NJ Home Bakers still facing food safety stigma

Spring and summer are prime times for baked goods due to weddings, graduations, Mother’s and Father’s Day, and religious celebrations. (Photo courtesy of the New Jersey Home Bakers Association)

Trenton, NJ—In the eight months since New Jersey’s Cottage Food regulations went into effect, allowing home producers of non-TCS goods to sell their wares, the Department of Health has issued approximately 500 permits, and that number is rising every week. These newly minted Cottage Food Operators, the majority of them home bakers, are taking advantage of the spring and summer “celebration season” to grow their businesses and clientele by producing treats for graduations, communions, bridal showers, and weddings. 

But one last summer institution—the farmers’ market—seems to be out of reach for many home bakers, despite being a permissible venue under regulations outlined by the Department of Health. 

That’s not an indictment on New Jersey’s dozens of farmers’ markets, many of which are run independently and are met with frequent inspections. Market managers must be assured that their vendors meet health and food safety requirements, and licensed home bakers are finding a mixed response state-wide when inquiring about booths. 

Middlesex County cookie artist and pizzelle maker Deidre Gerbing received her CFO permit this February and opened Bobey Lou home bakery with a mission of sharing her love of sweet treats with the world. For every order she sells, she also gives back by delivering cookies to local organizations and senior citizens’ facilities. She’s been trying, without luck, to attain a booth at local farmers’ markets for the summer. Gerbing said a lack of responsiveness from market managers has been her biggest frustration as she tries to connect to potential clients in person. 

“I wish I could meet people in person,” Gerbing said, “When we’re trying to sell ourselves and our baked goods, seeing us in person with my license I feel can make a huge difference. Can some farmers’ markets take a leap of faith on home bakers? It works in other states.” 

Perhaps it’s because New Jersey was the last state to enact cottage food laws that food safety concerns about home-baked goods still linger. This leaves home bakers wondering, what will it take to finally convince New Jersey farmers’ market managers and consumers at large that Cottage Food operators are as serious about food safety as any commercially based business? 

Safety Based on Principles & Science

In their long campaign to legalize the sale of home-baked goods, food safety was one of the topics most often tackled by the New Jersey Home Bakers Association (NJHBA). It’s one of the three principles, along with economic development and freedom of choice, upon which the association was founded. The concern shown by farmers’ market managers about the safety of goods made in a home kitchen highlights the need to continue public outreach about the science that makes homemade baked goods inherently safe. 

In his testimony in support of the NJHBA’s 2017 lawsuit, world-renowned Professor Emeritus of the Department of Food Science at Rutgers University, Dr. Thomas Montville, wrote:

(1) Not potentially-hazardous baked goods, such as cakes, cookies, breads, and muffins, are perfectly safe; (2) there is no evidence or rational basis to conclude that not potentially-hazardous baked goods prepared in home kitchens would present a greater risk of foodborne disease than those prepared in licensed and inspected commercial-grade kitchens; (3) other not potentially-hazardous foods, such as chocolates, hard candies, dried herbs and spices, dried cookie and cake mixes, and dried pastas, are also perfectly safe; and (4) there is no evidence or rational basis for concluding that not potentially-hazardous foods prepared in home kitchens would present a greater risk when made for profit than when made for charity.

The charity perspective was long one of the NJHBA’s arguments in favor of allowing home-baking for profit, as anyone who’s purchased something from a non-profit bake sale has eaten a homemade baked good. 

NJHBA founding board member Martha Rabello, a pastry chef and graphic designer from Fanwood, emphasized that donated or bake sale goods are made in the same kitchens by bakers who also want to sell their goods for income. 

“The same baked goods that never caused any issues when used for fundraising and charitable causes,” she said, “Cannot become a safety concern when sold for profit.”

Backing up Montville’s expert testimony are numbers from the Centers for Disease Control. Since 1971, the CDC’s National Outbreak Reporting System has recorded barely over 1,200 instances and 0 deaths from food-borne illnesses caused by homemade cookies, cakes, bread, and brownies throughout the United States. Notably, none of those were recorded in New Jersey. That’s 50 years of tracking without a single reported instance of food-borne illness from the most common home-baked goods from within the state. When compared against the total number of food- and water-borne illnesses reported in the same timeframe, the number of illnesses from common home-baked goods is nearly negligible. 

Data from the Centers for Disease Control National Outbreak Reporting System (NORS) dashboard show meager numbers of food- and water-borne illnesses from homemade cakes, brownies, cookies, and bread based on data from 1971 through 2020. None of those reported illnesses were in New Jersey.

The Regulations Ensure Safety Measures

The Department of Health’s regulation of non-TCS (time/temperature control for safety) goods includes an application process that ensures safety measures are in place to protect consumers. To receive their permits, Cottage Food Operators must complete Food Protection Manager training through one of the Department of Health’s six approved agencies, which include the well-known National Restaurant Association’s ServSafe program and food service favorite 360 Training. 

Those seeking permits must also submit private well testing or a municipal water test showing that their water is clear of contaminants and is fit for consumption. Cottage Food Operators are also limited to producing only non-TCS goods, which, in simplified terms, are goods that don’t require additional preparation or initial refrigeration. 

Additionally, CFOs must prominently display a placard and provide online disclaimers that their goods are made in a home kitchen. They must also follow stringent labeling procedures for ingredients and allergens. Any complaints subject the CFO to inspection on demand, and there are penalties for home bakers who violate the conditions of their permit. Permits must be renewed every two years. 

It's Not All Sour for Purveyors of Sweets

While many farmers’ markets continue to weigh the issue of allowing Cottage Food Operators to sell their goods, some have already decided to permit CFOs to rent booths. For Jersey City baker Paula Hartmann, an opportunity to showcase her talents at the Riverview Farmers Market is a chance to get her business off the ground, and she’s grateful to become part of a vibrant marketplace. She’ll be there on June 12th with a variety of cookies and miniature cupcakes. 

“It will be my first time as a vendor,” Hartmann, the owner of Peanut Butter and Jelly Pastries, LLC, said, “It’s a new experience, and I’m very excited about it.” 

If all goes well, Hartmann hopes to return to the market with a broader array of goods, including pastries and quick breads. 

“It’s a great way to get my name out there and get people to see my business as a legitimate bakery,” she said, “Even though it’s home-based.”

Madison-based cookie artist Dina Millz of Dough & Behold, who spoke earlier this year about her planned participation in the Morris Winter Market, said her February and March efforts were well-received. 

“I earned some custom cookie orders through the great people I met at the market,” Millz said, “I gained more followers to increase my social media reach, and I have some upcoming markets throughout the summer and into the fall.”

Millz and Hartmann’s efforts encapsulate what all of New Jersey’s new CFOs are seeking right now—the chance to be seen as a part of a diverse local and statewide food base, and one that’s brimming with potential. Food safety is just one piece of the puzzle, but an important one, that goes hand in hand with the NJHBA’s other principles of economic development and freedom of choice for producers and consumers. 

The NJHBA is hopeful that producers will soon be free to sell their goods, like these pastel macarons, at farmers’ markets throughout the state as the Cottage Food industry begins to grow. (Photo courtesy of the New Jersey Home Bakers Association.)

The NJHBA knows they can’t change everyone’s mind when it comes to the safety of home-baked goods, but they continue to advocate for their members to succeed in finding sales venues and clientele for their offerings. 

“People can always make their own choices,” Rabello said, “But the science is sound, and we’ve waited too long to sell home-baked goods to take any chances with safety.”

(This is Part III of a series about the impact of cottage food regulations in New Jersey.)