S.B. No. 81
AN ACT
relating to food safety.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subsection (a), Section 431.2211, Health and
Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
(a) A person is not required to hold a license under this
subchapter if the person is:
(1) a person, firm, or corporation that only harvests,
packages, or washes[, or ships] raw fruits or vegetables for
shipment at the location of harvest;
(2) an individual who only sells prepackaged
nonperishable foods, including dietary supplements, from a private
home as a direct seller;
(3) a person who holds a license under Chapter 432 and
who only engages in conduct within the scope of that license; or
(4) a restaurant that provides food for immediate
human consumption to a political subdivision or to a licensed
nonprofit organization if the restaurant would not otherwise be
required to hold a license under this subchapter.
SECTION 2. Subsection (b), Section 431.226, Health and
Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
(b) The board by rule shall establish minimum standards for
granting and maintaining a license. In adopting rules under this
section, the board shall:
(1) ensure that the minimum standards prioritize safe
handling of fruits and vegetables based on known safety risks,
including any history of outbreaks of food-borne communicable
diseases; and
(2) consider acceptable produce safety standards
developed by a federal agency, state agency, or university.
SECTION 3. Subchapter J, Chapter 431, Health and Safety
Code, is amended by adding Section 431.227 to read as follows:
Sec. 431.227. FOOD SAFETY BEST PRACTICE EDUCATION PROGRAM.
(a) The department shall approve food safety best practice
education programs for places of business licensed under this
chapter.
(b) A place of business that completes a food safety best
practice education program approved by the department shall receive
a certificate valid for five years from the date of completion of
the program.
(c) When determining which places of business to inspect
under Section 431.042, the appropriate inspecting authority shall
consider whether the place of business holds a valid certificate
from a food safety best practice education program under this
section.
(d) The executive commissioner of the Health and Human
Services Commission shall adopt rules to implement this section.
SECTION 4. Section 431.244, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Subsection (f) to read as follows:
(f) For any federal regulation adopted as a state rule under
this chapter, including a regulation considered to be a rule for
purposes of this chapter under Subsection (a), (b), or (c), the
Department of State Health Services shall provide on its Internet
website:
(1) a link to the text of the federal regulation;
(2) a clear explanation of the substance of and
purpose for the regulation; and
(3) information on providing comments in response to
any proposed or pending federal regulation, including an address to
which and the manner in which comments may be submitted.
SECTION 5. Section 437.001, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by amending Subdivisions (1) and (3) and adding
Subdivisions (2-a), (2-b), (3-a), and (5) to read as follows:
(1) "Board" means the executive commissioner [Texas
Board of Health].
(2-a) "Baked good" includes cookies, cakes, breads,
Danish, donuts, pastries, pies, and other items that are prepared
by baking the item in an oven. A baked good does not include a
potentially hazardous food item as defined by department rule.
(2-b) "Cottage food production operation" means an
individual, operating out of the individual's home, who:
(A) produces a baked good, a canned jam or jelly,
or a dried herb or herb mix for sale at the person's home;
(B) has an annual gross income of $50,000 or less
from the sale of food described by Paragraph (A); and
(C) sells the foods produced under Paragraph (A)
only directly to consumers.
(3) "Department" means the [Texas] Department of State
Health Services.
(3-a) "Executive commissioner" means the executive
commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission.
(5) "Home" means a primary residence that contains a
kitchen and appliances designed for common residential usage.
SECTION 6. Chapter 437, Health and Safety Code, is amended
by adding Sections 437.0191, 437.0192, 437.0193, and 437.0194 to
read as follows:
Sec. 437.0191. EXEMPTION FOR COTTAGE FOOD PRODUCTION
OPERATIONS. A cottage food production operation is not a food
service establishment for purposes of this chapter.
Sec. 437.0192. REGULATION OF COTTAGE FOOD PRODUCTION
OPERATIONS BY LOCAL HEALTH DEPARTMENT PROHIBITED; COMPLAINTS.
(a) A local health department may not regulate the production of
food at a cottage food production operation.
(b) Each local health department and the department shall
maintain a record of a complaint made by a person against a cottage
food production operation.
Sec. 437.0193. LABELING REQUIREMENTS FOR COTTAGE FOOD
PRODUCTION OPERATIONS. The executive commissioner shall adopt
rules requiring a cottage food production operation to label all of
the foods described in Section 437.001(2-b)(A) that the operation
sells to consumers. The label must include the name and address of
the cottage food production operation and a statement that the food
is not inspected by the department or a local health department.
Sec. 437.0194. SALES BY COTTAGE FOOD PRODUCTION OPERATIONS
THROUGH THE INTERNET PROHIBITED. A cottage food production
operation may not sell any of the foods described in Section
437.001(2-b)(A) through the Internet.
SECTION 7. Chapter 437, Health and Safety Code, is amended
by adding Sections 437.0201 and 437.0202 to read as follows:
Sec. 437.0201. REGULATION OF FOOD AT FARMERS' MARKETS UNDER
TEMPORARY FOOD ESTABLISHMENT PERMITS. (a) In this section,
"farmers' market" means a designated location used primarily for
the distribution and sale directly to consumers of food products by
farmers or other producers.
(b) The department or a local health department may issue a
temporary food establishment permit to a person who sells food at a
farmers' market without limiting the number of days for which the
permit is effective to the number of days during which the farmers'
market takes place.
(c) A permit issued under Subsection (b) may be valid for up
to one year and may be renewed on expiration.
(d) This section does not apply to a farmers' market in a
county:
(1) that has a population of less than 50,000; and
(2) over which no local health department has
jurisdiction.
Sec. 437.0202. TEMPERATURE REQUIREMENTS FOR FOOD AT
FARMERS' MARKETS. (a) In this section, "farmers' market" has the
meaning assigned by Section 437.0201.
(b) The executive commissioner by rule may adopt
temperature requirements for food sold at, prepared on-site at, or
transported to or from a farmers' market under Section 437.020 or
437.0201. Food prepared on-site at a farmers' market may be sold or
distributed at the farmers' market only if the food is prepared in
compliance with the temperature requirements adopted under this
section.
(c) Except as provided by Subsection (d), the executive
commissioner or a state or local enforcement agency may not mandate
a specific method for complying with the temperature control
requirements adopted under Subsection (b).
(d) The municipality in which a municipally owned farmers'
market is located may adopt rules specifying the method or methods
that must be used to comply with the temperature control
requirements adopted under Subsection (b).
(e) This section does not apply to a farmers' market in a
county:
(1) that has a population of less than 50,000; and
(2) over which no local health department has
jurisdiction.
SECTION 8. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of
this section, this Act takes effect September 1, 2011.
(b) Subsection (a), Section 431.2211, Health and Safety
Code, as amended by this Act, takes effect September 1, 2012.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 81 passed the Senate on
March 17, 2011, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0; and that
the Senate concurred in House amendments on May 28, 2011, by the
following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 81 passed the House, with
amendments, on May 25, 2011, by the following vote: Yeas 131,
Nays 17, one present not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
______________________________
Date
______________________________
Governor