Second Facebook group warns members about selling uninspected food

For the second time in one week, a Sault-based Facebook group has taken steps to restrict sales of uninspected home-cooked meals by and to its members.

As SooToday reported on Sunday, the 1,400-member 'Bayanihan in Sault' members-only Facebook group had been regularly offering Filipino and Korean dishes prepared at private residences.

In most cases, the advertised food had to be picked up at an address that was communicated to members by private messages only after they placed an order.

Algoma Public Health (APH) doesn't allow food to be sold from private residences unless there's been an APH inspection and a permit of approval has been issued.

APH visited a private home on Atwater Street last week after receiving a complaint.

Now, the 1,500-member 'Filipino in Sault Ste. Marie' private Facebook group has taken action to prevent an underground economy from flourishing among its membership.

"Hi fellow members of this Filipino in Sault Ste. Marie group!" the group said.

"In light of the recent news and what happened in the Bayanihan group that was in SooToday news, we would kindly remind our members here who post their business ventures and food selling to please ensure you have the proper permits and licenses to operate.  

"We don’t want CRA [Canada Revenue Agency] or Algoma Public Health to check on anyone here. As administrators of this group, we are just reminding our members here and we will not be asking you to provide proof before posting.  

"We also reserve the right to start filtering posts as we see fit. Just be mindful that we don’t know yet who reported the other group and I am not sure if we will ever know.  

"We don’t want another check on anyone especially if you are still to process your application papers for permanent residency.  

"As part of the small Filipino community in Soo, we implore everyone to help one another and not be in the business to destroy another.  

"We hope that our community will continue to grow stronger and united. To anyone who aims to destroy our community, don’t worry about them. I believe in Karma."  

"This is for our awareness. Kindly be kind in your comments and we will delete any rude or abusive remarks.  

"May we continue to be blessed as a community and aim to be a blessing to one another."

Algoma Public Health says anyone cooking from a home kitchen requires at least two things:

• a food safety inspection report of the premises 
• a safe food handler training certificate

"Buying high-risk foods like curries, meat dishes, meat pies, lasagnas, and other pastas from Facebook auction sites could lead to food poisoning," APH says on its website.

"Home chefs do not meet the same food safety requirements as an inspected restaurant. In addition to home-sold food being unsafe, it is also illegal to sell uninspected food."