Galveston County, TX Home Business: Cottage Food Operations (2026)

Texas gives cottage food producers broad statewide rights that no county can override. Under Health & Safety Code 437.0191, 'A cottage food production operation is not a food service establishment for purposes of this chapter,' so it is not subject to health-department permitting or routine inspection. A cottage food producer must have annual gross income of $50,000 or less from these sales and may make non-time/temperature-controlled foods such as baked goods, candy, canned jams and jellies, dried herbs, roasted coffee, pickled and fermented products, and more. Galveston's development code lists cottage food production as permitted in every zoning district under state law. Proper labeling and, for some foods, a food-handler course are required.