Bill Text: TX HB2600 | 2015-2016 | 84th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to the regulation of food production and sales operations by a home food processor; requiring an occupational permit; authorizing a fee and an administrative penalty.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-03-16 - Referred to Public Health [HB2600 Detail]
Download: Texas-2015-HB2600-Introduced.html
84R8301 KKR-D | ||
By: Rodriguez of Travis | H.B. No. 2600 |
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relating to the regulation of food production and sales operations | ||
by a home food processor; requiring an occupational permit; | ||
authorizing a fee and an administrative penalty. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Section 437.001, Health and Safety Code, is | ||
amended by adding Subdivision (5-a) to read as follows: | ||
(5-a) "Home food processor" means an individual, | ||
operating out of the individual's home, who produces at the | ||
individual's home: | ||
(A) any food that a cottage food production | ||
operation may produce under Subdivision (2-b)(A); | ||
(B) canned goods that are acidified or low-acid; | ||
(C) fermented products; | ||
(D) honey; | ||
(E) perishable baked goods; | ||
(F) tamales; and | ||
(G) any other food not included in this | ||
subdivision that is not a potentially hazardous food, as defined by | ||
Section 437.0196. | ||
SECTION 2. Section 437.002(a), Health and Safety Code, is | ||
amended to read as follows: | ||
(a) A county or public health district may enforce state law | ||
and rules adopted under state law concerning food service | ||
establishments, retail food stores, mobile food units, home food | ||
processors, and roadside food vendors. | ||
SECTION 3. Section 437.009, Health and Safety Code, is | ||
amended to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 437.009. INSPECTIONS. (a) Authorized agents or | ||
employees of the department, a county, or a public health district | ||
may enter the premises of a food service establishment, retail food | ||
store, mobile food unit, roadside food vendor, home food processor, | ||
or temporary food service establishment under the department's, | ||
county's, or district's jurisdiction during normal operating hours | ||
to conduct inspections to determine compliance with: | ||
(1) state law, including a requirement to hold and | ||
display written authorization under Section 437.021; | ||
(2) rules adopted under state law; and | ||
(3) orders adopted by the department, county, or | ||
district. | ||
(b) An inspection of a home food processor under Subsection | ||
(a) is limited to the areas in the individual's home that the | ||
individual designates for food production and food storage related | ||
to the home food processing. | ||
SECTION 4. Chapter 437, Health and Safety Code, is amended | ||
by adding Section 437.01911 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 437.01911. EXEMPTION FOR HOME FOOD PROCESSOR. (a) A | ||
home food processor is not a food service establishment for | ||
purposes of this chapter. | ||
(b) The exemption provided by Subsection (a) does not affect | ||
the application of Sections 431.045, 431.0495, and 431.247 | ||
authorizing the department or other local health authority to act | ||
to prevent an immediate and serious threat to human life or health. | ||
SECTION 5. Chapter 437, Health and Safety Code, is amended | ||
by adding Sections 437.022, 437.0221, 437.0222, and 437.0223 to | ||
read as follows: | ||
Sec. 437.022. HOME FOOD PROCESSOR: PERMIT REQUIRED; FEE; | ||
SALES. (a) A person may not operate as a home food processor unless | ||
the person holds a permit issued by the department. | ||
(b) The department may charge a fee to issue a permit under | ||
Subsection (a). The amount of the fee may not exceed the amount of | ||
the fee for obtaining a food manufacturer's license under | ||
Subchapter J, Chapter 431. | ||
(c) A home food processor may sell any food described in | ||
Section 437.001(5-a): | ||
(1) at any location in this state; | ||
(2) if both the processor and the consumer are located | ||
in this state: | ||
(A) through the Internet; or | ||
(B) by mail order; and | ||
(3) at wholesale. | ||
Sec. 437.0221. HOME FOOD PROCESSOR: PACKAGING AND LABELING | ||
REQUIREMENTS. (a) Food described by Section 437.001(5-a) that is | ||
sold by a home food processor must be packaged in a manner that | ||
prevents product contamination. | ||
(b) Food described by Section 437.001(5-a) that is sold by a | ||
home food processor must be affixed with a label that includes: | ||
(1) the name and address of the home food processor; | ||
(2) a list of the ingredients contained in the food | ||
item; and | ||
(3) the statement "processed in a home-processing | ||
facility." | ||
Sec. 437.0222. HOME FOOD PROCESSOR: PRODUCTION | ||
REQUIREMENTS. (a) A home food processor, in conducting a | ||
processing operation, shall comply with the following: | ||
(1) a refrigerator or freezer used for food storage | ||
for the operation: | ||
(A) may not be the same refrigerator or freezer | ||
as used for personal use; and | ||
(B) must have an accurate thermometer; | ||
(2) a potentially hazardous food allowed under Section | ||
437.001(5-a) that is kept after production must be: | ||
(A) refrigerated at a temperature at or below 41 | ||
degrees Fahrenheit; or | ||
(B) heated to a temperature at or above 135 | ||
degrees Fahrenheit; and | ||
(3) each ingredient and final product for the | ||
operation must be stored in an area that: | ||
(A) is separate from an area used for personal | ||
use unless the ingredient or final product is in an enclosed | ||
container; | ||
(B) is kept clean; and | ||
(C) protects food from unsanitary conditions and | ||
contamination. | ||
(b) A home food processor shall ensure the processor's | ||
operation meets the following requirements: | ||
(1) each wall, ceiling, and floor of the operation | ||
area must be in good repair, easily cleanable, and kept clean; | ||
(2) each utensil, item of equipment, and supply used | ||
in the operation must be kept clean; | ||
(3) each food contact surface must be easy to clean, | ||
smooth, and nonabsorbent and may not have cracks or open seams; | ||
(4) plumbing in the operation area must provide hot | ||
and cold potable water that is under pressure; | ||
(5) sewage disposal for the operation must be through | ||
an adequate sewer system or other adequate means; | ||
(6) toilet facilities: | ||
(A) may not open directly into the food | ||
production area; and | ||
(B) may open into a hallway that leads to the food | ||
production area only if the toilet facility is equipped with a | ||
self-closing door; | ||
(7) water used for food production that is not from a | ||
public water system must be annually sampled and tested for | ||
coliform and any required records of the water testing must be | ||
maintained; and | ||
(8) live animals, including pets, must be kept out of | ||
any operation and storage area used during food handling, | ||
production, or storage activities. | ||
(c) A home food processor or an individual who processes, | ||
prepares, packages, or handles food for a home food processor: | ||
(1) shall successfully complete a basic food safety | ||
education or training program for food handlers accredited under | ||
Subchapter D, Chapter 438; and | ||
(2) may not process, prepare, package, or handle home | ||
food products unless the home food processor or the individual: | ||
(A) is free from contagious or communicable | ||
diseases, sores, or infected wounds; and | ||
(B) wears a hair restraint, a beard restraint, if | ||
applicable, and clothing that covers body hair that are designed | ||
and worn to effectively keep hair from contacting exposed food. | ||
(d) A home food processor producing a fermented product or a | ||
canned good that is acidified or low-acid shall: | ||
(1) before making the product or good available for | ||
the first sale, submit to the department the recipe used to produce | ||
the product or good; | ||
(2) before making the product or good available for | ||
the first sale, submit to a commercial laboratory approved for | ||
testing by the department a sample of the product or good produced | ||
according to the submitted recipe; | ||
(3) keep a record of the testing results of a product | ||
or good submitted under Subdivision (2); | ||
(4) keep a record of the pH balance of each batch of | ||
the product or good that is produced; and | ||
(5) have a product code plan that identifies: | ||
(A) the product or good; | ||
(B) the date and year the product or good was | ||
packaged; and | ||
(C) the batch number. | ||
(e) A recipe submitted to the department under Subsection | ||
(d) is a trade secret for purposes of Section 552.110, Government | ||
Code, and is exempt from disclosure under Chapter 552, Government | ||
Code. | ||
Sec. 437.0223. HOME FOOD PROCESSOR: RECORDS. (a) A home | ||
food processor shall maintain records that include each food sold | ||
by the home food processor and the location where the food was sold. | ||
This subsection does not require the processor to include in the | ||
records the name of each person who purchased the food. | ||
(b) A home food processor who produces a potentially | ||
hazardous good must maintain a record of the temperatures and times | ||
at which the good was cooked and stored. | ||
SECTION 6. (a) Not later than December 1, 2015, the | ||
executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission | ||
shall adopt rules to implement Sections 437.022 through 437.0223, | ||
Health and Safety Code, as added by this Act. | ||
(b) The rules adopted under Subsection (a) may not include | ||
requirements or restrictions other than those specified in Sections | ||
437.022 through 437.0223, Health and Safety Code, as added by this | ||
Act. | ||
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives | ||
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as | ||
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this | ||
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this | ||
Act takes effect September 1, 2015. |