Texas says 'Pickles' Only Come From Cucumbers

[Chris]

Anita and Jim McHaney are retirees who moved from Houston to the Texas countryside in 2013. Their plan was to live well and grow food on a 10-acre homestead, earning extra money selling produce at the local farmers market. They grew okra, carrots, kale, swiss chard, and beets. Lots and lots of beets.

"That soil out there is very sandy, and those beets just grew like mad," says Anita. "Now the obvious thing to do when you have more beets than you can sell, is to make pickled beets and can them."

And this is where the McHaney's ran into trouble.

Like most states, Texas has a so-called cottage food law that exempts certain items sold at farmers markets from the state's commercial food manufacturing regulations—foods like bread, produce, nuts, jams, popcorn, and, of course, pickles.

But what constitutes a "pickle," and who gets to decide? The McHaneys discovered that the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) taks the narrow view.

According to the DSHS, "A pickle is a cucumber preserved in vinegar, brine, or similar solution, only pickled cucumbers are allowed under the cottage food law. All other pickled vegetables are prohibited"

"The legislature didn't say that, the health department did," Anita explains.

So in order to sell their pickled beets at the farmers market, the McHaneys needed a commercial food manufacturers license, to build a commercial kitchen, submit their recipes to a government contractor at Texas A&M University, and register for a $700 food manufacturing class. However, the class is only offered once a year.

...

Just another needless law.

[Lummy]

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, how many peppers did Peter Piper pick?

Peter Piper's advice: just call them pickled peppers, and send me the money you're about to blow.

[Captain Obvious]

Pickles come from jars.

Texas should start selling champagne.

[Helena]

According to the DSHS, "A pickle is a cucumber preserved in vinegar, brine, or similar solution, only pickled cucumbers are allowed under the cottage food law. All other pickled vegetables are prohibited"

[Lummy]

According to the DSHS, "A pickle is a cucumber preserved in vinegar, brine, or similar solution, only pickled cucumbers are allowed under the cottage food law. All other pickled vegetables are prohibited"

Unless I misunderstand, anything but a cucumber has to be called a picked whatever. You have your pickles. But then you have your pickled peppers, which are not pickles but pickled peppers. It is illegal to call pickled peppers pickles. Peter Piper would be within the law.

Thus "All other pickled vegetables are prohibited" should be "All other pickled vegetables are prohibited from being called pickles. They must be called pickled (vegetable name goes here).

MI rite?


If I'm correct, they need to rewrite that.

[Chris]

Unless I misunderstand, anything but a cucumber has to be called a picked whatever. You have your pickles. But then you have your pickled peppers, which are not pickles but pickled peppers. Thus "All other pickled vegetables are prohibited" should be "All other pickled vegetables are prohibited from being called pickles. They must be called pickled (vegetable name goes here).

MI rite?


If I'm correct, they need to rewrite that.

Yes. the DSHS says only pickled cucumbers can be called pickles.

[Lummy]

If you called pickled peppers pickles, people would be confused as to what they're buying. The law would simply serve to clear up the confusion if the law was clear.

[Lummy]

Confused? You won't be after this episode of "SOAP".