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