ACCORDING TO THE FLYER SENT TO MY HOME, UPON REQUEST TO THE DEPT OF AGRICULTURE.

THE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE

Domestic Kitchen
Tennessee Food Safety Certification Course

March 10th, 2009

James E. WArd Agricultural Center
West Building, Wilson County Fair Grounds
945 East Baddour Pkwy
Lebanon, TN 37087

Meets the requirement for:
Rules of Tennessee Department of Agriculture Regulatory Services Division
Chapter 0080-4-11
Regulations for Establishments Utilizing Domestic Kitchen Facilities for Bakery and Other Non-Potentially Hazardous Foods Intended for Sale

P. Michael DAvidson
and
William C. Morris (teacher)
Department of Food Science and Technology

on the back of the flyer, there are additional details:

Course Schedule:
Date= March 10th, 2009
Time= 8:30 am to 3:30 pm (cst)

REGISTRATION AND GENERAL INFO:
the $100 registration fee includes instruciton materials, lunch (choose between roast beef, baked ham, breast of turkey, or vegetarian), and certificate earned.

ENROLLMENT:
pre-registration with payment is mandatory. registration fee is non-refundable.

WITH A CREDIT CARD, YOU MAY REGISTER ONLINE AT:
WWW.WCMORRIS.COM

FOR FURTHER INFO, CONTACT NANCY AUSTIN AT 865-974-7717

DRIVING DIRECTIONS AND MAP POSTED AT:
HTTP://WWW.WILSONCOUNTYFAIR.NET/DIRECTIONS.HTM

I have registered and plan to attend with another baker friend of mine from Memphis.
Mixinvixen, are you going to be there? Anyone else from Tennessee planning to attend?

Cindy

i will be there; just went online and paid $100 for my "turkey breast" lunch!

i'm really looking forward to doing this and getting the ball rolling to be legal, once and for all! i just left the cake festival a short while ago, and talked to a couple of other cc'ers who wasn't aware of the class and will hopefully attend

i'd love to meet fellow cc'ers!

Great, hope we can meet. Are you in Nashville?

Do you know how often the certificate has to be renewed? I'm wanting to start in my home but probably not until the end of the year or early next year. I would hate to take the course, spend the money and it expire in 1 year!

i'm in franklin.

i can't say 100% sure about the length of time this certificate is good, but i would imagine it would be way more than only one year, if it expires at all. apparently it's really just about hygiene, putting food near chemicals, that kind of stuff...just basic knowledge, so as not to harm the innocent, hopefully!

In the county my business is located in here in AL we are required to have a ServSafe certificate beginning in 2010 for licensing. I just completed the class and exam that our local HD offered. I wanted to get mine out of the way. They must be renewed every 5 years. I enjoyed the class actually and learned alot. You can also take the test on line. Pam from Bama

I'd be willing to take that course but it doesn't make a difference in my county unfortunately. If only it was that easy y'know. I'd be glad to jump through some hoops, flaming hoops--bring it on--just short of a commercial setup with big time overhead.

I mean domestic kitchens are allowed in my county but you can't do decorated cake from a domestic kitchen because that's considered and rightly so, catering.

But I am continuing to cautiously pursue the bake from the church thing...

Have fun at the class!!!

Thanks. I may email him b/c no babysitter on short notice. I bet it was Dr. Cunniham, she taught almost all the classes I took when majoring in nutrition & I believe is head of the dept.

(Sorry for the hijack.)

got back a short time ago, and it's like a rerun from last year when several members on here were furious that they had been misled.

i specifically told the dept of ag on the initial call for details on what i needed to do as a cake designer making cakes on a per order basis out of my kitchen. they told me i had to have this course. for two months now, i've been so excited to take this official step. i have spent quite a bit of money this last month preparing for my official debut, and was getting ready to spend a ton more on insurance and website...thank goodness for that inner voice that kept whispering for me to wait!!

i paid my $100, got up at zero dark thirty and left my family, drove an hour to lebanon, and sat in a hard metal chair all day...within the first 10 minutes i discover that i'm classified as a caterer, and this class does not apply to me. while this class WAS informative, i feel i was purposely misled...they got their money, i wasted an entire day and lots of much needed money, and i'm no closer than i was before. they said that every class like this, they have 3 or more cake people who have been misinformed....today there were probably 15-20 of us!!! you do the math...no wonder the information had not been righted...they make to much money off us!!!!

So, cake decorators in TN have to have a license for catering? So, what class do we have to take?

I was there also, and I agree. They should be more specific up front. There was some good info, but I still have to go thru the Health Dept. Plus, I drove 3 hours one way and paid for a hotel room (split cost with another decorator) to boot.

GRRRRRRRRR!!!!!

I tried to tell a Cake Buddy who contacted me that cake deco people are considered caterers. That the domestic kitchen moniker is for Farmer's Market type sales.

Cake Decorators in Shelby County Tennessee need to have a full blown commercial establishment--with commercially zoned property, a business license and a fein and tax numbers and insurance and regular health department inspections.

The rest of the state can do the domestic kitchen licensing for Farmer's Market type sales--not decorated cake sales.

Dandelion, there is no class.

Wow, that is upsetting. I took the class in Aug and was not told that. I recently sent in my information to the Dept of Ag and have been patiently waiting on someone to contact me about an inspection, but it has been almost two weeks since I mailed the requested info to them.
I let them know when I called for the paper work to be sent to me what I was doing, and still was not told.
Are there no licensed home decorators in TN?

So am I understanding correctly? In order to sell decorated cakes in TN you cannot do it out of your home? You have to have a commercially zoned establishment? So, you have to apply for a catering license?

Thanks so much for your input K8Memphis...

I know of someone who use to have a commercial property, but built a place at her home after having a baby. Would this count as legit or is it one of those "look the other way" situations?

Can you tell me where I need to go to get information in my county. i've really wanted to get started on this, but now am soooo discouraged.

And what is it that makes a cake decorator a caterer?

apparently, when you take orders and fulfill them, then you are doing a service, and that falls under the heading of "caterer"...now if you make cakes in advance, PACKAGE THEM, and then take them to the farmers mkt to sell, you are compliant with the domestic kitchen rules, because you are making and then selling...no one actually ordered that product from you. HOWEVER, as i said, you have to package at home if doing the farmers mkt...you can not cut samples AT the market STRAIGHT FROM THE SHEET CAKE, for potential clients, or even sell by the slice, cutting as you go, because then you are selling "by order".

so in a nutshell, if you plan on baking and packaging your baked good (non potentially hazardous only) at home, then taking them to the farmers mkt to sell...take the class and move forward.

if you are a cake designer wanting to take orders and prepare said order in your domestic kitchen, then you must comply to a completely different set of rules, and you will be governed by the dept of health, not the dept of agriculture. from what i understand, the some of the rules are as such:

commercial dishwater, which must be able to get to 165*, for sanitation purposes

3 sinks...one for dirty dishes, one for air drying and sanitizing, and a third strictly for hand washing.

you must have entrances to your kitchen blocked off...by door or privacy screen.

you must have a particular set up with your septic system, where the byproduct from those dishes will go into that tank only.

you must also have a grease trap.

these are all i know so far....but at least there's hope!!

OMG Now I'm ready to vomit. I just keep seeing $$$. There may be hope, after spending waaaaayyyy more than I had planned. Man, and my dh & I are almost out of debt.