What is a food handler card?

A food handler certificate, card or permit is legal permission to prepare and serve food through your restaurant, eatery, food cart, bar, pub or any other establishment where you may serve, handle or prepare food.

Let’s look at how to get a food handler’s permit, also known as how to get a food handler’s certificate. While the laws and regulations around food handling certificates will vary by state, county and even municipality, most U.S jurisdictions require them. In most cases, taking a food handling course, passing an exam, and paying an administrative processing fee for the permit is all one needs to obtain one.

Most food handling permits require the person holding one to be knowledgeable about food preparation sanitation, general food safety, personal hygiene requirements, safe cooking procedures for different food categories and allergy dangers.

At least one onsite employee who works in the restaurant must hold a food handling card in many municipalities. However, other, stricter locations might make these permits mandatory for anyone who’s handling food in any way. In addition, as mentioned above, the regulations regarding obtaining and holding food handling permits will usually vary from one city, county or state to another.

What a food handler card does

Even if you’re no fan of bureaucratic rules affecting your business or of seemingly overzealous regulations, it’s hard to deny the importance of food handling certificates. A food handler card serves as a minimum safety guarantee for safe meal preparation in restaurants and eateries. The training procedures for obtaining these permits teach at least the essentials of correct food preparation.

With that said, food handling permits are also crucial because they’re usually one of the vital licenses needed for legally operating a restaurant. Since inspectors routinely visit restaurants in most cities and towns to ensure they comply with permit requirements, having one of these certificates avoids a stiff fine at the least and a temporary closure in worse-case scenarios. If you’re involved in an investigation, you’ll need to know what is a food handler card and how many of your staff are required to hold one. Both tend to cost more than simply obtaining one of these permits in most jurisdictions.

Furthermore, not having certain permits in order can also affect your business insurance coverage. This could apply to food handling permits and lawsuits involving food poisoning.

Who needs a food handler certificate in a restaurant?

The problem with answering this question regarding food handling certificates is that the rules on who needs them can vary considerably between cities, municipalities and jurisdictions. In most cases, the relevant laws for food handling are handled on a municipal level by city or town governments. In contrast, in other jurisdictions, state or county regulations might affect food safety laws for eateries and commercial food establishments or a combination of all three.

So, for example: in places like California, the rules are so strict that anyone who handles food in a facility needs a food handler’scertificate according to state law. On the other hand, other cities such as New York City apply only municipal laws that require supervisors in food establishments to have a certificate and at least one of them to be onsite while food is being prepared. Some states and cities require that food handling certificates be reviewed periodically, while in others, such as in New York City, the certificates have no expiration date.

In other words, if you’re opening a restaurant or any business that prepares or handles food in any way for customers, you need to request information about your town, city or county government’s laws regarding food preparation. You should also check your state’s laws as they apply to your category of business. Don’t take just anyone’s advice regarding this because the city, state and county government officials are your best best at getting information regarding what is a food handler card and who needs one. This is a vital step to take and basing assumptions on the rules in any place outside your specific operating jurisdiction can be a legally costly mistake.

The cost of obtaining and maintaining a food handler’scard

The cost of obtaining a food handling certificate will vary depending on specific legal requirements, aside from the fees that come with getting an individual certificate in your jurisdiction.

For example, whether all of your employees need a food handling card or just one supervising employee will be a significant cost consideration. This will depend on your business and its rules in your jurisdiction.

If only a site supervisor needs one in your area, this could be you, and it may legally be enough even if you have a staff of dozens preparing meals or handling food in your business. The certificate you obtain may even have no expiry date, making it a one-time cost.

In other jurisdictions, however, every employee in a restaurant or eatery who handles food, down to the dishwashers, hosts and bartenders, has to have their own food handling certificate and they need to renew these annually. So in these regulatory cases, you’re going to have a larger annual expense for these permits.

You need to check your local laws first in order to calculate food handling permit costs. However, it’s worth noting that in most cities or states, costs tend to be quite small per individual permit. In Illinois for example, the price of the food handling course and subsequent exam is only $15 as of 2021.

How to get a food handlers certificate

In most cities and municipalities, obtaining a food handling certificate involves taking a food safety and handling course either online or in-person and then passing an exam demonstrating your knowledge of the food safety material you’ve learned. The course itself is free in some cities, while the exam can cost anywhere from $15 to upward of $50 per attempt.

Most cities allow their food safety licenses to remain valid for at least a couple of years. In the case of Illinois, for example, the handler cards are valid for three years. For California, the same time frame applies before a California Food Handler Cardis up for renewal.

How to keep a food handler’scard up to date

In most cases, once a food handling certificate becomes invalid by expiring, you’ll have to renew it through the same process you obtained your first certificate. In addition, you or your employees may need to retake a food safety course and exam as a result of food safety regulations changing due to the discovery of new health hazards or as new legal requirements are instituted.

For example, in the wake of the 2020-2021 COVID-19 pandemic, food handling safety courses in many jurisdictions may have been modified considerably to include food preparation procedures that minimize the risk of respiratory infection transmission.

Furthermore, the overall rules for food handling permits in your city can change over time, so be sure to stay up to date on these as well. For example, it’s possible that previous food handling permit laws only required a certified onsite supervisor to have a permit, while newer regulations change this requirement so that it applies to everyone who’s handling food. In order to avoid fines or possible restaurant closure, it’s a good idea to keep an eye on required permit updates and general rule updates.

Overall, the process of obtaining and renewing food handling permits tends to be low-cost in many cities and shouldn’t pose a crushing financial burden on most restaurant owners.