Eating a neighbor's cooking should feel safe, not like a leap.
So here is the whole truth about how Silo keeps it safe: who is allowed to cook, what we check, what happens at pickup, and what we honestly do not do. Plain English, no fine print on the parts that matter.
Every cook is a real, permitted person
You never order from a faceless brand on Silo. You order from a named neighbor whose county has already checked their kitchen. Here is what has to be true before a single dish can go live.
A valid MEHKO permit
The cook holds a current California Microenterprise Home Kitchen Operation permit (or the retail food permit for trucks and carts) under AB 626. We collect and verify the permit number.
A real identity you can see
Their real name and face are on their profile before you order. A neighbor you could find is accountable in a way an anonymous account never is.
An ongoing check, not a one-time gate
We re-check each permit against its expiration date and flag expired ones automatically. A cook who loses their permit is suspended.
Read the full process on permit verification. The decision of who is allowed to cook is run with our trust and safety team; we own how plainly it is explained.
A permit means an inspector already checked
A MEHKO permit is easy to read as bureaucracy. It is the opposite. To get one, a cook opened their home kitchen to a county environmental-health inspector, who checked their handling, storage, and temperatures in person. The permit is proof that already happened, before you ever placed an order.
When you see Permit verified on a cook's profile, it means we confirmed a real, current county permit number, the same one their inspector issued. It is a quiet mark of care, not a marketing badge.
What to expect when you pick up
Pickup is the whole model, so it is built to feel calm and private for both of you.
The address stays private until it is time
Before you order you see the approximate area and distance only. The exact address unlocks in the app shortly before your window, so a cook's home is never public.
Your code confirms the handoff
Show the QR code in your order. It is how the cook knows the right meal is going to the right person, in the window they set.
A short, human handoff
You take the meal hot from the cook's hands at their door. No lobby, no driver, no waiting in line. If a plan changes, message in the app.
More detail on how pickup works.
Read what is in it, and ask
Every cook discloses the nine major allergens on every dish: milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soy, and sesame. You see them before you order, and you can filter them out of your feed entirely.
A home kitchen is a shared space, so cross-contact is possible even when an allergen is not an ingredient. If you have a serious allergy, read the dish notes and message the cook before you order. We would rather you ask than assume.
What Silo does, and what it does not
Trust is built by being as plain about the limits as about the protections. So here is both, side by side.
What Silo does
- Verify each cook's permit before any listing goes live.
- Flag expired permits and suspend cooks who lose them.
- Require allergen disclosure on every drop.
- Keep a cook's exact address private until pickup.
- Give you one human to report a concern to, and route serious reports to the county.
What Silo does not do
- Physically inspect kitchens ourselves; the county does that.
- Act as a regulator or a public-health authority.
- Cook, package, or handle any of the food.
- Remove the inherent risk of eating food made in a home kitchen, which California law requires us to make clear.
Tell us, and a real person answers
If you feel unwell after a Silo order, or something about a cook or a dish worries you, we want to hear it the same day. There is no phone tree.
Email our safety team
safety@silo.market. A person reads every one and replies.
For anything urgent
Call LA County Environmental Health: 888-700-9995. Serious reports are routed to the county.
For order problems and refunds, see complaint resolution and the refund policy.
Every policy, written to be read
These are the complete pages behind the summaries above. Each one opens with a plain-language summary before the precise text.