HOW TO BUY FOOD ON EBAY: Part ONE

#1. Make sure you are buying from a licensed bakery. This is the single most important thing you can do to protect yourself and your family and friends' health.

How do you know you are purchasing from a licensed bakery? It is not enough to ask them. Anyone can lie. You could ask for their license #, or you could ask them for the phone number for their health inspector. Any legitimate bakery would be happy to give that to you. BUT DON'T CALL THAT NUMBER. Check with information through the phone company and make sure the number is actually one for the State Health Inspector for that area before you call.

#2. Never buy from anyone who says they bake at home in their home kitchen even if they show a picture of it and it looks wonderfully clean. 

Why? First of all, it is not safe.  You  have no way of knowing how well they handle the product, the supplies and so on. If they are licensed, it means they have been inspected and found to be following certain standards and guidelines to safeguard the public's health. This is as it should be.

Second - they are illegally selling. That makes them dishonest. Do you want to deal with a dishonest person? If they lie about this and break the law by being unlicensed, do you think they really care about you, your health, your family?  And... every state requires that bakers be licensed to sell. Anyone tells you different, they are selling illegally and it would be best to avoid them.