Bake sales are occasional events where homemade donated baked goods are sold for fundraising purposes. Please see our bake sales guidelines.
For information about farmers' markets and food product sampling for farmers' market vendors, please see Sections 3.3 and 3.4 of the Food Handling Regulation Enforcement Act. For information about obtaining a farmers' market food product sampling handler certificate, please see the Illinois Department of Public Health's website. Contact them at (217) 782-7532 if you have any questions about the certification process.
Lemonade stands may be operated without a health permit if the operator is under the age of 16. See our tip sheet.
Potlucks are communal meals to which people bring food to share. They are private events and not public or for commercial purposes. Examples are family reunion potlucks, funeral dinner potlucks, or office party potlucks. To see if your food event qualifies as a potluck event, read the potluck portion (Section 3.1) of the Food Handling Regulation Enforcement Act.
