Home Bakers Sue New Jersey Over Home-Baked Goods Ban

New Jersey is the only state in the U.S. to completely ban bakers from selling cookies, cakes and muffins that were made in a home kitchen—foods even the government deems to be “not potentially hazardous.” New Jersey allows home bakers to legally sell their baked goods for charity and nonprofit bake sales. But the second bakers sell a cookie to earn a living, they are breaking the law and face up to $1,000 in fines.
In May 2017, the only other state with the same ban—Wisconsin—had it declared unconstitutional by a Wisconsin court. Now, the Institute for Justice and a group of home bakers are asking the New Jersey courts to reach the same conclusion.
New Jersey’s home-baked goods ban has nothing to do with safety. There is no report of anyone, anywhere, ever getting sick from improperly baked goods. The ban is instead purely political. There is bipartisan support in the New Jersey Legislature to remove the ban, and bills to do exactly that have passed the Assembly unanimously. However, one man has stood in the way: Senator Joseph Vitale. Senator Vitale has repeatedly refused to allow these bills a vote in the Senate. His reason? Protecting commercial bakers from competition.
Protecting businesses from competition is not only un-American, it is also unconstitutional. That is why on December 7, 2017, three New Jersey moms and the nonprofit coalition, the NJ Home Bakers Association, joined with the Institute for Justice in filing a constitutional lawsuit in state court against New Jersey’s Department of Health. The lawsuit will ask the court to strike down the home-baked good ban and allow home bakers to sell home-baked goods—like muffins, cookies and breads—directly to their friends, neighbors and other eager customers.

http://ij.org/case/nj-baked-goods-ban/
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