September first the Texas Cottage Food Law will change, and people don’t agree if it’s for the better. The law was enacted in 2011 to allow baked goods to be sold out of the home, and now the law is not quite as stringent….
September first the Texas Cottage Food Law will change, and people don’t agree if it’s for the better.
The law was enacted in 2011 to allow baked goods to be sold out of the home, and now the law is not quite as stringent.
Tessa Burrough has been baking for quite a while, and her goods are so good, people are willing to pay good money for them. She tried selling out of her house, but it soon became apparent she would have to open a business at Troup and the Loop in Tyler, about two months ago, to make it all work.
One of the big changes is being able to sell outside the house like at public events or the farmer’s market.
“It would have just help me have a larger market before we opened the store, just to have more people knowing who we are and knowing our product,” Tessa said.
Ginger Wood at the North East Texas Public Health District says there are a few catches like getting a $20 food handler’s license and making some kind of complete label of contents.
“It has to have the name of the business, where it came from, and their address so if you had problems with the product you could contact the person who made that product,” Ginger stated.
But wait, there’s more.
“They need to be able to figure out if that product has a certain type of allergen or ingredient that will cause them problems,” Ginger added.
The Health District are concerned that the kitchens and handling of finished product is not regulated, like at a restaurant.
“There are no safety precautions or principles behind these products anymore so that’s a concern. Eater beware, definitely,” Ginger concluded.
Tessa’s Boutique Bakery got a perfect score on their health inspection, and Tessa still has faith in mom’s baking.
“I think it would be good for a stay-at-home-mother because they’ve got to be home with their kids, and being home with your kid is kind of the number one important thing. Being able to make money at the same time is two thumbs up,” Tessa said.
The Cottage Food Law will govern a home-based business as long as it makes less than $50,000 a year. If you would like to read House Bill 970 you can find a link to it here:
http://www.legis.state.tx.us/tlodocs/83R/billtext/html/HB00970I.htm
Copyright KLTV 2013. All Rights Reserved.
Read more http://www.kltv.com/story/23269908/bake-it-at-home-sell-it-somewhere-else
