Horseshit: Proposed regulations for home bakers in Lincoln add 'higher level of protection' from food-borne illness

Local home bakers and jelly makers who want to sell food from their kitchen would face annual permit fees and health inspections under a proposed ordinance before the Lincoln City Council.

Horseshit: Proposed regulations for home bakers in Lincoln add 'higher level of protection' from food-borne illness 5e38b4bf647d9.image

Horseshit: Proposed regulations for home bakers in Lincoln add 'higher level of protection' from food-borne illness 5e38b4bf647d9.image

So-called cottage food operations, where people sell food products created in their home, were authorized in Nebraska by a state law change last year, requiring them only to register with the state.

Lincoln's city code prohibits these businesses and, to date, people who legally wanted to sell food products made in their home needed to go through a farmers market.

The proposed ordinance would allow them to expand their businesses and sell online to friends and neighbors, Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department officials said at a public hearing Monday.

Responding to questions from Councilman Roy Christensen, health officials said the state law change wasn't sufficient to protect the public from food-borne illnesses.

"It's one thing to have a few people out in other parts of Nebraska, a small county, get sick with something," said Scott Holmes, manager of the Health Department's Environmental Public Health Division. "It's another thing to have it happen here."

The risk of quick transmission between people in Lincoln's second-largest city is greater, he said.

"We have child care centers that are bigger than some towns, so we have need for a little higher level of protection,” Holmes said.

Even baked goods can spread hepatitis A or salmonella, Holmes said.

By having kitchen inspections, health department officials can help ensure cottage food operators use safe food-handling practices and mitigate that risk, he said.

The regulations require operators to keep pets and non-toilet-trained children out of the kitchen while food is being prepared, among other requirements, according to the ordinance.

The inspections would likely be scheduled with the operator since food preparation is more irregular than in a restaurant, Holmes said.

Neither the Grand Island nor Omaha health departments have pursued similar regulations, according to Holmes.

No one testified in opposition to the bill at the hearing.

But the Institute of Justice, a Washington, D.C., libertarian and civil liberties advocacy group, issued a news release calling the ordinance unnecessary and unconstitutional.

The group argues the inspections are "warrantless," and the regulations put "useless new hurdles" in the way of these entrepreneurs, according to its release.

Last month, the Lincoln-Lancaster County Board of Health unanimously approved the regulations.

Council members are set to vote on them next week.

Health department officials believe the regulations would affect at least a dozen Lincoln businesses already registered with the state.

https://journalstar.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/city-proposed-regulations-for-home-bakers-in-lincoln-add-higher/article_58332d74-fc79-5362-a368-c51474e9922f.html

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Horseshit: Proposed regulations for home bakers in Lincoln add 'higher level of protection' from food-borne illness

Horseshit: Proposed regulations for home bakers in Lincoln add 'higher level of protection' from food-borne illness

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