate and is on its way to the Governor. Now we just have to hope he will sign it.

He has until June 19th to sign or veto; if he does not veto, it will become law on September 1, 2011.

Here is the text of the bill. Only sections 5 and 6 apply to Cottage Foods: http://www.legis.state.tx.us/tlodocs/82R/billtext/html/SB00081F.htm

In lay terms:

1. Eligible foods are limited to non-potentially hazardous baked goods, canned jams, jellies, and spice mixes.
2. Annual gross income from sales of the above food items must be $50,000 or less.
3. Foods must be sold directly to the consumer. (ie: no wholesale, no re-selling at restaurants, grocery stores, or coffee shops, etc.)
4. The local health department may not regulate these home cottage food operations, but they must maintain a record of any complaint made. This is a consumer safeguard, so that consumers can call the local health department and check for complaints on their cake lady before they purchase, if they wish.
5. The food items sold must be labeled with the name and address of the cottage food production operation, and a statement that the food was made in a kitchen that has not been inspected by the health department.
6. Food must not be sold through the internet. This simply means that these operations cant set up a shopping cart and let people purchase blindly. Our cottage food producers may still have a web site to promote their business. The no-internet-sales clause goes back to the fact that we ARE small cottage operations, and helps ensure that sales are local and face-to-face, which is in keeping with the spirit of the bill. Again, it does NOT mean that web sites are prohibited.

THAT IS SOOOOOO AWESOME!!!THANKS SOOOO MUCH!!

Yee Haw!

Please CALL and EMAIL Governor Perry and ask him to sign SB 81, the food safety and local foods bill!

Statewide toll-free 1-800-252-9600, or direct to Austin 512-463-2000.

Emails can be sent through this page: http://governor.state.tx.us/contact/contact.aspx

Let's not rest now when we're at the finish line!

I already emailed. It is very simple to do.

Sec. 437.0194. SALES BY COTTAGE FOOD PRODUCTION OPERATIONS
THROUGH THE INTERNET PROHIBITED. A cottage food production
operation may not sell any of the foods described in Section
437.001(2-b)(A) through the Internet.


So this mean that we cannot take orders via a website? A customer has to either order by phone or face to face?


Sec. 437.0193. LABELING REQUIREMENTS FOR COTTAGE FOOD
PRODUCTION OPERATIONS. The executive commissioner shall adopt
rules requiring a cottage food production operation to label all of
the foods described in Section 437.001(2-b)(A) that the operation
sells to consumers. The label must include the name and address of
the cottage food production operation and a statement that the food
is not inspected by the department or a local health department.

How soon before these rules are adopted? I really wonder how long it's going to take the Dept to come up with procedures, policies, forms, etc...

Please see www.TexasCottageFoodLaw.com for the answers to your questions.

Gov Rick Perry signed it. It goes into effect Sept 1, 2011. It only applies to baked goods, canned jams/jellies and dry spices. And I think you are limited to $50,000 per year. There are other stipulations, like you can't sell to restaurants, etc. You'll just have to look it up. I just moved from TX to OK and am kicking myself b/c OK has been shot down twice now! If anyone has cake friends in OK, please have them email me so we can gain support to reactivate it again. Thanks!
-Melodie
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