Texas cottage food law lets you sell many homemade foods without a permit or inspection. Under the 2025 Texas Food Freedom Act (SB 541), the annual gross-sales cap rose to $150,000, indexed to inflation. Neither Bell County nor a city may ban a compliant cottage food operation.
Cottage food is governed by state law (Texas Health & Safety Code Ch. 437), not by the county. Senate Bill 541, effective September 1, 2025, replaced the old permitted-foods list with an exclusion model (nearly any food except meat, seafood, low-acid canned goods, raw milk and cannabis products) and raised the annual gross-income limit from $50,000 to $150,000, now adjusted for inflation. A cottage food operation requires no health permit or inspection, but products must be properly labeled and sold direct to consumers. State law bars a city or county from prohibiting cottage food production, so Bell County cannot outlaw it.
Selling prohibited foods or exceeding the sales cap removes the exemption and subjects the operation to full food-establishment permitting and enforcement by the local health authority.
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