According to the 2009 / 2010 Pet Owners Survey, 62% of all U.S. households own some sort of pet. So it isn’t surprising to hear that one of the top questions asked about home-based baking is, “Can I bake for profit from home if I have pets?”. There is a very simple, very straightforward answer to that question.
The answer is, no. It’s no secret that when you are a home food processor you cannot have indoor pets. What that means is you cannot have a dog, cat or other pet that walks on four legs in your home. If for any reason you are not sure simply contact your regulatory agency or compliance officer and ask. Most bakers don’t want to do that because it may call attention to their baking business and send a red flag, but it is better to know than have some strange bit of foreign matter show up in that lovely butter-cream icing.
There are a number of bakers who will probably go forward and bake anyway but know you are putting yourself and your customers at risk. It matters not how clean you are or how small your pet is, no indoor pets means just that, no indoor pets.
- It is always interesting when bakers attempt to get around this rule by saying:
- “I will let my dog out into the yard while I am baking”. The response. NO INDOOR PETS ALLOWED!
- “I will put my dog in the upstairs bedroom while I bake.” The response. NO INDOOR PETS ALLOWED!
- “I will leave my dog at my in-laws while I bake.” The response. NO INDOOR PETS ALLOWED!
- “I will tell the compliance officer I have no pets; and a water bowl is left in the corner of the mud room.” NO INDOOR PETS ALLOWED!
There is no excuse you can give that will allow you to keep your pets and operate a home food processing business. Why would you want to anyway? Have you ever gone into the kitchen at a restaurant and seen the chef’s dog sitting in a corner watching the kitchen staff work? Of course not, and your customers don’t want to know that you allowed your dog to sit in your home kitchen while you were working on their wedding cake.
If you have indoor pets, you put yourself at risk each and every time you prepare food products for sale to the public from your home kitchen. What are you to do? You must either find another place to bake that is pet free or the pet must become a permanent outdoor pet. There is no gray area when it comes to starting and operating a home-based bakery or home food processing business. NO INDOOR PETS ALLOWED!
