Selling pesto in Texas

Q: What does Texas say a home-made label must carry?

Texas DSHS, Texas Cottage Food Production says: “The common or usual name of the product. If a food is made with a major food allergen, such as eggs, tree nuts, soy, peanuts, milk, wheat, and sesame that ingredient must be listed on the label.” (Texas DSHS, Texas Cottage Food Production, read September 25, 2026). Texas Health and Safety Code §437.0193 says: “The label must include: (1) the name and address of the cottage food production operation; and (2) the following disclosure: "THIS PRODUCT WAS PRODUCED IN A PRIVATE RESIDENCE THAT IS NOT SUBJECT TO GOVERNMENTAL LICENSING OR INSPECTION."” (Texas Health and Safety Code §437.0193, read September 25, 2026). Texas Health and Safety Code §437.0193 says: “Notwithstanding Subsection (b)(1), a cottage food production operation is not required to include on a food label the address of the operation if the operation registers with the department in the form and manner the department prescribes, and includes on the label a unique identification number provided by the department.” (Texas Health and Safety Code §437.0193, read September 25, 2026). Texas Health and Safety Code §437.0193 says: “A cottage food production operation that sells a time and temperature control for safety food must include: (1) on the food label the date the food was made; and (2) on the food label or on an invoice or receipt provided with the food when sold the following statement in at least 12-point font: "SAFE HANDLING INSTRUCTIONS: To prevent illness from bacteria, keep this food refrigerated or frozen until the food is prepared for consumption."” (Texas Health and Safety Code §437.0193, read September 25, 2026). ShelfStep's summary of the rules and their sources, read September 26, 2026; not legal advice.

Q: Where do I go from here?

How to sell pesto to stores. Every step, its reason and its typical cost Selling food made at home in Texas. All of Texas's lines, what you may make, register and outgrow How do I find and choose a co-packer?. 5 min read How do I work out my shelf life and best-by date?. 4 min read Do I need to register with the FDA to sell my food product?. 4 min read ShelfStep's summary of the rules and their sources, read September 26, 2026; not legal advice.

Sources last read Sep 26, 2026

What Texas's own pages say about making pesto at home, each line linked, and the path to a store when you want one to stock it.

Run the free rules check for it: no account, no AI.

General information, not advice. This is written for small food makers and cites its sources, but it is not legal, regulatory or food-safety advice, and it cannot account for your product, your state or your facility. Rules change and thresholds are adjusted yearly. Confirm anything you are about to act on with your state agency, a Process Authority, or the FDA.

Can I make pesto at home in Texas?

Texas's own pages name pesto, or foods like it, in both of Texas's lists: what a home kitchen may make and what it may not. ShelfStep found these lines by the words they use; whether they cover your product is for the Texas Department of State Health Services to say. Those lines, as the state writes them:

Texas's Cottage Food Production Operation rules: what may be made at homeTexas DSHS, Texas Cottage Food Production says:“Other than meat, meat products, poultry, or poultry, seafood, fish, shellfish, ice, ice products, low-acid canned goods, and products containing cannabidiol or tetrahyrdrocannibinol, a cottage food production operation may sell time and temperature control for safety food (TCS). A TCS is a food that requires time and temperature control for safety (TCS) to limit pathogen growth or toxin production. TCS foods must be stored and delivered at the air temperature to achieve an internal temperature (41ºF or below for cold items and 135ºF or above for hot items) necessary to prevent the growth of bacteria that may cause illness or harm.”Texas DSHS, Texas Cottage Food Production · Read Sep 25, 2026
Texas's Cottage Food Production Operation rules: what may not be made at homeTexas DSHS, Texas Cottage Food Production says:“A CFPO may wholesale cottage foods to a cottage food vendor, unless the foods are TCS. TCS foods are not eligible for wholesale.”Texas DSHS, Texas Cottage Food Production · Read Sep 25, 2026

What rules does pesto come under beyond Texas's?

Outside a home kitchen, ShelfStep's plan reads pesto as a refrigerated or frozen food. The plan's own line for it, a default and not a law:

ShelfStep’s plan default, not a lawFrozen or refrigerated (non-meat): cold chain, shelf-life / challenge study, "keep frozen/refrigerated" labeling.21 CFR 114.3

What the rules behind it say, in their own words, with the page and the day ShelfStep read each. ShelfStep does not decide which of them apply to your product.

Source to check: the rules behind ShelfStep's plan for pesto

Acidified foods kept under refrigeration21 CFR 114.3(b) says:“and foods that are stored, distributed, and retailed under refrigeration are excluded from the coverage of this part.”21 CFR 114.3(b) · Read Oct 8, 2026

Source to check: FDA food facility registration

FDA's definition of a food facility21 CFR 1.227 says:“Facility means any establishment, structure, or structures under one ownership at one general physical location, or, in the case of a mobile facility, traveling to multiple locations, that manufactures/processes, packs, or holds food for consumption in the United States. ... The private residence of an individual is not a facility.”21 CFR 1.227 · Read Oct 8, 2026

Where may food made at home be sold in Texas?

Texas's Cottage Food Production Operation rules: where it may be soldTexas Health and Safety Code §437.001 says:“(C) sells the foods produced under Paragraph (A) directly to consumers or to a cottage food vendor; and (D) delivers products to the consumer or cottage food vendor at the point of sale or another location designated by the consumer or cottage food vendor.”Texas Health and Safety Code §437.001 · Read Sep 25, 2026
Texas's Cottage Food Production Operation rules: a yearly sales ceilingTexas Health and Safety Code §437.001 says:“(B) has an annual gross income of $150,000 or less from the sale of food described by Paragraph (A), as the department annually adjusts for inflation using the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) published by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics or its successor in function;”Texas Health and Safety Code §437.001 · Read Sep 25, 2026
Texas's Cottage Food Production Operation rules: where it may be soldTexas Health and Safety Code §437.0194 says:“A cottage food production operation may sell a food other than a food described by Sections 437.002(2-b)(A)(i)-(vi) in this state through the Internet only if: (1) the consumer purchases the food through the Internet from the operation and the operator or operator's employee or household member personally delivers the food to the consumer; and”Texas Health and Safety Code §437.0194 · Read Sep 25, 2026
Texas's Cottage Food Production Operation rules: where it may be soldTexas Health and Safety Code §437.0194 says:“(a) Except as provided by Subsection (a-1), a cottage food production operation may not sell food at wholesale. (a-1) A cottage food production operation may sell to a cottage food vendor at wholesale food other than a food described by Sections 437.002(2-b)(A)(i)-(vi) or a time and temperature control for safety food.”Texas Health and Safety Code §437.0194 · Read Sep 25, 2026
Texas's Cottage Food Production Operation rules: where it may be soldTexas Health and Safety Code §437.01965 says:“A cottage food vendor may sell food produced by a cottage food production operation in accordance with Section 437.0194(a-1) directly to consumers at a farmers' market, a farm stand, a food service establishment, or any retail store.”Texas Health and Safety Code §437.01965 · Read Sep 25, 2026

What does Texas say a home-made label must carry?

Texas's Cottage Food Production Operation rules: the home-made labelTexas DSHS, Texas Cottage Food Production says:“The common or usual name of the product. If a food is made with a major food allergen, such as eggs, tree nuts, soy, peanuts, milk, wheat, and sesame that ingredient must be listed on the label.”Texas DSHS, Texas Cottage Food Production · Read Sep 25, 2026
Texas's Cottage Food Production Operation rules: the home-made labelTexas Health and Safety Code §437.0193 says:“The label must include: (1) the name and address of the cottage food production operation; and (2) the following disclosure: "THIS PRODUCT WAS PRODUCED IN A PRIVATE RESIDENCE THAT IS NOT SUBJECT TO GOVERNMENTAL LICENSING OR INSPECTION."”Texas Health and Safety Code §437.0193 · Read Sep 25, 2026
Texas's Cottage Food Production Operation rules: the home-made labelTexas Health and Safety Code §437.0193 says:“Notwithstanding Subsection (b)(1), a cottage food production operation is not required to include on a food label the address of the operation if the operation registers with the department in the form and manner the department prescribes, and includes on the label a unique identification number provided by the department.”Texas Health and Safety Code §437.0193 · Read Sep 25, 2026
Texas's Cottage Food Production Operation rules: the home-made labelTexas Health and Safety Code §437.0193 says:“A cottage food production operation that sells a time and temperature control for safety food must include: (1) on the food label the date the food was made; and (2) on the food label or on an invoice or receipt provided with the food when sold the following statement in at least 12-point font: "SAFE HANDLING INSTRUCTIONS: To prevent illness from bacteria, keep this food refrigerated or frozen until the food is prepared for consumption."”Texas Health and Safety Code §437.0193 · Read Sep 25, 2026

How do I get pesto into a store in Texas?

Texas's Cottage Food Production Operation rules: what applies beyond the home-kitchen rulesTexas DSHS, food manufacturers FAQ says:“An individual who manufactures and packages food for sale is required to be licensed as a food manufacturer. A requirement of being licensed as a food manufacturer is that no manufacturing can take place in the home kitchen.”Texas DSHS, food manufacturers FAQ · Read Sep 25, 2026

State registration or license in Texastypically $103 to $1,730 every two years. Gross annual sales under $10,000; $10,000 to $24,999.99; $25,000 to $99,999.99; $100,000 to $199,999.99; $200,000 to $999,999.99 Source: Texas Department of State Health Services; checked Sep 2026

From there, ShelfStep's standard plan for a refrigerated or frozen food has 20 steps. The first 6 help you find out where and how pesto can be made at all, so they come first:

1.
Write the recipe down with exact amounts
Cost, price, nutrition and the label are all worked out from this. Write it in the units you actually use; ShelfStep converts for the label. What matters is that someone else could make the same batch from what is written.
2.
Decide how it is kept: on a shelf, in the fridge or frozen
The planned storage helps the reviewer assess the process, shelf life and packaging.
In the plan: It decides which rules you follow.
3.
Work out how it stays cold from your kitchen to the shop
If your product needs refrigeration or freezing, plan how to keep it cold at every hand-off. Who keeps it cold at each hand-off, and how you would know if they did not, is what a buyer asks first.
4.
Find out where you are allowed to make it for sale
This finds out whether the state’s rules allow making this in a home kitchen or point to a commercial one — and that changes the cost and the timeline of everything after it. It is much cheaper to find out now than after buying packaging.
In the plan: Your state's home-kitchen rules, in its own words. Whether they cover your product is for your state's agency to say.
5.
Have the pH and water activity of a finished batch measured
These measurements give your reviewer information about the batch; they do not establish safety or storage conditions on their own.
In the plan: The two numbers the acidified-food rules name. Measured on the finished product, once it has settled.
6.
Get a Process Authority's letter on how it is made safe
Ask a qualified reviewer which process and storage conditions your product needs. This is where you ask someone qualified, a Process Authority, to put in writing how the product is made safe. Buyers, insurers and inspectors may ask for that document, and it cannot be obtained after the fact for product you have already sold.
In the plan: Needs the pH first. Their letter sets out the process they ask you to hold to, and the storage line for your label.

Every step, with its reason and what it typically costs, is on the pesto page:

1. Write the recipe down with exact amounts 2. Decide how it is kept: on a shelf, in the fridge or frozen 3. Work out how it stays cold from your kitchen to the shop 4. Find out where you are allowed to make it for sale 5. Have the pH and water activity of a finished batch measured 6. Get a Process Authority's letter on how it is made safe 7. Look into FDA registration 8. Choose the container and what seals it 9. Shortlist three co-packers or commercial kitchens 10. Work out what one batch, and one unit, costs to make 11. Set up lot codes and a recall plan 12. Make a first full-size batch 13. Find out how long it keeps 14. Get barcodes 15. Draft the label with everything it has to say 16. Set the wholesale and shelf price from the cost 17. Sell it at a market before you scale 18. Get product liability insurance 19. Make the one-page sheet a buyer reads 20. Name your first three stores

Where do I go from here?

How to sell pesto to storesEvery step, its reason and its typical cost Selling food made at home in TexasAll of Texas's lines, what you may make, register and outgrow

How do I find and choose a co-packer?5 min read How do I work out my shelf life and best-by date?4 min read Do I need to register with the FDA to sell my food product?4 min read

Check the rules for yours, then keep it

The rules check runs the same deterministic engine ShelfStep uses inside the app, on your answers, and quotes the sentences each rule rests on, with their links and the day ShelfStep read them. It does not decide which apply. It is free, needs no account and uses no AI. A ShelfStep workspace then keeps your plan, your records and the dates, free for one product.

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Something here out of date, or a state we should write up next? Email hello@shelfstep.com.