Piegate! PA church gets into trouble for selling pie

Have you ever purchased cookies or baked goods at a church fundraiser? Well, technically, those baked goods were sold illegally. That’s because by the laws in most jurisdictions, food that is sold to the public must be prepared in a “certified commercial kitchen.” The average bake sale, of course, runs under the radar of the local health department.

However, sometimes people do get into trouble for baking and selling without having their kitchen officially inspected and passed by a health department official. Take the case of “piegate” as reported by the Wall Street Journal. A church in Pennsylvania got into trouble when health department officials inspecting the churches kitchen spotted some pies that were not baked in the kitchen but brought from home by some “little old ladies.”

Sold for $1 a slice, homemade pies have always been part of the Lenten fish-fry dinners at St. Cecilia’s, located in this tiny city near Pittsburgh. Similar dinners are held in church basements and other venues across the country this time of year.

The problem is the pies are illegal in Pennsylvania. Under the state’s food-safety code, facilities that provide food at four or more events in a year require at least a temporary eating and drinking license, and food has to be prepared in a state-inspected kitchen. Many churches have six fish fries a year, on Fridays during Lent. St. Cecilia’s has always complied with having its kitchen licensed, so food made there is fine to serve. But homemade goods don’t make the cut.

Forced to not sell the home made pies, people instead bought and donated store bought pies (which no doubt paled in comparison.) The publicity wound up making the annual fish fry a big success ironically.

Find commercial kitchens in Pennsylvania.