I live in Florida and therefore can't bake from home. I've looked around online and can't find an answer...is it illegal to have customers only reimburse for the cost of supplies as long as my labor is free?? Any thoughts and opinions would be great!

This has been addressed many times.

It is illegal to receive any form of payment even if just enough to cover expenses.

You should call your local Health Department or Department of Agriculture to get the answer to your question.

Illegal is illegal. It is the same thing in my state. I cannot accept anything from anybody for making a cake. I would love to have a business....but it can never be in my home. And I am not in a place to set up a shop or rent space in a kitchen right now. Maybe someday.

As hard as it is to accept...I must follow the law. And certainly I don't like the consequences if I am discovered selling cakes illegally.

I wish that everyone would just follow the rules...

I am from NY and don't know the rules about home baking but my guess is that it is illegal. My question, is how do the Amish get away with it with no fines. Not only do they sell roadside here but right from their porches. I have constant even heat in my Electric oven and RUNNING water in my kitchen. What's up with that.

One of those things that's really dependent on your local HD. You said customers, which is a strange word to use... usually if someone is baking and being reimbursed for the ingredients it's just a friend or family member. Here, it's not legal to sell baked goods from a home. Very technically, you also can't be reimbursed for the ingredients. However, HD isn't searching out someone making a cake for grandma that grandma gave you ingredients or reimbursed ingredient cost for. They're after you if you start doing this on an ongoing basis, for friends of friends and so forth. Some people get very worked up on this topic... I don't sell my cakes, I don't do cakes other than for family and friends and I only let them reimburse me for EXACT ingredient costs (when it's not just a gift from me, which isn't often). I'd call your HD. In most cases, they tell you the full extent of the law, but if you ask if you can make your mom a cake and have her cover the ingredients, the answer is almost always, "Well, technically no, but we'd have no way of knowing that and that's between you and your mom."

@ tiggerjo Amish have running water and ovens too. They just use gas or generators. How they go about selling w/o a license.... thats another story.

It goes back to the amount...making a cake for a friend or family member every now and then - not a problem. Doing it as a business with many customers - there is the problem.

Babysitting for a friend or neighbor - not a problem. Running an unlicensed day care center out of your home - there is a problem.

The rules are there for the protection of both the provider and the providee. I don't like it. I would LOVE to say YES to the all of the requests I have gotten this past year (I stopped counting at about 30) to make cakes/cupcakes for people. But I can't since I have to respect the law.

What if I had unknowingly used one of those eggs that was eventually recalled? And someone got sick? I am not licensed, I am not insured. I could lose everything - depending on the actions that are taken. Then, I feel awful that I made someone sick PLUS my life is in financial shambles.

The babysitting example is a good illustration of how the liability issue is not limited to food. If you babysit for a friend as a favor and someone is injured, you should be covered under either your homeowners insurance policy or the friend's HOI policy, depending on where you were babysitting.

However, if you accept money in exchange for your babysitting services, you are NOT covered under homeowners insurance unless you have a rider that covers business activity. Most HOI policies specifically exclude claims relating to business activity.

Again, if you are babysitting commercially for someone you know well and you're not worried about being sued if something goes wrong, you are probably OK, but advertising your services and babysitting for strangers greatly increases your exposure to risk.

Here's the thing: Do we want the gov't stepping into our food supply....because if they had their way...they'd probably just treat every food particle with radiation.

There is an extreme to both sides. There are those who drop food on the floor, lick the beaters, then ice the cake. Then there are those who use high-quality local ingredients, sell farm-fresh foods, and even under the best of circumstances (because we live in an imperfect world) cannot 100% guarantee safety.

I don't want the gov't coming in, and controlling my food supply....irradiating all of it, or even dictating what **I** can buy under my own free will.

Once that happens, there will be no **scratch** baking--there will be no advantage to buying from *local* suppliers, there will be no foods that are **unprocessed**.

These laws give in to fear. Just like the recent egg recall---we can all count on the gov't stepping in...and pasteurizing to their heart's content. Even if it means pasteurizing with radiation or any method they choose.

There will always be risks with any food...from anywhere. How much regulation will we put up with...before the regulation itself is causing us to be unhealthy?

Thanks everyone!! I figured as much. I'm still pretty new at this and really just want to practice cakes without breaking the law. But I also don't want to dig into my own pockets as much if I didn't have to. I was hoping if a potential customer (for lack of a better word-I wouldn't ask fam and friends for anything) bought the ingredients that it wasn't the same as "selling". I DID call the Health Dept and got put on hold for 10 mins and transferred twice, so I gave up and posted here. I really appreciate all the responses!!

Contact your local HD - here in Ohio you can make and bake and sell as much as you want to LEGALLY without being licensed. (as long as it does not require refrigeration)

I choose to be licensed, but I don't HAVE to be. There is no limit on how much I can profit in a year either.

I know all about the Ohio law. Please stop trying to scare people with misinformation.

From Chuck Kirchner, Ohio Department of Agriculture:

This is from an email correspondence between him and myself. I've done my homework, and then some, on Cottage Food Laws. I'm not interested in arguing semantics of another state's law with you. I just want to point out that it's really irresponsible to be advising people about laws and regulations that you have no personal knowledge of.

Everyone should follow the law. Everyone should have liability insurance if you have a business. But everyone should also contact their local authorities to find out what the regulations in their area are.

It's unclear if you're searching for technicalities to seize on. It's not unclear to the Department of Agriculture, or the thousands of legal home bakers in that state.

Hi KelleyM! You are my hero. I wish you were in Az working to establish change for our Cottage Food laws. I hope that once Tx gets on the wagon, more states will follow.

I wonder since you have put so much effort and research into all the cottage food laws and such...if you would know if I'd be ok (as a home baker, non-licensed) to donate a cake to a (church) silent auction for a charitable event.

I wouldn't be too concerned if I was just donating the cake outright, but I was asked if I could donate a certificate so that the person could choose their design at a later date. To me, that line gets awfully close to 'advertising'.

Am I good because I'm not accepting money, or should I still check in with my local DoH?

Thanks for your help

I have complete trust in the inspector and the Ohio Dept. Of Agriculture. I can give you his name and phone number for you to debate with him what is allowed and what is not. I KNOW what is, I LIVE here, and I have talked with him on several occasions.

For me, I will follow the direction of the food safety specialists here in Ohio that regulate (and license) me.

jasonkraft, you ARE posting info that is incorrect, whether you want to admit it or not.