California Food Handler Card: A Comprehensive Guide

A food handler card — also known as a food handler certificate, license, or permit — demonstrates that you have completed a course about food safety.

To work at a food establishment, many states, cities, and counties require that you earn a food handler card to prove to health inspectors that you know how to handle food safely and prevent foodborne illnesses.

However, you may wonder whether California or any of its cities or counties require you to earn a food handler card.

This article explains everything you need to know about a California food handler card, including whether you need one, how to get one, and more.

Do you need a food handler card in California?

California requires a food handler card within 30 days of hire — regardless of your age, years of experience, or employment status — if you are involved in food preparation, storage, or handling.

This includes:

• wait staff
• chefs and cooks
• bartenders
• hosts/hostesses that handle food
• bussers
• managers, unless certified as food safety managers
• food warehouse stockers
• dishwashers

People holding these positions work in restaurants, cafes, cafeterias, bakeries, delis, mobile food units, bars, and kiosks.

Conversely, you aren’t required to earn a California food handler card if you work at the following places:

• grocery stores, and grocery store delis, bakeries, meat and produce departments all under one owner
• retail stores where a majority of sales are from a pharmacy
• convenience stores
• commissaries
• certified farmers’ markets
• health care facilities, including hospital employees
• school cafeterias
• temporary food facilities, such as food booths at a community event
• bed and breakfast facilities
• correctional or residential facilities
• elderly nutrition programs

Regardless of these exemptions, however, your employer may still require that you earn a food handler card.

In either case, a California food handler card is valid everywhere in California except in Riverside, San Bernardino, and San Diego counties, which have different food handler program requirements.

How do you get a California food handler card?

Earning your California food handler card is generally a quick process that you can do online.

First, you must enroll in an approved course that is accredited by the ANSI National Accreditation Board (ANAB), such as FoodSafePal’s.

Courses accredited by ANAB have undergone a rigorous application and review process to ensure the organization issuing the food handler card as well as the certificate program itself meets industry-best standards.

After enrolling, you must complete the course content, which covers the following topics:

• foodborne illnesses
• time-temperature control for safety (TCS) food
• food thermometer use and calibration
• good personal hygiene
• safe food handling
• cleaning and sanitizing
• cross-contamination and cross-contact

After completing the course content, you must earn 70% or higher on the test — which consists of at least 40 questions — to earn your California food handler card.

You should be able to complete the course content and test within two hours.

Once you earn your California food handler card, it belongs to you and not the restaurant or other food establishment at which you work.

For this reason, your employer is not required to pay for you to earn your food handler card.

Because you own the card, you don’t need to earn another if you change jobs or work two foodservice jobs concurrently, unless the job is located in Riverside, San Bernardino, and San Diego counties, in which case, you would need to earn a county-specific food handler card.

Here are the food handler requirements for these counties (1, 2, 3):

	Riverside	San Bernardino	San Diego
Cost	$27	$22	$13+
Course Length	75 minutes	75 minutes	75 minutes
Passing Score	70%	80%	80%
Expiration	2 years	3 years	3 years

Food handler cards issued from other states are not valid in California.

How long does a California food handler card last?

California food handler cards — including San Bernardino and San Diego — are valid for three years from the date of issuance.

Riverside food handler cards are valid for two years from the date of issuance.

California requires that you maintain an active food handler card for the duration in which you are employed.

Therefore, you need to retake an approved food handler course and pass the assessment every three years.

After earning your food handler card for the first time or renewing it, make sure to give your manager a copy to keep on file.

While you’re not required to keep your food handler card on you while working, your employer must maintain records verifying that you hold a valid California food handler card as health inspectors may request proof.

Most organizations issue food handler cards as a PDF, making it easy to print or email a copy to your manager.

If you lose your food handler card, you can redownload it from the website on which you earned it or contact the issuing organization to request another copy.

The bottom line

California requires you to earn a food handler card within 30 days of employment if you work at a restaurant, cafe, cafeteria, bakery, deli, mobile food unit, bar, or kiosk.

A California food handler card is valid everywhere in the state, except in Riverside, San Bernardino, and San Diego counties, which have their own food handler card requirements,

To earn your California food handler card, enroll in a state- or country-approved course like FoodSafePal, complete the course content on basic food safety principles, and pass the test.

California food handler cards are valid for three years from the date of issuance, while Riverside food handler cards expire after two years.