LIMA — Food delivery services advertised on social media may violate state health code, which bars most food preparation and delivery services from operating out of private homes.
“When you walk into a restaurant, there’s a standard of cleanliness that they’re all abiding by,” said Brian Nartker, director of environmental health for Allen County Public Health. “When you’re buying something from someone that’s making (food in) their home kitchen, you don’t have any idea what their home kitchen looks like.
“There could be animals inside the kitchen.”
The health department recently issued a notice warning residents not to purchase meals prepared in private homes — often advertised on social media — which are not licensed to sell food and therefore not subject to health inspections.
Those found in violation risk civil or criminal penalties, the health department said in a press release.
“People call with the question of: I want to make food out of my house. How do I go about it?” Nartker said. “The first thing we tell them is your home isn’t allowed to be licensed in the first place. The conversation kind of stops right there.”
Home bakeries are exempt from the Ohio Department of Agriculture’s restrictions on private home food sales, though only certain foods like cookies, brownies and other products that don’t require refrigeration are exempt.
Mobile food trucks are also exempt if they are licensed and pass inspections.
Health authorities inspect restaurants, food trucks and other licensed facilities for cleanliness and adherence to basic safety standards, ensuring foods are stored at the right temperature, work surfaces are sanitary and employees wash their hands properly.
“These are just the kinds of things someone isn’t necessarily going to do inside their own house,” Nartker said.
“Licensed facilities, they’ve got gloves and hand washing available. Employees know when to wash their hands. … That’s not necessarily going to be done by someone that’s just working out of their home kitchen.”
