ARLINGTON, Va.—Today, thousands of Wisconsinites who want to support themselves by selling safe, homemade foods like Rice Krispies Treats and fudge, along with the Institute for Justice (IJ), asked the Wisconsin Supreme Court to review a lawsuit challenging a statewide ban on the sale of these homemade foods. In November, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals decided to uphold the ban, overturning a Lafayette County Circuit Court opinion which had previously struck down the ban as unconstitutional.

“Selling foods like fudge and roasted coffee beans will help our members support their families” said Jobea Murray, the board president of the Wisconsin Cottage Food Association. “I hope the Wisconsin Supreme Court will take up our case and strike down this unnecessary ban.”

Wisconsin is one of only two states that bans sales of homemade food, requiring that people instead pay to use an off-site commercial kitchen. In 2017, a legal challenge from a group of home bakers led a Wisconsin court to declare the ban on shelf-stable baked goods to be unconstitutional. But Wisconsin continued to ban the sale of other homemade shelf-stable foods, like chocolates, candies, dried goods, and roasted coffee beans. This lawsuit, launched in February 2021, sought to change that, and in December 2022 the Circuit Court again agreed with the homemade food sellers. 

In February 2023, the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection filed an appeal to the Wisconsin Court of Appeals asking it to review the Circuit Court’s 2022 decision. While filing its appeal, the government asked the courts to allow it to continue enforcing the ban that the circuit court ruled unconstitutional. Although the circuit court denied that request, the appellate court agreed to stay the order, allowing the government to enforce the ban while the case proceeds on appeal.

“Wisconsin has the most-restrictive homemade food laws in the entire nation,” said IJ Senior Attorney Justin Pearson. “We hope the Wisconsin Supreme Court will take the government’s own admissions to heart that this ban makes no sense and only exists because powerful special-interest groups like the Wisconsin Bakers Association want to block competition.”