Can I give away cupcakes at charity event?

lynnemcf

Hello. I am taking part in a charity music event on Saturday 2 June and I wondered if there are any regulations regarding my idea of baking a couple of dozen cupcakes in my own home kitchen and giving them away. Its a free to attend event, in a public area (its not even a park, its a grassed area outside a park). I'm not sure anyone realizes its the proper Jubilee date (cos all the events seem to be taking place on 4 June) but I would like to celebrate in my own little way with a few free cakes!

Horace

You might have a bit of trouble - has your kitchen been inspected by environmental health? Also do you have your own public liability insurance because someone could eat your cakes and be allergic (I am thinking of nut allergies here)? Not trying to put a dampener on things but there are rules out there to protect people. You would also have to have the food properly labelled to show the ingredients.

katyp

I'm pretty sure that as long as you are giving them away (ie not profiting from making them financially) you are fine. Otherwise, we would all be liable for dinner parties and birthday teas!

bris

katyp wrote: »

I'm pretty sure that as long as you are giving them away (ie not profiting from making them financially) you are fine. Otherwise, we would all be liable for dinner parties and birthday teas!

No, that would be private events. This is a public gathering and as such regulations will apply, as in post 2.

nickj_2

i can't see what the problem would be , let's face it all village fetes ,schools, w i events etc etc have a cake stalls made by local residents , they can't all have been inspected and they don't have any trouble , i would just get on with it , anyone would be grateful that someone has gone to the trouble of baking stuff .

katyp

Sorry, I think you'll be OK. I have a food business and I know how strict the laws are regarding this kind of thing, but I think the fact they are being given away at an event should cover you. As another poster says, village fetes etc would come under the same cover.

polkadot

Im going to third posts 2 and 4.Im a hobbyist baker and cake decorator and had to do all those registrations before considering supplying anyone outside of my home even though I dont charge for them.

Even at school fundraisers you are no longer allowed to provide home baked goods,because schools cannot put on offer anything that is not inspected and labled etc. Its not about money (well it is for the top dogs)but is about the safety of the food,you must be able to prove it meets EU standards.

.I just wouldnt do it...too many things can go wrong.

nickj_2

polkadot wrote: »

Im going to third posts 2 and 4.Im a hobbyist baker and cake decorator and had to do all those registrations before considering supplying anyone outside of my home even though I dont charge for them.

Even at school fundraisers you are no longer allowed to provide home baked goods,because schools cannot put on offer anything that is not inspected and labled etc. Its not about money (well it is for the top dogs)but is about the safety of the food,you must be able to prove it meets EU standards.

.I just wouldnt do it...too many things can go wrong.

too many things can go wrong ?

considering ,most food hygiene problems /food poisoning etc are caused by food retailers/manufacturers that have been inspected and are supposed to comply with food hygiene legislation supplying a handful of cakes is not going to cause a major risk

katyp

As we can't agree, I think the best thing to do would be to contact your local Environmental Health department. I have asked a similar question of ours before and have been told it's OK - but yours may be different.Honestly, what is wrong with us when we are warned off supplying a few cupcakes because of the risk - to coin a phrase, the world has gone mad!
It's not the law, it's the over-zealous interpretation of the law that's the main problem here.

Savvy_Sue

Take a look at this.

As my informant said: "You’d think the Food Standards Agency, Health and Safety Executive and Local Government Association would have published their guidance before 22 and 23 May, if it’s intended for street parties over the jubilee weekend on 2-5 June. But better late than never, so here it is – and of course it will remain useful for future community events."

Bottom line: Food Standards Agency makes clear that even if food hygiene registration and certificates are unlikely to be necessary for street parties and similar one-off events, it’s still necessary to ensure food is prepared and stored safely.

kathie1101

polkadot wrote: »

Even at school fundraisers you are no longer allowed to provide home baked goods,because schools cannot put on offer anything that is not inspected and labled etc. Its not about money (well it is for the top dogs)but is about the safety of the food,you must be able to prove it meets EU standards.

.I just wouldnt do it...too many things can go wrong.

My youngest child's school allow home baked cakes etc at fundraisers, childrens birthdays etc. I'm not totally up on the law on this but I believe that where schools are concerned (may also apply to other occasions/venues) then if it is not a normal/regular event then they are allowed to have homemade cakes etc from non certified people/kitchens. For this purpose school fetes, parties, birthdays etc are not seen as normal/regular events.

I for one am certainly glad that the school accept cakes as donations, as the cake stall is always groaning under the weight of all the cakes that us parents have made, the school are very grateful to us and it makes a lot of money for the school. They don't even ask us to label the ingredients, although I usually do if it is not obvious what will be inside.

I have also had my eldest child in a school that was the total opposite. Nothing homemade could be taken in, not even on a child's birthday - and no there were no pupils with nut allergies etc. We were told that they simply would not know the state of everybody's kitchens and so couldn't take the risk, but were more than happy for us to BUY products for them to sell! Oh and they were happy to send food home that all the lovely children had made, yet we didn't know who's fingers etc had touched it!

Sorry OP it doesn't answer your question - I know we have to be careful these days, especially as food allergies seem so common, but I think things have gone too far - like most of the H&S laws we have these days!