A Texas food manufacturer license is issued by the Department of State Health Services (DSHS), runs for two years, and costs between $100 and $1,680 depending on your gross annual food sales. No facility can open until a DSHS inspector visits and confirms it meets food safety standards. Most manufacturers also need a separate FDA facility registration, a written food safety plan, and compliant labeling before product ships.
Who Needs This License
DSHS requires the license for any firm that processes, packages, or holds food for sale. The covered activities reach further than most new owners assume:1Texas Department of State Health Services. Food Manufacturers General Information
- Processing or packaging that changes food’s physical form or packages it for wholesale or retail self-service, including dietary supplements, ice, and water.
- Repackaging bulk products into smaller or larger containers for wholesale or customer self-service.
- Private labeling. If your company’s name and address appear on a product label but another firm produces the product, you still need this license.
- Retail self-service packaging, where a retail food operation packages food and sets it out for customers to grab.
- Bottled or vended water and bagged ice sold to the public.
The private labeling rule catches people off guard. If you contract with a co-packer to produce your salsa, granola, or hot sauce, the co-packer needs a manufacturer license and you need one for putting your brand on it. Both parties carry licensing obligations.
When You Don’t Need It
Home-based producers operating under the Texas Cottage Food Law can sell directly to consumers without any DSHS license, permit, or fee, and health departments have no authority to inspect cottage food kitchens. Annual gross income cannot exceed $150,000, and the law excludes meat and poultry, seafood, ice and frozen desserts, low-acid canned goods, products containing CBD or THC, and raw milk products.2Texas Department of State Health Services. Texas Cottage Food Production
Businesses that only sell food to other entities without processing or relabeling fall under a wholesaler or warehouse operator license instead. Wholesalers of beverages in sealed containers, including alcoholic beverages, are subject to DSHS inspection but exempt from the wholesaler license itself, unless they also carry concentrates, drink mixes, or other non-exempt food products.3Texas Department of State Health Services. Food Wholesalers/Warehouses General Information Retail stores selling only to end consumers, and companies that merely transport food without altering or repackaging it, sit outside the manufacturer license as well.
Fees and License Term
The license is valid for two years. Fees scale with gross annual food sales:4Texas Department of State Health Services. FY 2025 Fee Resource Manual
- $0 to $9,999 in sales: $100
- $10,000 to $24,999: $150
- $25,000 to $99,999: $250
- $100,000 to $199,999: $560
- $200,000 to $999,999: $900
- $1,000,000 to $9,999,999: $1,120
- $10,000,000 or more: $1,680
Amendment fees, if you need to change the license after issuance, run at half the license fee for your tier. A business in the $200,000 to $999,999 range would pay $450 per amendment. Renewal is due before the two-year anniversary date, and DSHS puts that responsibility on the license holder. Don’t expect a reminder.
What to Have Ready Before You Apply
Missing any of the following will stall the application.
Your business must be registered with the Texas Secretary of State if it operates as a corporation, LLC, or other formal entity.5Texas Secretary of State. Let’s Do Business You need a Federal Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the IRS, obtainable online immediately.6Internal Revenue Service. Employer Identification Number You also need a Texas Sales and Use Tax Permit from the Comptroller.7Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Texas Online Tax Registration Application
Facility-side, the application requires either a Public Water System identification number or certified laboratory results proving that private well water meets safety standards, plus documentation of how the facility disposes of wastewater.8Texas Department of State Health Services. Bottled and Vended Water
Have recent financial statements ready, or a revenue projection if you’re a startup. Fees are tied to gross annual food sales, and picking the wrong tier either overpays or triggers a correction that delays processing.
Filing the Application and Passing Inspection
The application is on the DSHS forms page for food manufacturers. Enter the business’s legal name exactly as it appears on the Secretary of State registration, the physical manufacturing address, and a designated responsible party. Select the license category and the fee tier that matches your gross annual food revenue. Describe the products you plan to manufacture, because certain categories, including acidified foods, low-acid canned goods, and juice products, trigger additional federal obligations. Sign and date the certification.
Submit through the DSHS Regulatory Services Online Licensing System or by mail to the department’s Austin office. Online is faster and gives you electronic payment confirmation. Paper submissions need a check or money order for the exact fee.9Texas Department of State Health Services. New Applications and Renewals – Online Licensing Help Center Once DSHS receives the application and payment, it schedules the pre-licensing inspection.
What the Inspector Checks
No license is issued until an inspector confirms the facility meets food safety standards. Texas uses the federal Current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) requirements under 21 CFR Part 117 as the baseline.10eCFR. Current Good Manufacturing Practice, Hazard Analysis, and Risk-Based Preventive Controls for Human Food The visit covers building and grounds (cleanable surfaces, pest exclusion, drainage), plumbing (safe water, backflow prevention, sewage handling), equipment (corrosion-resistant, nontoxic, easy to clean food-contact surfaces), sanitary facilities (handwashing, restrooms, waste disposal), lighting and ventilation adequate to detect and control contamination, and effective pest control.
The inspector also watches employee hygiene: clean outer garments, proper handwashing, no unsecured jewelry, no eating or tobacco in food-handling areas. After the visit, a report lists any deficiencies. Those have to be corrected before the license is approved. If the facility passes, the license moves to final issuance.
The Federal Registration You’ll Also Need
The state license is only half the picture. Section 415 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, as amended by the Food Safety Modernization Act, requires a separate FDA registration for any facility that manufactures, processes, packs, or holds food for consumption in the United States.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 21 USC 350d – Registration of Food Facilities
FDA registration is free, but by registering you agree to permit FDA inspections. Farms, restaurants, retail food establishments, nonprofit food operations serving consumers directly, and most fishing vessels are exempt, but the exemption doesn’t reach you if you meet the definition of a food manufacturer.
Registrations must be renewed every two years, between October 1 and December 31 of each even-numbered year. Miss December 31 and the registration expires; the facility is then operating illegally until it re-registers.12U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Food Facility Registration User Guide – Biennial Registration Renewal
Food Safety Plan
Under 21 CFR Part 117, most food manufacturers must maintain a written food safety plan. It has to include a written hazard analysis covering biological, chemical, and physical hazards for each food type; preventive controls with monitoring, corrective action, and verification procedures where the analysis identifies risks; a supply-chain program for supplier hazards you don’t address in-house; and a recall plan whenever any hazard requires a preventive control. A preventive controls qualified individual (PCQI), employee or outside consultant, must develop or oversee the plan.10eCFR. Current Good Manufacturing Practice, Hazard Analysis, and Risk-Based Preventive Controls for Human Food
Acidified and Low-Acid Canned Foods
Pickled vegetables, salsas with added acid, and any low-acid canned food carry an extra layer of FDA regulation. Before production, you must register the establishment with the FDA and file scheduled processes for each product and container size. Acidified foods use FDA Form 2541e; low-acid canned foods use Form 2541d, 2541f, or 2541g depending on processing method.13U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Acidified and Low-Acid Canned Foods Registration These filings exist because improper processing of these categories creates a botulism risk, and missing them can trigger enforcement action on its own.
Labeling
Every packaged food sold in the United States must carry a Nutrition Facts panel that meets current FDA standards, including realistic serving sizes, calories in larger bold type, added sugars listed separately in grams and as a percent Daily Value, vitamin D and potassium alongside calcium and iron, and dual-column labeling for packages larger than one serving but potentially eaten at once. Single-ingredient sugars like pure honey or maple syrup skip the grams of added sugars but still show the percent Daily Value.14U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Changes to the Nutrition Facts Label Reprinting packaging after a correction costs far more than getting the label right the first time.
Keeping the License Current
The DSHS license must be renewed every two years before its anniversary date, with a fee matching the initial license fee for your current sales tier. If gross annual sales have changed, select the updated tier and pay accordingly. Renewals go through the same Online Licensing System as new applications.
The federal FDA registration renews on a different clock: October 1 through December 31 of each even-numbered year. A lapsed FDA registration isn’t quietly fixed later; the facility legally cannot operate until it’s restored. Building a compliance calendar during your first year that tracks both cycles is what keeps a production line from getting shut down over a missed date.