An elderly woman has been scolded by her council for ‘bad food hygiene’ after selling sausage rolls from her front garden.
Jo Taylor, 73, was handed a letter from Norwich City Council for selling pastries and cakes at the NR2 Yard Sale this month.
The council said they received a tip-off that she was ‘operating an unregistered food business’.
Writing on the yard sale’s Facebook group, Jo said: ‘Did anyone else receive one of these in the post?
‘Obviously, it had to do with the selling of foodstuffs at the NR2 Yard Sale. Does this mean food cannot be sold next time? Someone has a lot of time on their hands, is all I can say.’
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A council official wrote in the letter that all food businesses must be registered, regardless of whether they’re run from a home or not.
‘If you sell, cook, store, handle, prepare or distribute food, you may be considered a food business and will need to register with your local authority,’ the letter said.
The official urged Jo to register her ‘food business’ with the council, which would then be inspected and given a food standard hygiene rating.
But they wouldn’t have too long to carry out an inspection, given that Jo only bakes the breakfast food once a year for an annual yard sale.
Jo told Norwich Evening News that her sausage rolls have long been a favourite at the annual NR2 Yard Sale, which encourages people to set up a stand at the front of their house.
The pensioner usually sells pasties and jams for charity, but kept the cash this time, making £30 on July 19.
She received the letter from the council in the post on July 24.
The history of the humble sausage roll
The sausage roll, that bit of meat wrapped in a duvet of pastry, is about as British as you can get.
But they’re not actually from the UK – they come from the ancient Greeks, who regularly wrapped spiced meat in dough before baking it.
The French then perfected the flaky puff pastry when giving a sausage roll a go, with the British pretty much seeing it and going: ‘Well, go on then.’ The rolls became popular in the 1800s as a breakfast snack paired with a pint (it was the Victorian era, after all).
The sausage roll hasn’t changed too much since, though our very own Metro investigation found that some bakeries are charging well over a fiver for them now. The ancient Greeks would not be amused.
‘I was shocked at first and then slightly amused to think that someone really thought that I had a business selling sausage rolls,’ she said.
‘I just think they do not have anything better to do. Either that, or they are jealous of my sausage rolls.’
Fellow yard sale vendors were similarly puzzled by the letter, with one writing on Facebook: ‘Absolutely ridiculous, are they going to start handing out fines to lemonade stands and bake sales next?’
Replying to Jo’s post, the yard sale organisers said they have ‘clarified the position’ of the stand with the council.
Jo phoned the council and was told she would need to complain about what happened, but stressed no action would be taken and, no, she does not have a police file.
Norwich City Council and NR2 Yard Sale have been approached for comment.
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