Bakery Fined $8,610, Told to Make Cakes for Needy

Hansen Cakes Inc. has been fined $8,610 and ordered to donate enough cakes to feed 2,400 needy youngsters after being convicted of health violations stemming from “filthy and unsanitary conditions” at its Fairfax area headquarters.

City Atty. James K. Hahn, in announcing the penalties last week, also noted that the specialty cake baker has spent $11,000 to renovate the bakery, where it also makes cakes for its outlets in Beverly Hills and Tarzana. Hahn said owner Gary Hansen has cleared up all public health problems “and turned this bakery back into an asset to the community.”

The cake company, which for 40 years has been a principal caterer to Hollywood and the entertainment industry, was sentenced Feb. 13 by Los Angeles Municipal Court Commissioner Joseph Spada. Attorneys for the bakery had pleaded no contest to four Public Health Code charges.

When filing charges against the bakery in December, Hahn said Hansen Cakes has had a history of problems over the past 10 years, including cockroach infestation, deficient housekeeping and occasional vermin infestation.

Hansen said the penalties were extreme, and many of the problems identified by state health inspectors came during renovations, when the bakery was in disarray. “On some of the counts, I’m upset,” Hansen said. “They did a number on us.”

As part of the penalty, the bakery must donate enough cakes to feed at least 100 people each month at Para Los Ninos, a nonprofit organization assisting children in the Skid Row area of Los Angeles, and the MacLaren Children’s Center, a county juvenile facility in El Monte. The value of the cakes must total $1,920 and ultimately feed 2,400 people, Hansen said.

In sentencing Hansen, Spada also placed the company on three years summary probation and ordered it to pay $5,860 in fines and penalties and $2,750 in restitution to the state Department of Health Services to cover its investigative costs.

Health officials say the bakery is one of the largest in the Los Angeles area, estimating its revenues at about $1 million a year.

The bakery also was cited Dec. 27 by county Health Services inspectors, who reported finding “active cockroach infestation,” and ventilation and cleanliness problems during a routine inspection.