SUDBURY -- It's crunch time right now for Beverley Carriere, owner of Double Frosted Bakery in Sudbury.
Carriere said that demand is up at this time of the year, something she said is a nice change of pace given some of the challenges local businesses have been facing as a result of COVID-19.
"It's definitely busy with platters and meat pieces and like I do cookie trays and this year the cookie trays are actually," said Carriere. "I'm donating $5 from every tray to the Sudbury Food Bank."
With the increased demand for all things sweet and savoury, Public Health Sudbury & Districts (PHSD) is also seeing an increase in complaints regarding uninspected kitchens. They have noticed that people are attempting to sell their wares over social media.
While Carriere proudly displays her sticker of inspection in her front window, the Health Unit said that there are other establishments that don't bother getting certified.
"In Ontario, it's important whenever someone is supplying food to the public, it's done so in any inspected facility there are options for those people who do home catering that they can use community halls, church halls, even other restaurants have a deal where they produce in an inspected facility," said Adam Ranger of PHSD.
Ranger said that details on any inspection completed, including the date, is available online.
"So the places that are inspected are inspected routinely, these people are also educated and they've done training, in terms of what we're looking at, it's to prevent food-borne illnesses," he added.
While Carriere's hoping many out there will help support local shops given this past year, her best advice this holiday season is do some research first.
"Do look for a certified kitchen because if you do get sick, at least Public Health has gone and inspected that kitchen, you know it's not there it's most likely coming from," she said.
Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada says that between 11 and 13 million Canadians suffer from food borne illnesses every year. While most recover, it can lead to chronic health conditions in a small percentage of people, things like chronic arthritis and kidney failure.
