Cottage Food Law

I was surprised to find that, last September, a cottage food law came into effect here in Texas. Now people can sell certain food items from their home (mostly baked goods, herb mixtures). So, if any of you ever blow through the good 'ole ATX, feel free to knock on my door. I'm excited about this. It should be fun (though it could turn out to be a raging pain in the ass).

Do any of you have cottage food laws in your state? If so, what state are you in. I promise I won't stalk you.

rwj

[Robin Garr]

I'd love to know more about this, Robert. How (if at all) do they draw a line that allows flexibility for "cottage" producers without compromising public health and safety? Or maybe, this being Texas, they don't?

Hmmm. This might explain how that woman's been able to come by our house with fresh tamales every Thursday for the past ten years without getting busted. I'll have to see if I can find anything out about such laws here.

But I have to say, you've done it now, Robert. Everyone on the FLDG who gets anywhere near will be knocking on your door!

I believe Indiana has a Cottage Food law, but I don't know much about the particulars.
Speaking of laws, how stupid is it that some states, including Indiana, don't have laws prohibiting hunting while intoxicated?

Here is a link to the law as written. It is a remarkably straight forward piece of legislation (I'm amazed at this).
http://www.texascottagefoodlaw.com/TheLaw.aspx

Most baked goods are okay so long as they don't contain meat or some kind of cream or custard. For instance, I'll be doing cinnamon rolls, cookies, and three types of sandwich bread. If it proves to be cooperative with my schedule and lifestyle then I may expand and add artisan breads, cakes, and fruit pies.

Cottage producers are not inspected by the health department. However, the H.D. will keep a record of complaints filed by consumers. That way consumers can look up which producers have a bad track record. The H. D. can inspect a producer if they have a warrant to do so. While it is not necessary, it is recommended that producers obtain liability insurance.

rwj

Indeed, I have been watching this as well. I have been making small batch ciabatta that is as good as anything several people I know have had in Italy. Certainly much better than that which is generally available in my area of Austin.

[Robin Garr]

Here's a link to a Cottage Food page set up by a guy in Texas ...

http://www.texascottagefoodlaw.com/

Robin, I posted the same link, just to a different page. Here is a link to the actual bill written by the reps.

http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/tlodocs/ ... 00081F.htm

rwj

Certainly much better than that which is generally available in my area of Austin.

It's not hard to make ciabatta better than anything available in ATX. Just about anything homemade will pass the mark.

rwj

The problem with a cottage food exclusion is that it opens the door for clueless people to make and sell products that can be quite dangerous. This is typically in pickling and canning. The seller wants to make pickles, preserves, mincemeat or whatever like grandma used to make. They use grandma's or great grandma's tried and true recipe. These recipes can be deadly. For example, many of these recipes use the process called oven canning. In my area of the country a very dangerous product would be pickled raw freshwater fish.

I think that anyone who is going to have a food cottage operation should attend a one day seminar put on by a food safety professional from the extension service.

Hmmm. This might explain how that woman's been able to come by our house with fresh tamales every Thursday for the past ten years without getting busted. I'll have to see if I can find anything out about such laws here.

But I have to say, you've done it now, Robert. Everyone on the FLDG who gets anywhere near will be knocking on your door!

Mike, what do you pay for fresh tamales out there. There is one little place here that will make them for pickup but not for delivery. She gets $3 each though and while they are excellent, I don't often get them because of price. Call me a tightwad. I mmean there are four of us and we could easily eat a dozen at one sitting.

Mike, what do you pay for fresh tamales out there. There is one little place here that will make them for pickup but not for delivery. She gets $3 each though and while they are excellent, I don't often get them because of price. Call me a tightwad. I mmean there are four of us and we could easily eat a dozen at one sitting.

The Tamale Lady charges $15.00 for a dozen. She always has chicken and pork available and sometimes some veggie versions (hey, it's California!). These are pretty good-sized, so two of them makes a meal for me.

She generally shows up on her three-wheeled bike with a cooler that sits in the basket between the two back wheels. If the weather's bad, she has her son/brother/husband/nephew drive her on her rounds.