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Food Safety for your bake sale

Bake Sales are popular fundraisers that allow the public to enjoy homemade baked goods while supporting local organizations and groups. While the low risk foods sold at bake sales are rarely associated with causing foodborne illness, it is important to remember that under the right circumstances any food can cause foodborne illness.

Protecting your foods

Foods prepared for bake sales are called ‘Ready to Eat’ foods - that means they will be eaten as they are, and not cooked or processed further. If the food becomes contaminated, there is no further ‘kill step’ to destroy any pathogens on the food. It is important to protect your foods from contamination by:

• Washing your hands often. If you have cuts or wounds on your hands, ensure they are completely covered with gloves or waterproof dressings.
• Prepare your foods on clean surfaces. Make sure counters, cutting boards, cutting knives, etc. are washed and sanitized before use (e.g. mix 1 tsp bleach per litre of water to make a sanitizing solution).
• Ensure your foods are prepared and stored separate from any raw meat products, chemical/cleaning products, or other sources of contamination.
• Wrap your foods with clean food packaging after they have been prepared to protect them from contamination during storage, transport and sale.
• Label your foods with the product name, your name and have ingredient lists available to refer to (useful for those with food allergies).
• Avoid preparing and handling foods if you are experiencing, symptoms such as vomiting, diarrhea, or a respiratory infection, or if you have had such symptoms in the past 48 hours.