New Jersey’s “underground” and would-be home bakers are celebrating an expected public health decision that will no longer make it illegal to simply sell cupcakes and brownies made in their own ovens.
The state Department of Health is preparing to drop its blanket prohibition on home baking as a cottage industry and allow bakers to apply for permits to make (and subsequently sell) a variety of foods at home.
New Jersey is the only state in the nation that bans the sale of homemade foods for profit out of concerns for health and sanitation. But home bakers say a rule change reviewed by the Public Health Council last week means they could be just a month or two from being able to apply for operator permits and get baking.
“This affects hundreds and even thousands of people across New Jersey who would like to be able to join people in 49 other states to sell baked goods from their home,” said Rob Peccola, an attorney with the Institute for Justice, which had filed a suit seeking to overturn the ban on behalf of the New Jersey Home Bakers Association.
More than 80% of home bakers in the U.S. who responded to an Institute for Justice survey are women and had a median income of $36,000. For the majority, baking is a hobby or a chance to make some extra money. Half work full- or part-time jobs, while nearly a quarter are retired and 15% identified as homemakers.
The proposed cottage food operator regulations would allow bakers to make at home and sell directly to consumers: breads, cakes, cupcakes, cookies, pastries, candy, dried fruit, dried pasta, jams and jellies, fruit pies, fudge, granola, popcorn and caramel corn, roasted coffee, dried tea, pizzelles and more.
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Current New Jersey law requires bakers be licensed, which requires access to a commercial-grade kitchen. At tens of thousands of dollars a year, that is too high a barrier for small-scale bakers, opponents said.
Martha Rabello used to rent out a commercial kitchen to bake goods she sold under the name Cherryspoon, but once she had to factor in the cost of child care, “it didn’t make much financial sense,” she said. She’s eager to get back to business.
New Jersey’s existing ban on home baking exempts the sale of these shelf-stable foods when it comes to bake sales or other charitable purposes, which the Institute for Justice and bakers argued doesn’t add up.
“Baking is safe. You are more likely to be struck by lightening than you are to get sick from a home-baked good,” Peccola said. “It’s about as safe a food activity as you can have.”
In its proposed regulations, first published last spring, the Department of Health said it had been convinced by scientific evidence that “shelf-stable food prepared in home kitchens is safe for consumers.”
Mandy Coriston, of Newton in Sussex County, bakes primarily from family recipes from her grandmother or great-grandmother — but with a “modern twist,” she said. Applesauce cake. Soda Bread. Rustic cookies and fudge.
While she’s been self-employed for more than a decade, as a pet-sitter and more recently a freelance writer, for years, she said, people who’ve tasted her food have told her, “Mandy, you should sell this.”
“I’m excited to be able to do that,” she said. “It really opens up a lot of flexibility for me.”
Under the proposed regulations, bakers would be required to apply for a $100 cottage food operator permit they’ll have to renew every two years and to show proof they’ve completed food protection manager training. They must label their products with a list of ingredients and a notice that the food was prepared in a home kitchen that has not been inspected by the Department of Health.
The training is readily available online and at many community colleges, Coriston said.
“What we’ve been promoting for years is that food safety is of vital importance, and we need people to know that we’re following that,” she said. “That says, hey, I’m serious.”
Home bakers also would be limited to $50,000 in gross sales each year and can’t mail or ship their goods. About half of U.S. states register or permit home bakers, according to the Institute for Justice, which found most do not cap sales.
Coriston said she considers the cap reasonable, and that someone with that level of income is likely ready for a commercial kitchen or another set of hands.
“I would have to be baking 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to pump out that volume,” she said.
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Samantha Marcus may be reached at smarcus@njadvancemedia.com.
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