A ban in New Jersey has the state's home bakers hotter than their non-commercial ovens. After a Wisconsin court invalidated its own similar prohibition earlier this month, the Garden State is now the only one in the U.S. in which it's illegal to sell home-baked goods. As you can imagine, its proud bakers aren't happy, and some are turning up the heat on the opposition.
According to the New Canaan News, a group led by by home-baker Mandy Coriston is pushing for the law to be overturned, but one state lawmaker, Sen. Joseph Vitale, has thus far blocked it for consideration, citing concerns over public health.
However, as Coriston points out, it's legal in New Jersey to sell baked goods at charity events — just not for those to sell the same products as a small business.
As Coriston told the New Canaan News, "Same ingredients. Same kitchens. Same bakers that want to do this for profit," she said. "But the second you put a price tag on it, that baked good becomes illegal, it becomes contraband basically."
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Coriston's group has found backing from the conservative Americans for Prosperity, who called Coriston's case yet another example of special interests controlling competition and limiting the free market.
Erica Jedynak, who heads up Americans for Prosperity, said, "These women can give their baked goods away for free," pointing out a lobbying day earlier this year where 500 cookies and cake pops were given out to legislators.
"No one was poisoned, there was no health issues. The lawmakers ate it all up down in Trenton," Jedynak said.
