Home kitchens (MEHKO) on Chefry

The permit

What a MEHKO is

A Microenterprise Home Kitchen Operation (MEHKO) is a home kitchen that California lets a cook run as a small food business. The rules live in Chapter 11.6 of the California Retail Food Code, and each county decides whether to allow MEHKOs and then issues the permits. A MEHKO chef on Chefry cooks in their own home kitchen and sells directly to the people who eat the food.

What the permit requires

• A health permit from the county or city health department, issued after the home kitchen is inspected.
• The operator passes an accredited food safety certification exam. Anyone else who helps prepare, store or serve the food holds a food handler card.
• Food is prepared, cooked and served the same day.
• No more than 30 meals a day and 90 meals a week, and gross sales under a yearly cap the state adjusts for inflation.
• Sales go directly to the customer. Catering and wholesale are not covered by a MEHKO permit.
• The chef, an employee or a household member delivers. No third-party delivery services.

Read the law itself: Health and Safety Code, Chapter 11.6 (MEHKO), section 113825 (definition and limits), section 114367.1 (certification) and section 114367.5 (delivery).

County guides: MEHKO in Los Angeles County and MEHKO in Long Beach. Official program pages: LA County Public Health and Long Beach Health Department.

Money

What Chefry charges

Listing on Chefry is free. Customers pay the chef's price plus a 5% Chefry service fee and sales tax. Every number is on the fees page.

Insurance

What Chefry does and does not cover

Chefry does not carry liability insurance covering incidents arising from the sale or consumption of food listed on the platform. Chefry is a marketplace. Each chef is responsible for their own food and any coverage they choose to carry, and Chefry does not verify whether a chef carries it.

Complaints

Something wrong with your food?

If you got sick, found something in your food, or saw a hygiene problem, tell both Chefry and the health department that issued the chef's permit. They do different things: Chefry looks at the order and the chef's account, and the agency inspects the kitchen.

Tell Chefry

• Email support@chefry.io
• Call (844) 467-2712
• Use the support form and pick the category "Food safety or hygiene complaint". Name the chef or the order number so we can find it.

File with the local enforcement agency

A MEHKO chef's page shows the agency that issued their permit when they have added it. Contact that agency. If it is not shown, contact the environmental health department for the county or city where the kitchen is. In the areas Chefry operates in, that is one of these:

Los Angeles County Environmental HealthUnincorporated LA County and most cities in the county

(888) 700-9995

Long Beach Health DepartmentThe City of Long Beach

Search for its food complaint line.

Pasadena Public Health DepartmentThe City of Pasadena

Search for its food complaint line.

Anywhere else, search for your county's environmental health department and its food complaint line.

Delivery

Who can deliver a MEHKO's food

State law says food from a MEHKO is delivered by the chef, an employee, or a member of the chef's household, and by nobody else. Third-party delivery services are not allowed. The one exception is a delivery to a customer whose disability limits their access to food, which comes with its own notice and record-keeping rules. Chefry does not arrange couriers for MEHKO orders. You pick up, or the chef brings it.

Source: Health and Safety Code section 114367.5.