An 11-year old girls’ efforts to make a bit of holiday pocket money by selling lemonade and cupcakes has made headlines around the world after a West Australian Council shut her down over health and safety concerns.
11-year-old Chelsea Ruderforth set up a roadside stall in Bunbury.
Her mum, Marissa had done a bit of marketing in the days before hand posting this menu to Facebook.
They got up at 4am and “did a big café set up”.
It was set to be a day away from the Ipad. You remember when kids actually looked up from their screens.
Little did Chelsea and Marissa know their efforts would be thwarted when an over zealous member of the public became concerned over Chelsea’s “high risk products” and dobbed her in to the local council.
Now surely you have to wonder how an 11-year old girl could get her hands on “high-risk” products. We are not exactly talking Breaking Bad here.
But it turns out that it was the cream that sent this helpful local into a tizz.
Danger. Danger.
Chelsea’s mother Marissa told the ABC that all Chelsea wanted to do was sell her homemade lemonade, cupcakes and lemon meringue pie.
“It is such a sad day when a kid can’t make a bit of extra cash just selling a few cupcakes and lemonade,” Marissa Ruderforth said.
Chelsea had not even sold her first piece of pie or a cup of lemonade when the squad swooped in and shut her down.
Just like that.
Bunbury Council’s Environmental health manager Sarah Upton told the ABC “The city actually received a complaint about the type of food products that she was using, and also where she was set up was unsafe for people to pull over.”
Top Comments
Hmmm, you (MM) rail against families who give their kids raw milk, because we know it is a risky product - but you think local government should turn a blind eye to safe-food guidelines as long as a kid is making pocket money from it?
I wonder how you would have covered the story had the stand been allowed, and customers ended up in hospital with food poisoning?
And frankly, this sounded far more organised than any lemonade stand I remember as a kid.
Please tell me those aren't hipster jam jars full of lemonade in the child's promotional photo! : 0