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Monday, April 13, 2009

Food Safety Cops Outlaw Lil' Ole Church Ladies' Pies
By Monica @ 6:23 PM PermaLink

Just when you think it couldn't get worse, here is another example of an outrageous level of nanny state insanity -- home baked dessert sales at local churches in Pennsylvania are deemed illegal.

ROCHESTER, Pa. -- On the first Friday of Lent, an elderly female parishioner of St. Cecilia Catholic Church began unwrapping pies at the church. That's when the trouble started.

A state inspector, there for an annual checkup on the church's kitchen, spied the desserts. After it was determined that the pies were home-baked, the inspector decreed they couldn't be sold.

...

The problem is the pies are illegal in Pennsylvania. Under the state's food-safety code, facilities that provide food at four or more events in a year require at least a temporary eating and drinking license, and food has to be prepared in a state-inspected kitchen. Many churches have six fish fries a year, on Fridays during Lent. St. Cecilia's has always complied with having its kitchen licensed, so food made there is fine to serve. But homemade goods don't make the cut.

Go read the whole thing.

If these pies are so dangerous, why is it legal to give them away?

The sad thing is that this story is not exceptional. There are health codes like this across the country and they are partly responsible for the decline in farmer's markets. It is impossible to sell a loaf of bread -- or any other homemade product -- at some farmer's markets due to health codes. Getting away with it is dependent on the grace of the regulators and whether they are willing to turn a blind eye.

This is all beyond absurd. These pernicious regulations must be repealed.

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1 Comments:

At April 14, 2009 6:51 PM , Blogger John Drake said...

Just incredible. As my wife said when I told her this story, I bet the kitchens of those elderly ladies is cleaner than the church kitchen.

Keep up the great work with this blog. Americans need to know how our government is denying us our individual rights.

 

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