One Baker's Journey operates under ORS 616.723 of the Oregon Legislature. This ORS sets rules and guidelines for providing food services from a "shared" or home kitchen. On January 1, 2016, the law was enacted to allow certain foods under certain circumstances to be produced in a home kitchen and sold. Prior to the passing of this law, it was illegal in Oregon to prepare foods in a home kitchen. A kitchen was required to be inspected and certified. This law was not passed to be mean or have oversight over small businesses, but to ensure the safety of the food being produced. There is a version of this law in all 50 states and is commonly called a "Cottage Food Law."
I have a summary of the rules that One Baker's Journey must follow.
Must maintain a clean and sanitary condition
Cannot produce or sell any food with cannabis
Product must not require refrigeration
All food must bear labels that include: homemade statement, name, and address for the food establishment, name of the product, ingredients of the product in descending order by weight, net weight or net volume of the product, applicable allergen warnings as specified under federal labeling requirements, and if the label provides any nutrient content claim, health claim or other nutritional information
Sales cannot exceed $20,000 in a calendar year
Each participant in preparing the food holds a food handlers card
Cannot sell to a commercial entity for resale (restaurant, grocery store, caterer, school, daycare, hospital, nursing home) Must sell directly to the consumer
May not sell over the internet (may take orders, but cannot ship). Must maintain accurate records and maintain them for 3 years
Allowed Foods (as long as they do not require refrigeration) Bread, Rolls, Cakes, Pies, Doughnuts, Pastries, Cookies, Biscuits, Crackers, Confectionary items such as candy or sweets all similar goods made for human consumption
I take these rules very seriously and take extensive steps to not only make sure I meet the guidelines above but exceed them.
The entire home is kept in a clean state at all times
All ingredients are kept separate from personal ingredients in a closed-off pantry.
Thermometers in fridge and freezer are used to ensure ingredients are maintained at the proper temperature
Everyone in the home is food handler certified
Before preparing any food, the entire kitchen and area around the kitchen is cleaned and sanitized (even if the food was prepared earlier in the day). When preparing gluten-free products the kitchen and area around the kitchen are sanitized and no gluten foods are present (a warning is on the label)
Family members not participating in producing product are blocked from food production areas
A separate kitchenette is used to eat and prepare food while product is being produced
Hairnets and aprons are always worn
Gloves are worn when necessary
Paper towels are used for hand washing (to prevent any possible contamination)
Any overnight storage is done in a sealed container inside the dedicated pantry
Any ingredient or product that had the chance of being contaminated is disposed of and re-made
All records are maintained, registered as an LLC, income taxes paid and property taxes are assessed with the county
We do have some items that may appear to be in violation of these rules. For example, there is a very delicious cream cheese frosting on my famous cinnamon rolls. This took some time to develop because it actually does not contain cream cheese. This is done using a cream cheese extract. Situations like these are the rare, when extracts and dehydrated products are used. There are a number of items we would like to offer in the future, but they must be adapted in order to meet the guidelines above.
If you have any questions about the products we make and how we make them, please feel free to ask.
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