Self-attestation. Allergens enforced. Home cook badge, always visible.
Eatcircle is a marketplace for home-cooked pickup meals. We are not a restaurant chain and we don't inspect kitchens. This page explains exactly how food safety works on Eatcircle, the choices we made, and the trade-offs you should know about as a Buyer or Cook.
Four principles.
The same answer for everyone — we don't run two food safety regimes for two tiers of Cooks.
Cooks self-attest at signup
Every Cook must agree to follow their local public health guidelines (Region of Peel for Ontario v1) and to handle food safely in a clean, household kitchen with proper storage practices. Eatcircle does not inspect kitchens.
Buyers see the 'home cook' badge prominently
On every cook profile, every dish detail, every order receipt. Buyers know what they're choosing — this is a neighbor's kitchen, not a licensed restaurant.
Allergens are required by law and we enforce it
Every dish must declare allergens (or explicitly say 'None'). Hidden allergens cause real harm. We block dish publication until the field is filled.
Optional Verified Safe Food Handler badge
Cooks who hold a current food handler certificate (Region of Peel offers a free online course) can upload it and display a gold 'Verified' badge — different from the gold ★ Pro badge. v1 keeps this opt-in. v2 may require it for new signups.
Reporting + moderation flow.
Every order has a Report button. Severity-graded auto-actions, then human review.
- 1
Buyer reports an issue
On any order detail screen, Report routes the buyer to a category picker (food was off, allergen issue, kitchen looked unsafe, etc.) plus free-text. Reports are timestamped and tied to the specific order.
- 2
Auto-pause + immediate review for safety flags
Any report tagged 'food safety' or 'allergen' auto-pauses the Cook's listings while we review (kitchen stays online for past orders, just hidden from new Discover feed). Severity-graded — most reports don't trigger this.
- 3
Eatcircle moderation reviews + decides
Refunds under $10 auto-approve. Larger refunds + safety pauses go through human review (target SLA: 24h on weekdays). Outcomes: refund + apology, refund + Cook suspended, no action + buyer follow-up.
- 4
Public transparency
Aggregated incident counts publish monthly on /trust-and-safety. Individual reports are private to protect both parties; the trends are public so buyers can judge platform health.
Region of Peel — public health resources for home cooks.
Region of Peel runs the public health office for Brampton, Mississauga, and Caledon. They publish free home food preparation guidelines and run a free online food handler certification course.
Hard questions, direct answers.
The honest version of every question we get about food safety on Eatcircle.
Why don't you inspect kitchens?▾
Inspection at scale would either price out home cooks (passing the cost on) or be theatre (a clipboard tour twice a year). The honest answer: 'we inspected this kitchen' creates a false sense of security. Buyers know they're choosing a home cook — that's the explicit positioning. The friction we add (allergen requirements, food handler badge incentives, Region of Peel resource links, transparent moderation) is intentional and we keep it.
What about Eatcircle's legal exposure?▾
Per our Terms of Service: Eatcircle is a marketplace, not the merchant of record for food sales. The Cook is responsible for compliance with their local public health rules, taxes, and any food-safety incident. Buyers acknowledge this at order checkout. Read the Terms for the full marketplace disclaimer.
What if I have a serious food safety incident?▾
Report it on the order. Tag it 'food safety' or 'allergen reaction.' We auto-pause the Cook's listings within minutes pending review, and we contact you and the Cook the same day. Refund issued at our discretion (we mediate in good faith). For medical emergencies: Eatcircle is not a substitute for 911 or your provincial health line — call them first, then report.
Do you require food handler certificates?▾
v1: no — purely opt-in for the gold Verified badge. v2: we'll re-evaluate based on incident data. We point every Cook at the free Region of Peel food handler online course at signup, and we expect most Cooks to take it. We don't gate listings on it because the bar to start cooking shouldn't be a 4-hour exam — but the bar to display a Verified badge is exactly that.
Are home kitchens legal in Ontario for selling food?▾
Yes, with conditions. Ontario doesn't require a commercial kitchen license for home-based pickup operations under current regulations, but municipalities (Brampton, Mississauga, Toronto, etc.) each have local rules. Cooks are responsible for following them — we surface the Region of Peel resources at signup. If you're a Cook unsure of your local rules, the Region of Peel Public Health line will tell you for free: 905-799-7700.
Questions or concerns?
Email info@eatcircle.com. A founder reads it. If you'd rather report a specific order, open it in the app and tap Report — that routes through the moderation queue.
View trust + safety dashboard →