How old do you have to be to cook your own food in the USA?

In the UK it is illegal for a child under 16 to cook for themselves; this law is strictly enforced (and has been many times; I read somewhere that a 15-year old boy was put into care for cooking his own dinner)



You can legally have sex at 16 in the UK so it only makes sense for fully grown adult 16-year olds to protect the innocent and vulnerable (under 16's)



In the USA how old must a child be before they can cook for themselves?How old do you have to be to cook your own food in the USA?
where do you come up with these ridiculous claims?



like seriously... we get british children's TV over here and they have little kid cooking shows... little kids cooking for themsleves... americans are slow but they aren't dumbHow old do you have to be to cook your own food in the USA?
about 5.
you can be any age in the usa!! theres no law against it. and seriously? theres no law about that in the uk!! I used to live there! Cut the crap, and btw...stop reposting this question.... wowwww...and you call your self a parent.. PSHH watever
As long as they can reach the stove.



We have MANY stupid laws, but fortunately that isn't one of them. And if it is, it's not enforced.
i don't think there is an actual law.. that is, unless something bad happens and the parents could be found to be negligent
there is no law about that....well not that i know of because all my life i have been able to cook whenever i wanted and i just turned 17.... im pretty sure there is no law about that
Ive been cooking since i was like 6 years old so i hope theirs not a law against it lol
I would be very surprised to hear that there is an actual age limit, but CPS will definitely get involved if a child is not being fed properly. Certainly a fifteen year old boy could cook his own dinner without anyone thinking that he was being maltreated.
You can cook whenever you want to cook. Obviously a child can't be put in a situation that might be dangerous, so no 2 year old french fry makers. Just another example why the usa is best.
I don't think there is a law that says a child can't cook for themselves. I know kids who make their own macarroni and cheese and that sort of thing for lunch or when they get home from school. I've never heard of a rule that doesn't allow a child to cook for himself.



I know parents can get into trouble for neglect for not feeding the child by not providing food at home.
Wow, the U.K. is weird. It's not about being old enough to cook, it's about what endangers a child and what doesn't. It would probably be considered child endangerment to have, say, a toddler use a stove. But if we're talking about microwaving something (or, anything that doesn't involve a stove) then there is no law against it. There is no law regarding the stove usage either - I'm just telling you that if your young child hurt themselves while using the stove, THAT would probably be considered endangerment. If nothing goes wrong, not crime has been commited. If something does go wrong and your kid gets hurt, it depends on whether a reasonable person would have assumed that the kid was up to the task or not.
well arent you people bunch of wuzzies.. I say give my 7 y old a shotgun and hell go hunt his dinner, carve it and cook it. I'll invite your 16 y olds for dinner if they are allowed to be outside after dark
You're annoying me now, spreading all this nonsense about these made up 'laws' in the United Kingdom.
Quit posting this garbage, troll!!!! Go back under the bridge and eat some medical waste for dinner!
any age, there are no laws for it, im 17 and i would heat up some chicken nuggets in the toaster for dinner when i was like 4, thats such a stupid rule, a 13 year old can handle putting some food in an oven by themselves.
I like how in every question you post, the last 3 lines are always the exact same.



So what you're telling us all is that basically it's illegal to do anything before the age of 16 ? I really think you're full of crap.
A child can cook at any age in America.
Just shows up the UK there and how crap their system is.
Well, theres actually no age.

If they can cook, then they can cook themselves dinner/lunch.
There is no age. I mean, at the daycare I worked at the 2 year olds would help make stuff. Stirring, pouring. No cutting though. Then when I was about 5 was when my mom taught me how to cook. I made scrambled eggs with my mom helping me turn on the stove top. From then I cooked at almost every meal, I would help my mom.

So there's your answer, there is no age, just regulations like little ones can't use knives or use the stove.
What, so you and your friends never whacked a frozen pizza in the oven and stuck it on 'gas mark 9 for half the time'. What a deprived life you lead!
The great thing about the USA more so than the UK is...we have freedom to cook at whatever age.
old enough to use the stove without burning the house down
I do not know of any laws that say a child cannot cook in the US. My kids have been cooking for years and one is still a few years away from 16.
Do you have a UK fetish or something? Or are you just lonely?
Just WHERE do you get hold of this rubbish about children under 16 in the UK not being allowed to cook for themselves - IT'S THE OLD QUESTION - WHICH PLANET ARE YOU ON BECAUSE IT SURE AS HELL ISN'T THIS ONE ! ';I read somewhere....'; IS HARDLY DEFINITIVE EVIDENCE OF YOUR STATEMENT.

Stop posting this rubbish and get on with your homework.