Food (err, cupcake) for thought?
I’ve been doing some research and have been talking to many people about the world of cupcakes lately and the one thing that has come up a few times is the fact that baking/cooking businesses based out of your personal kitchen are illegal. Because I bake for fun, it’s not something that I had ever given much thought to; but I do think it’s important information to share! And now you know…
Because CupcakeCampTO is a networking event centred around our passion for cupcakes, I want to make sure that our participants are informed!
7 Comments
hungryteeth on January 8th, 2009
If things got serious you could always take a food safety class, or get temporary certification…
http://www.toronto.ca/health/he/commercial.htm
ilovecpstyle on January 8th, 2009
Hello!
I am going to try to juggle some things around so I can attend this MARVELOUS event!
Cheers!
Miranda
AmandaM on January 8th, 2009
Yeah…when I learned this fact a couple years ago, it was the single most discouraging baking fact I had discovered to date…at that time, there were a couple of community kitchens willing to take on part-time bakers and similar endeavours…at a rather steep fee…not sure how much this has changed…
evangelica on January 12th, 2009
Well, this raises the question… Is a public event like a Cupcake Camp in violation without every exhibitor meeting those standards? Especially if a member of the public can purchase food at the event, or if there’s an admission fee. That becomes a commercial setting. Even without any monetary exchange, if a clueless or malicious amateur either accidentally or deliberately serves something messed up and people get sick, what means do you have to trace the source of the illness? I hope the organizers have checked this out thoroughly to stay clear of trouble.
hungryteeth on January 12th, 2009
I think as long as there’s no money being exchanged per cake and the set up is not aiming for widespread distribution it’s pretty safe. I have bake sales at Ryerson University with no problem and that may be more of a public setting than this. Not even Aramark or Tim Horton’s care that we’re sort of cutting their baked goods grass, so to speak…
miVi on January 12th, 2009
Hey guys,
We really appreciate your feedback/comments on all this!
Cupcake-ist on January 8th, 2009
This is a really good point to make. Commercial businesses are subject to health department inspections and other serious regulations. It’s not uncommon for hobbyists to venture into the realm of “paid gigs” for friends and family, but you do need to be careful. The last thing a hobbyist wants to do is have the health inspector show up at their front door and end up in hot water.