Looking for Texas Local Department of Health and Agriculture Contact Information in 2024? Scroll down this page and follow the links. And if you bring home some fruit or vegetables and want to can, freeze, make jam, salsa or pickles, see this page for simple, reliable, illustrated canning, freezing or preserving directions. There are plenty of other related resources, click on the resources dropdown above. If you are having a hard time finding canning lids, I've used these, and they're a great price & ship in 2 days.
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Most questions regarding food production, handling, sales and serving, including cottage food laws and regulations are handled by the state's local health department or department of agriculture, and sometimes by a city or county business registration office.
The following counties have websites, and some have Facebook pages, that provide information regarding their department and its services:
PUBLIC HEALTH REGION 1 - Lubbock Web
site Kelly Northcott, Deputy Regional Director Regional Headquarters: 6302 Iola Ave, Lubbock, Texas 79424, Mail Code 1899 Phone: (806) 744-3577 FAX: (806) 783-6435 Map to Region 1 office |
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PUBLIC HEALTH REGION 2/3 - Arlington Web
site Joel Massey, MD, MPH, Regional Medical Director Becky Earlie-Royer, PhD, MPH, CHES, Deputy Regional Director Regional Headquarters: 1301 South Bowen Road, Suite 200, Arlington, Texas 76013, Mail Code 1905 Phone: (817) 264-4500 FAX: (817) 264-4506 TDD: (817) 264-4505 Map to Region 2/3 office |
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PUBLIC HEALTH REGION 4/5 - Tyler Web
site Sharon Huff, MD, MS, Regional Medical Director David Leary, MSW, Deputy Regional Director Regional Headquarters: 2521 West Front Street, Tyler, Texas 75702, Mail Code 1901 Phone: (903) 595-3585 FAX: (903) 593-4187 Map to Region 4/5 North office |
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PUBLIC HEALTH REGION 6/5 - Houston Web
site
Carlos
Plasencia, MD, MSPH, Regional
Medical Director |
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PUBLIC HEALTH REGION 7 - Temple Web
site Sharon Melville, MD, MPH, Regional Medical Director Carol Davis, MSPH, CPH, Deputy Regional Director Regional Headquarters: 2408 South 37th Street, Temple, Texas 76504, Mail Code 1902 Phone: (254) 778-6744 FAX: (254) 778-4066 Map to Region 7 office |
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PUBLIC HEALTH REGION 8 - San Antonio Web
site Lillian Ringsdorf, MD, MPH, Regional Medical Director Gale Morrow, MPH, MCHES. Deputy Regional Director Regional Headquarters: 7430 Louis Pasteur Drive, San Antonio, Texas 78229, Mail Code 5716 Phone: (210) 949-2000 FAX: (210) 949-2015 Map to Region 8 office |
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PUBLIC HEALTH REGION 9/10 - El Paso Web
site Rachel Sonne, MD, MPH, Regional Medical Director Art Alvarado, RS, MPH., Deputy Regional Director Regional Headquarters: 401 East Franklin, Suite 210, El Paso, Texas 79901, Mail Code 1903 Phone: (915) 834-7675 FAX: (915) 834-7799 Map to Region 9/10 office |
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PUBLIC HEALTH REGION 11 - Harlingen Web
site Emilie Prot, DO, MPH, Regional Medical Director Sylvia Hobbs, Deputy Regional Director Regional Headquarters: 601 West Sesame Drive, Harlingen, Texas 78550, Mail Code 1907 Phone: (956) 423-0130 FAX: (956) 444-3298 Map to Region 11 office |
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) website
FDA Labeling and NutritionNutrition Facts Label, Label Claims, Menu and Vending Machine Labeling, Gluten-Free Labeling
FDA Ingredients and PackagingFood & Color Additives, GRAS, Food Allergens, Food Contact Substances, New Plant Varieties
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has a tool, the AskUSDA site providing information from across USDA all in one place. Just type key words or phrases into the search box. Your search will provide the top 10 results from across USDA. For the best search results, keep in mind that including "and" in the search box will exclude articles that don't include all searched words. Including "or" in the search box will include articles with any of the searched words.
If you have specific USDA questions that you cannot find answers to on the site, call (202) 720-2791 or email USDA at askusda@usda.gov.
If you are looking for the national US Department of Health, that's the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services and here is the mailing address and phone number:
The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
Hubert H. Humphrey Building
200 Independence Avenue, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20201
Toll Free Call Center: 1-877-696-6775
Note: Please be aware that mail sent to their Washington D.C. area offices takes an additional 3-4 days to process due to security precautions.
Water bath canner with a jar rack
Pressure canners for gas, electric and induction stoves: Presto 23Qt or T-fal 22Qt
Canning scoop (this one is PERFECT)
Ball Blue book (most recent version)
Jars: 8oz canning jars for jams
Farm markets and roadside stands
Road trips and camping resources
Local Honey, apiaries, beekeepers
Consumer fraud and scams information
Home canning supplies at the best prices on the internet!
Maple Syrup Farms, sugarworks, maple syrup festivals
Environmental information and resources
Farms For Your Event for birthday parties, weddings, receptions, business meetings, retreats, etc.
Festivals - local fruit and vegetable festivals
Get the
most recent version of
the Ball Blue Book
With this Presto 23 quart pressure canner and pressure cooker, you can "can" everything, fruits, vegetables, jams, jellies, salsa, applesauce, pickles, even meats, soups, stews. Model 01781
You can make jams, jellies, can fruit, applesauce, salsa and pickles with water bath canners, like this Granite Ware 12-Piece Canner Kit, Jar Rack, Blancher, Colander and 5 piece Canning Tool Set