Wisconsin Supreme Court Denies Review of Ban on Non-Baked Homemade Food Sales

ARLINGTON, Va.—Yesterday, the Wisconsin Supreme Court denied a petition for review in a lawsuit challenging a statewide ban on the sale of safe, homemade foods like Rice Krispies Treats and fudge. A group of homemade food preparers, along with the Institute for Justice (IJ), asked the Wisconsin Supreme Court to review a lawsuit challenging this statewide ban.

“I am extremely disappointed that the court didn’t want to hear our case,” said Jobea Murray, the board president of the Wisconsin Cottage Food Association. “Selling foods like fudge and roasted coffee beans would have helped our members support their families, and now they’ve lost those opportunities.”

Wisconsin is the only state 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 a 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 Lafayette County Circuit Court again agreed with the homemade food sellers. In November 2024, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals decided to uphold the ban, overturning the circuit court’s decision. The Wisconsin Supreme Court’s denial today leaves that ban in place.

“Wisconsin has the most-restrictive homemade food laws in the entire nation,” said IJ Senior Attorney Justin Pearson. “Sadly, the court’s decision not to take the case means that thousands of Wisconsinites will not be able to support themselves and their families the way that they could in every other state.”