In May of this year, Judge Duane Jorgenson in Lafayette Court found Wisconsin’s ban on the sale of homemade cookies, breads and other baked goods is unconstitutional because it primarily serves business interests. Since then, the state legislature has tried to pass bills allowing certain home-baked goods (usually limited to a certain dollar amount per year) without obtaining a food processing plant license, but to no avail. The Wisconsin Senate has passed three bills since 2013, but the state Assembly has not followed up with action. That continues to leave Wisconsin and New Jersey as the only states to not have a law allowing home bakers a chance to sell their products.
Judge Jorgenson ruled this week that home bakers can market their goods for profit. There had been a question if his prior ruling only applied to the three plaintiffs, but he made clear this week that no, it applied to all home-bakers within Wisconsin. As a result, home bakers can sell baked goods that do not require refrigeration directly to consumers.